Racially Charged: Middle East Politics Heat Up Alabama House Contest

Racial tensions have surfaced in the final weeks of Rep. Earl Hilliard's (D-Ala.)rematch with attorney Artur Davis (D), who says Hilliard aides are circulating a flier attacking him for supporting Israel and prosecuting blacks.

The five-term House Member is preparing for a potentially tight battle in the June 4 primary with Davis, a federal prosecutor who lost their 2000 matchup by 24 points but is touting stronger fundraising and redistricting as reasons he poses a more formidable threat this year. AHilliard poll conducted in April showed him holding a 12-point lead in the new 7th district, a majority-minority district based in Birmingham.

The early phase of the campaign focused on boosting the economy of one of the nation's poorest regions, known as the "Black Belt" because of its rich soil and high concentration of African-American residents. But Davis spokesman Corey Ealons charged that the race took a nasty turn last month when a Hilliard aide, Hezekiah Waggstaff, was spotted distributing the racially charged flier at a meeting of the Alabama New South Coalition, which overwhelmingly endorsed Hilliard.

In the one-page flier entitled, "Davis and the Jews, No Good for the Black Belt," a group called "Friends to Re-elect Earl Hillard [sic] for Congress in the Seven [sic]Congressional District" wrote that black voters should rebuke Davis because, unlike Hilliard, he supports Israel's "policy of complete domination."

"Lest we forget, it was Israel that stood with apartheid in South Africa...If the current invasions, murder and abuse within the Palestinian territory sound familiar, it's only because we've seen apartheid do exactly the same in the black villages of South Africa with Israel's support."

Although Hilliard describes himself as a supporter of Israel, he also supports creating a Palestinian state and has voted against condemning Libya as a terrorist state. Davis is trying to distinguish himself as a stronger advocate for Israel, and he has used that pitch to raise money from Jewish donors in Alabama and across the country.

The flier also hits Davis, a Harvard-educated federal prosecutor, for prosecuting cases against blacks. "Someone needs to tell Davis that his much acclaimed record as federal prosecutor has about as much appeal in the black community as 'Countryboy Eddie,'...Asking blacks to vote for him is like asking a chicken to vote for Colonel Sanders - they can expect nothing short of misery and death.

"He came out of oblivion, his only work experience was putting black folks in jail and now he tells us that Jews are our best friend," the flier states. "This man is very, very, very dangerous."

In an interview, Hilliard vehemently denied knowing who was behind the flier, which he called "deplorable" and said "probably" originated within the Davis campaign, if not with Davis himself. "This guy is trying to inflame Jews who are supporting him against me so he can get their money," Hilliard said. "That's the kind of trash he would do. Shoot, he probably wrote it himself."

The four-paragraph memo concludes by urging readers to vote for Hilliard, citing the "many dues" he has paid and his willingness to vote against President Bush and his "total domination policy of Israel."

However, the memo is signed by "Wagg and Wash,"which Ealons said refers to two Democratic pollsters in Birmingham, Waggstaff and Washington Booker. During the first three months of this year, Hilliard paid $9,000 to Booker and $500 to Waggstaff for polling services, according to the Federal Election Commission report the House Member filed last month.

In an interview yesterday, Booker said he did not pen the flier, "but yes, I do clearly agree with some of the main things it says."

"It was written by someone who was concerned by [Davis] being so well financed by the Jewish community. It's a concern anytime anyone outside the black community tries to pick a representative for us," he added. "That should be a red flag for our community. The Jews should pick leaders for their community, and we should pick leaders for our community." Additionally, Booker said he agreed with the flier's description of how unpopular federal prosecutors are among black voters in Alabama. "That's accurate, federal prosecutor is really a nasty word in Alabama," he said. "They're really reminiscent of the way the Ku Klux Klan used to ride at night."

Booker said he had heard "rumors"that Waggstaff had authored the flier, but he could not confirm the rumors.

Ealons alleged that the racially charged tactics are typical of campaigns run by Hilliard."These are divisive tactics and they're being used to split the black community. Whoever is putting it out, that's their sole agenda,"he said. "What we need to be talking about are issues that are affecting people's lives in this district. This has nothing to do with that.

"But at the end of the day, all we can do is run our campaign and get our message out. I know our message is resonating with folks, Idon't know about junk like this."

Although Davis has mounted an aggressive bid, Hilliard is favored to win a sixth term this year. Davis so far has raised $72,000 and had $39,000 on hand as of March 31. Hilliard has raised $192,000 and had $57,000 in reserve at that time.

Citing his April poll, Hilliard said he would never engage in such desperate tactics, especially when he's confident he'll prevail next month. "The guy doesn't merit this kind of attention," Hilliard said. "He got 34 percent last time and Ididn't even campaign. Right now, I'm 12 points up, why would I need to do something inflammatory and stupid? Iunderstand politics enough to know that when you're way ahead in the polls you don't do something stupid."

I personally know Wagstaff and Booker. They formerly worked on the staff of former Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. when he was a Commissioner at the Public Service Commission and I was a staff member elsewhere in the Commission. If there are two bigger liars, cheats, and low lifes in the world, I'd be shocked! Both attended a regulatory conference in Atlanta where the meals were included in the conference fee and BOTH filed expense vouchers upon their return attempting to claim the cost of meals. When challenged by the news media, they said the meals provided at the conference were NOT sufficient and left them "hawngry". Booker was later charged with moving violations in a State vehicle and Wagstaff was charged with failure to pay traffic tickets. His defense was that he "disremembered". Their soul function on Folsom's staff was to garner the black vote. One thing of which you can be assured is that their word is about as worthless as Bill Clinton's wedding vows.

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