Alabamians have donated more than $1.2 million to Presidential campaigns this year, with a whopping 57% of that going to Democratic candidates. Senator John Edwards tops the list with almost $400,000 of the $694,000 that went to Democrats. The information in the story is from the Federal Election Commission and reflects reported contributions through the end of June.
My personal opinion is that Edwards, with his message of two Americas -- one for the very rich and one for the rest of us -- and making sure that every American has the opportunity to succeed, gets the attention of Alabama voters. That's the sort of message that worked for Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom in the 2006 race. Edwards is not mincing words about Iraq and Bush's performance either, and we like feisty candidates in the South. He just completed a tour highlighting poverty in America -- 3 days, no fundraisers, no visits to early primary states, just talking about Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. The video is from Knoxville, Iowa on Thursday, where he challenged Bush to visit those places and look those people in the eye. Yeah, right. W is probably scared to death of poor people -- figures it might be catching. Edwards also sent a letter to Bush saying, in part:
See and talk to the good and decent Americans with amazing character who struggle with incredible poverty. Incredible poverty, Mr. President, which has only worsened every day over the last 7 years because of the failure of your leadership and the terrible effects your policies have had on millions of families. And see how the people of New Orleans are still struggling nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina, and see how your administration's indifference to this problem has only made the problem worse.
The people in that audience could be Alabamians ... not the high rolling, $1000 a plate folks (obviously Edwards appeals to some of those, too) but the regular, average folks who are the vast majority of us. They could be my neighbors.
Don't forget about the CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate tonight at 6 pm Central time. Characteristically, Edwards is doing more than required, and will be answering questions for an extra 30 minutes after the debate ends.
