Reflections on the Election

Alabama State Elections (4.00 / 4)

I was volunteering at the Obama headquarters in Birmingham.  Alabama is such a Republican state that Obama volunteers concentrated almost all of their efforts on Florida.  This was good for Obama, but this was devastating for Alabama Democrats.  This whole season all we heard was "Alabama is a red state".  The unintended consequence was to discourage anyone who would be most likely to vote Democratic.  The very groups that were encouraged and motivated to vote in places like Cleveland, Ohio and Richmond, Virginia were discouraged in Alabama.  I heard the lines at the polls in Birmingham suburbs like Hoover and Leeds were long, at my polling place in Bessemer (a predominantly black community) there was no line at all when I went to vote.  It was encouraging to me that Terry Sewell (who happens to be my congressperson) got reelected and every Democrat running for judge in Jefferson County (where I live) won.  The most discouraging part of this election was the fact that someone like Roy Moore could win what is arguably the most important judgeship in the state. The very demographic that was MOST motivated to vote for Romney/Ryan was also most likely to vote for Judge Roy Moore.   I believe I heard this on NPR of all places.  In the context of where the Republicans went wrong they said the Republican National Convention looked like a "KKK rally" because all you could see was white males, whereas the Democratic National Convention looked like "America".  I here that in any Alabama statewide election, as many as 40 percent or more have voted Democratic.  If we If we could encourage voters in our Afro-American communities and our hispanic communities that thier votes could actually count, I believe that number would be much closer to 50 percent.

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by: grammasusan @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 11:14:21 AM UTC

In Mobile Co (4.00 / 3)

The local committee was pushing folks to vote the straight Dem ticket, specifically to help local and state Dems. The willingness to dismiss Alabama votes and use Alabama volunteers in other states sticks in more than one craw down here.

Also, it was pointed out to me that the changing logo for Democratic Party on the ballot was extremely unhelpful in a state with 50% illiteracy.

I'm in no way saying it's anyone's fault, nor am I pointing fingers, just reporting what I saw at the HQ on Election Day.  

"If guns kept America safe, then America would surely be the safest country in the whole world." - Rep. Carolyn Maloney

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by: mpmarus @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 13:56:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It looks like Obama is going to very narrowly win Florida. (4.00 / 3)

I think it's entirely possible that volunteers from Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia were the difference there. Mississippi and Georgia both outperformed us without any real investment from the Obama campaign. For us to expect any investment from a national campaign (as long as there is an electoral college) we have got to get within striking distance on our own. It's entirely possible that you will see Georgia as a swing state in 2016. Mississippi within a cyle or two after that. I think we're going to have to spend some time and money on our own closing the gap because, right now, we are in the category of states like Utah and Wyoming where there is no real reason for the national Dems to waste their money here.

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by: bluebearcat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 14:15:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

There is a second element (4.00 / 4)

Not only must a party get the voters out but they must have an electable candidate willing to run under their banner. It is more difficult to get such candidates to run when the National Party in essence says that a Democrat (or Republican) Presidential candidate has no chance in that state.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke

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by: Old Prosecutor @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 15:29:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Expanding the Alabama electorate (4.00 / 4)

I'm with you 100% on this, grammasusan, there are too many people in Alabama who would vote Democratic, but don't vote at all.  Those are our people, they're our ticket to changing Alabama, and we have to connect with them and convince them that, if they will just get involved enough to vote, they can be the change they've been waiting for.  The situation is not hopeless, but the GOP hopes they keep believing it is.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 15:28:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

National & State (4.00 / 2)

Obama had a "50 state strategy," so I was eagerly looking forward to his visit in 2008 and this year.  Didn't happen.  In 2008 at least I think a visit would have had very, very powerful results.  Maybe not a win, but significant boosts in voting levels.  Plus the "coattail effect" would have helped many local candidates.

Of course, He Whose Name Shall Not Be Mentioned was Obama's campaign manager for Alabama.  And we all know what happened.

One mistake I think on the state level is that folks all-of-a-sudden wanted to go to Washington.  Little or no local experience.  We need to encourage people to run for local offices first, so they get recognition and experience.  (Martha Roby ran against a DINO in 2010, so in effect it was a Republican primary election for U.S. House.

Twenty-four months left to find a suitable candidate for Governor, and to solidly back that person.  Likewise the other offices, but the Guv office is the key.

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by: Doggone @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 14:51:28 PM UTC

Agree (4.00 / 2)

with you on the importance of the Governor's office to either party. Not only is it the most visible political office, the Governor appoints people to evry local office that becomes vacant during their term.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke

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by: Old Prosecutor @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 15:26:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

In truth, Obama never had a 50 state strategy, not even in 2008 (4.00 / 4)

His strategy was always to focus like a laser on the path to 270 electoral votes.  The rhetoric/message was intended to inspire voters in all 50 states, but the organizing and GOTV money was all directed to swing states -- and as Old Prosecutor pointed out, there are fewer of these every year.  I believe this was a considerable source of conflict between Team Obama and Howard Dean's DNC in 2008 because Dean was a believer in organizing everywhere, even in deep red states like Alabama.

 

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 15:32:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Obama's approach was the correct one... (4.00 / 2)

...as the results testify. Until we rid ourselves of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college, this will be an issue. 

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by: CreoleCat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 18:00:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think it didn't have to be "either-or." (4.00 / 3)

A candidate showing that he or she cares about each of the 50 states, even if only by a whistle-stop appearance, sends a powerful message.

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by: Doggone @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 19:06:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

As long as resources and time... (3.67 / 3)

...are finite quantities, then there's a price to be paid for every action. 

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by: CreoleCat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 21:31:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Do we want to be a one-party state? Is that a healthy situation for Alabama? (4.00 / 3)

This has been coming up more often since the 2010 election, but I wish Alabama voters would give some thought to the issue of whether we should aspire to be a one-party state.  We were solidly Democratic from top to bottom for decades, then the Southern Strategy turned us red for national elections, but we were still solidly Democratic at state and local levels until the Baxley/Graddick mess gave the AL-GOP a foot in the door.  Then for a couple of decades both parties were struggling for control of the state.  The GOP won decisively in 2010 and since then I've seen some conservatives writing about how great it will be to have a one-party state again.  Essentially, that's the way it's always been done in Alabama, that's what people like, that's what works as far as getting things done, only difference is that the Republicans should now be the one party.

I don't think one party control is healthy.  It's an invitation to corruption and it stifles the competition of ideas which should take place in the public sphere.  What you get with a one party legislature is an authoritatian system where party leaders set the agenda and their followers vote it in. Able, qualified people don't put themselves forward for office in that situation because the leadership wants party hacks who are only there to take orders.  They value malleability over ability.  That disease infected Alabama Democrats over the decades and it's already taken root in the AL-GOP -- just look at the GOP legislators (like Shadrack McGill) who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag. 

At the national level, being a sure vote for either party makes Alabama a backwater.  Sure, a few Republicans will visit the state, but they're only here to use the ATM to pick up some campaign cash.  The automaker bridge loans were economically the right thing to do, saving a big chunk of American manufacturing, but were also politically the right thing to do -- Obama would not have been re-elected absent that one policy decision.  If a big segment of Alabama's economy was about to go under, does anyone believe a president of either party would stick their neck out to save it?  No.  As long as we're a lock for the GOP, there's no margin in doing anything for us, for either Democrats or Republicans.

Politics is about leverage, and as things stand now Alabama has no leverage.  The Democratic Party needs to get healthy again and help Alabama change that.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 15:56:24 PM UTC

Alabama has always been a one-party state... (4.00 / 4)

...and that party is the ultra-conservative party. It doesn't matter whether it was a D or an R after the name, the end result was always the same. That's never changed, even in the years you point to where it was sliding over from D to R. 

You're right, it's not healthy but healthy is the last thing our plutocrats want. Everything you see in this state is the result of feudalism; the culture, the social fabric, the racial animosity, the ignorance, none of it is an accident.

My hunch is none of that will ever change until the culture itself does and that's a problem without solution as you can't engineer culture. It's too big, too self-perpetuating with too many variables.  

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by: CreoleCat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 17:58:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Roy Moore's election... (4.00 / 3)

...was the result of straight-ticket voting. That was easy enough to see. 

I beg to differ on the summation of the CNN graphics. For my money, I thought the visual design on MSNBC was better. The color palette, composition, clarity, all of it seemed more pleasing to the eye. 

I wasn't shocked in the least by the unopposed races. Of the 29 state level or lower races on my ballot, all but five were unopposed. Only one of the unopposed races was a Democrat and he's an Old School Dem from way back in the Wallace era.

All the other state/local Dems on my ballot? They lost.  

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by: CreoleCat @ Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 18:07:43 PM UTC

I appreciated the Alabama people who came to Florida to help. (4.00 / 1)

I worked with a bunch of them, and they were very helpful.  The practically ran the effort in Pensacola. I repeat my assertion that Georgia will be in play, if not in 2014, then at least by 2016, due to the large demoraghic shift.  Large numbers of Hispanics and the influx of upper income  and professional African- Americans to Atlanta will make it happen sooner, rather than later. Alabam,a will not change until the current older generation dies off.

 

Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. Cree Nation Tribal Prophecy

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by: piggieheart @ Fri Nov 09, 2012 at 15:13:17 PM UTC