Posted on 06/04/2012 11:10:10 AM PDT by BO Stinkss
The Democratic Party’s troubles in the Deep South are by now well known, but to get a good flavor of how dismal the landscape looks in Alabama at the moment, consider this passage from a Birmingham News story today about the early outlook for the 2014 governor’s race.
Ask veteran Democratic politicians who they think might run for governor in 2014 and you get mostly empty stares or belly laughs, like the one Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham gave when he was asked the question.
"What Democrat is going to run for governor?" Rogers asked. "Well, maybe me and I think I might actually win the nomination because I'm not sure anybody is out there who is willing to take the bullet and that's what you're looking at, a bullet, because I don't think any Democrat right now has a chance to win the governor's office."
When Rogers finished laughing, he turned a little serious.
"The Democrats, we got our butts beat in 2010 and we've been getting beat in most of these state races now for some time," said Rogers. "That's not going to change in 2014. The real question is, can it begin to change by 2018, 2022, 2026? I don't think any of us who care about the future of the party know that answer. What we know is the party has got to begin to reorganize, to find a message, a vision for Alabama that more people will begin to see value in."
The language here is pretty telling – aside from Democrats offering empty stares and belly laughs when asked who might run, Rogers compares the party nomination as akin to taking a bullet.
Clearly it’s a tough time to be a Democrat in Alabama, where in 2010 Republicans finally gained control of both the state House and state Senate for the first time since 1874, the GOP held onto the governor’s mansion, and Republicans also managed to knock off freshman Democratic Congressman Bobby Bright.
Help, it seems, isn’t on the way any time soon.
If the AL Democrats want to start to win again, it’s very simple. Repudiate the national party. Get rid of the left wing, the moonbats and the race-hustlers. Become a Conservative party. Compete with the GOP to see which can better deliver on Conservative governance.
RINOs in the making.
Our political commentators at FR believe 90% of the GOP is “RINO” making the term obsolete and without meaning.
Parker Griffith comes to mind. :-/
ROLL TIDE, to be sure.
People who don’t abide by the GOP platform are RINOs. That makes 90% about right.
People who don’t abide by the GOP platform are RINOs. That makes 90% about right.
If the party is not the people in it this term in I don’t know what it is. Like “Liberal” and “Conservative” it has little real meaning other than as a rhetorical device.
What was considered a “Liberal” was someone who essentially believed in freedom and a small state now it is a fascist panty-waist. What was considered a “Conservative” was someone who was essentially a Royalist authoritarian opposed to all change. Today’s Right wants many changes at all levels of our society.
We need new terms. I just call myself a Patriot and Constitutionalist.
That last first sentence is screwy. I meant to say “If the party is not the people in it I don’t know what it is. This term like....”
The truth is that Alabama has a very high percentage of independent voters...aligned to no party. As long as jobs, the economy, taxes, and illegals are a major topic of discussion...they will likely hang with the Republicans. For the next five years...it’s likely to remain the trend.
Eventually though...it will reverse. There’ll be some scandal or corruption charges, and suddenly...the Republican Party in the state will have run out of steam. It’s the typical way that things run in Alabama.
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