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We will, Jeff. We will.
The Joe Reed Show, Only In Black And White
Jeff Martin
The Alabama Democratic Party (ADP) hasn’t played a significant role in state politics for most of the last decade, but it wasn’t until this past weekend that they put the final nail in the coffin and a graveside service was held. All thanks to Joe Reed and his effort to maintain complete control of the ADP, at all costs.
Democrats had reason to celebrate Reed for decades. The 85-year-old has been chair of the Alabama Democratic Conference since 1979, served 24-years on the Montgomery City Council and has chaired the minority caucus of the ADP for 47 of the last 50 years. He has accomplished a lot in both democratic politics and civil rights, much of it for the betterment.
Alabama democrats have been a dying breed for some time, and it hasn’t helped that the ADP has been largely nonexistent since 2013. It was thrown a lifeline several years ago when the Democratic National Committee intervened, and Rep. Chris England was elected chairman. England did an admirable job, considering the enormous task, but opted not to run again. Reed was able to regain control when his backed candidate, Randy Kelley, won the election to replace England. Since Kelley’s election, the ADP has returned to being non-functioning and radio silent.
Saturday, the state Democratic Executive Committee gathered in Montgomery, and it quickly became the Joe Reed show. He was ready to inflict his wrath. Today, Reed is the obstacle, fighting for the exclusion of minorities to sit at the big table of the ADP.
To say the meeting was chaotic would be an understatement. Reed manipulated the vote to favor abolishing several caucuses that came into existence after his ouster in 2019. They include the LGBTQ+ individuals, youth, and those with disabilities.
Evidence of those voting to eliminate the three minority caucuses appears to paint a different picture than the 63-49 vote Reed used to claim victory. A roll call vote was denied. Some committee members were even turned away from voting because they hadn’t paid a $50 fee in advance; what some would later refer to as a “poll tax.” But truth doesn’t seem to matter to Reed, who apparently only sees things in black and white.
Former Alabama Senator Doug Jones summed it up by saying after the meeting, “What happened today — what the leadership of the Alabama Democratic Party did — was to essentially say that we don’t represent the Democratic electorate in Alabama anymore.”
I can hear you asking yourself, maybe even with a little smirk. Why should I care? To hell with the Democrats. Good riddance.
You should care because when a state is completely controlled and represented by one political party things tend to go amok. The foxes are guarding the chicken house. Since the GOP gained the majority in the legislature back in 2010, we’ve been fortunate that there have always been level-headed, mainstream fiscally conservative GOP members who have managed to dial down the partisan rhetoric and keep most of the crazy legislation from becoming law. Now it’s becoming more and more difficult as the GOP continues to move the dial to the right in an effort to legislate morality and make it more difficult for some to vote.
The GOP has held a super-majority in the legislature for the past twelve years, yet hasn’t managed to pass a lottery, remove the sales tax on groceries or expand Medicaid. They can’t even agree on school choice legislation. All big priorities for many Alabama voters. But they have spent plenty of time attempting to whitewash history, protecting confederate memorials, banning drag shows, making sure the elderly can’t get any assistance voting and passing one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Last week the Alabama House of Representatives passed legislation that would criminalize absentee voting assistance. This, despite the fact there is no widespread voter fraud in Alabama. They just want to discourage some people from voting, so they made the punishment of providing someone an absentee ballot a felony, the same as if they had committed a robbery, rape or manslaughter.
Inclusion doesn’t appear to be in the vocabulary of either Alabama political party.
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