We're pretty far to the right. 72% of our state views Moore favorably, for instance.
But Riley would be writing his own ticket if he hadn't made a terrible strategic blunder by reversing his decades of anti-tax federal stances while he was a Congressman...when he proposed the largest state income tax increase in the entire history of Alabama during his first year as Governor (voted down by more than 2 to 1, a major political embarassment).
So the 2006 election is more (pun intended) than just about Moore; it's also about Riley's error.
Even so, our previous *Democratic* Party governor was endorsed by the NRA. Liberalism isn't about to break out down here, regardless of who wins in 2006!
In fact, I'd wager that the 2006 campaign won't even revolve around pro-life, pro-gun, or even pro-Iraq-war "issues"...it'll be more likely to be about Riley's tax proposal mistake, Moore's federal 10 Commandments defiance, and Seigelman's (previous Dem governor) federal court indictment.
Yawn. This is *not* a hyper-critical election.
Rob Riley, the governor's son, did corner me the other day when I was in town. He knows that his dad is going to have to have some serious money to beat Moore...the question is what would that money change for Alabama? We've already got tort reform, a Republican state Supreme Court, and low taxes. Unemployment is low here, interest rates are low here, even the weather is fine here. Everywhere you look we're building homes and offices and opening new companies all around the state.
Now, if Judge Pryor loses his federal court appointment, then that would upset our tranquil applecart. Forget a Democrat being competitive for Governor here if that happens. This state would issue a payback in a big way if our state's favorite son got cheated by Fat Teddy in D.C.
Ditto for any blue state court telling us that we have to recognize their gay marriage rulings. Nor would Alabama forgive Democrats if any Kyoto nonsense hammered our steel or coal industries. A Michael Newdow-style blow against having God in our Pledge or crosses in our cemetaries would cause us to rise up, as well...as would any federal court ban on parental notification of children's abortion, et al.
But barring such ridiculous occurances, this state isn't going to get very riled up about Riley or Moore.