Even if you don't live in Alabama's 7th Congressional District, where there's an important Democratic runoff for U.S. Congress, here's a good reason to ask for a Democratic ballot when you go to the polls tomorrow:
You can vote in the Democratic runoff for Attorney General anywhere in the state.
Here's what Howard Dean says about Giles Perkins -- who has also been endorsed by State Senator Bobby Singleton, State House Speaker Pro Tempore Demetrius Newton and The Anniston Star, widely regarded as the most liberal paper in the state of Alabama:
Every so often you come across a candidate who is perfectly suited to take an open seat from the Republicans. Giles knows how to win.
Giles is running on a progressive agenda. He has called for a moratorium on Alabama’s death penalty. He has called for a rewrite of Alabama’s archaic, regressive Constitution. Giles wants to establish a Civil Rights division in the Office of the Attorney General; the state which was the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement - certainly needs a Civil Rights division.
Alabama’s coast is in peril, and Giles Perkins has the experience and skill to be an Attorney General who will take on BP and the Federal Government and make sure the citizens of Alabama’s coast are made whole sooner rather than later.
Electing people like Giles in Alabama is a next step in my 50-state strategy.
Help make sure he can protect not only Alabama’s fragile coast, but the state and her citizens.
With the challenges Alabama is facing in the years to come, we need someone who will focus on delivering effective solutions while working with others to solve the state’s problems.
Giles will make sure Alabama moves forward with honesty and transparency and he will strive to protect all Alabamians.
If that isn't enough to convince you to ask for a Democratic ballot to vote for Giles Perkins, he's also been endorsed by the Alabama New South Coalition, the Montgomery Advertiser and the Decatur Daily (another reliably progressive paper) and he's living honest to gosh family values by passing on the values of hard work, stewardship of the environment and concern for other living creatures to the next generation. And if you're voting strictly on the gambling issue, there isn't a dime's worth of difference between Perkins and his opponent on that issue, except that Perkins has no association with gambling interests and he takes no contributions from gambling interests. He doesn't accept contributions from oil companies, either.
See our interview with Perkins where he talks about things like honesty in government and Troy King's wasteful challenge to the health care reform act.
Was Jere Beasley's* broad hint that Michel Nicrosi (who finished 3rd on June 1) "leans toward" James Anderson a kind of back door appeal to turn her voters out for Anderson on Tuesday? Might be, but Michel Nicrosi has put the kibosh on that idea herself, emphasis mine.
Nicrosi said she hasn't endorsed either remaining candidate and doesn't plan to.
...
Not only did she not lean toward Anderson, Nicrosi added, had she decided to publicly endorse either candidate, more than likely her support would've gone to Perkins.
Zing!
Nicrosi was a very non-status quo candidate; Giles Perkins is a much better fit than Anderson for those who want to see something different in Montgomery. I would expect much more of Nicrosi's supporters to turn to Perkins on July 13 -- but it all comes down to who bothers to go back to the polls for a runoff that is the only race on the Democratic ballot in 31 counties.
That's what I asked Giles Perkins, Democratic candidate for Attorney General. Here's his response.
It should be the highest priority of the next Attorney General and the current Attorney General of AL ... to make sure that all the big companies that were involved in this debacle, who were reckless or negligent, pay the price that they're supposed to and that we don't forget about what's going on ...I think the AG should set up shop on the Gulf and be there to help fight and protect those people against the big interests who have cearly destroyed, for some period of time, our economy and our environment down there.
Regarding reports of journalists and photographers being denied access to areas affected by the spill, Perkins said this was an instance where the AG should "get in the conversation and get them the access they need."
I sat down for half an hour with Giles Perkins, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, last Wednesday at the Starbucks in Decatur. Perkins was in North Alabama meeting with several newspapers -- see this write-up in the Florence Times-Daily -- in advance of his July 13 runoff with James Anderson.
You would think that the former Executive Director of the Alabama Democratic Party (1997-99) would be the insider in the race, but that isn't the case this year. His opponent is the obvious favorite of insiders in Montgomery and Perkins is the one running on a message of reform and change, including change within the Democratic party -- more to come on that later.
I asked Perkins why progressive Democrats should view him as their best choice on July 13th.
The reason I'm the best progressive candidate is, I'm the only progressive in the race. I believe that the Attorney General ought to be representing all the people. That often the powerful take advantage of the folks and we need a lawyer for the people that's in there willing to fight for them.
I've got a lot of experience in and around Montgomery. I think that would be helpful in moving forward a progressive agenda, and hope that I would have everybody's support.
The thing about the Attorney General's office is that your mandate is so broad. It just says you represent the people of Alabama and their interests. ... You get to set the priorities and the coming priorities are going to be things like environmental justice. And ... I want to establish a civil rights division in the Attorney General's office because we in Alabama, of all places, should have one. There are many opportunities in that office to move the ball forward for progressive good.
Perkins spoke at length about environmental justice and is a strong advocate for better stewardship of the environment -- his family has a vegetable garden in Mountain Brook, complete with chickens, in part so his kids will learn the relationship between food and the land. Alabama's Department of Environmental Management has a history of lax enforcement and turning a blind eye to environmental violations. I asked Perkins if the AG has any role in correcting that situation:
"We accept in Alabama the idea that you can live to minimum standards, and we should be talking about higher standards in environmental requirements. We also don't need to ruin communities by putting toxic stuff in where poor people live, for a few tax dollars. ... I think the Attorney General has a great deal of power to stop things and more importantly to ask the right questions on the front end and make sure that the right answers are being given. ... The power of the AG's office is just a different thing and it ought to be used to protect those communities. ... It has not been."
Perkins had quite a bit more to say about the AG's role in responding to the BP oil spill which will be the topic of a separate post. Here's what Giles Perkins had to say on a smorgasboard of other progressive issues:
Ethics -- "I think ethics in government is a progressive issue. Honesty in government is a progressive issue. And anybody who is controlled by the special interests is not for independent government."
On Constitutional Reform - "Well, I don't know what role the Attorney General has -- you can be an advocate for it. And it may be that if the process starts you may have some role in opining ... or even in drafting ... when it comes to working out what the document should be. ... Certainly I'm for constitutional reform."
Health care and Attorney General Troy King's challenge to the health care reform law - "His lawsuit doesn't make any sense. It's states' rights political rhetoric. The only legal question that I've seen in this at all is whether or not the federal government can require an individual to enter into a contract. And that's going to get solved from individual suing ... 700,000 people in Alabama now have insurance that didn't and that's a good thing. And no plan is perfect, but we need to support the fact that we're moving forward on health care reform and accessible health care for everybody."
On the anti-choice legislation Robert Bentley introduced last year - "I think whether or not to have an abortion is a choice between a woman, her God and her doctor. People can differ on that issue, but I don't think we need that legislation."
Two days after this interview, Giles Perkins called for a moratorium on the death penalty until it is fairly administered. Another firmly progressive position.
Progressive Alabamians would be well served (as would everyone else) and well pleased with a Giles Perkins administration in our Attorney General's office.
Perkins is worthy of our support -- contribute here* -- and our votes. Turnout is expected to be extremely light in the Democratic runoff two weeks from tomorrow, so every vote counts more than usual. Please vote and take a friend with you. Just as important, since we're at the height of summer vacation season, if you will be out of town on July 13th don't forget to vote absentee.
* Right now Perkins for AG is about $1200 short of their $25,000 fundraising goal on ActBlue. Your contribution (even if it's just $5, $10, or $25 bucks) might be the one to put him over the top. Building a small donor base for the Democratic party -- progressive -- is something else Perkins firmly believes in. It goes hand in hand with his plan to reduce the party's dependence on a few large donors.
"Today I call for a moratorium on Alabama's death penalty. You know, there are a lot of people on death row that are guilty, but we cannot take the risk as a society of executing anybody who's innocent. So until we can guarantee that everybody's got a good lawyer and every defendent's got access to things like DNA testing, we should stop the executions. If you agree with me, then help me get this message out."
In a statement, Perkins said, "We have a broken system, and we should not execute another person until it is fixed. There are a lot of guilty people on death row but we can’t take the risk of executing anyone who is innocent. This is a moral issue. ... We need to provide all defendants good lawyers and good science to make sure we get it right. We should not execute an innocent person while the real killer walks the streets."
I interviewed Giles Perkins a couple of days ago and came away very impressed that this man is where he ought to be in terms of priorities and his understanding of the behavior we should expect from public officials. This stand confirms that. A moratorium on the death penalty is something we all know is a moral imperative, and yet virtually no Alabama politicians have had the courage to publicly call for it. If this doesn't move you to support Giles Perkins' campaign, what will?
Perkins is in a runoff with James Anderson for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General. Turnout is expected to be light -- in many parts of the state this is the only Democratic race on the ballot July 13th -- so it's critically important to remember to vote yourself and remind your friends to vote. There's an opportunity for progress here; let's not let it slip through our fingers.
Yes, there is a statewide runoff on the Democratic side and it's an important one: Giles Perkins vs. James Anderson for Attorney General. Perkins goes into the runoff with the endorsement of the Alabama New South Coalition (who previously endorsed third place finisher Michel Nicrosi.) which he says can be a game changer.
We can win. I write to ask you to help me raise the money I need for the runoff, 4 weeks from today. ANY amount is helpful. Please go to www.perkinsforalabama.com to donate. I thank you for your support.
Perkins needs to hold his own voters and pick up those who supported Nicrosi on June 1 -- of which I am one. More important, he needs to get voters to participate in the Democratic primary, on July 13 instead of meddling in the Republican runoff. And yes, he does need resources to pull this off, so please send him a contribution -- any amount will be helpful.
Although he was Executive Director of the Alabama Democratic Party back in 1998, Giles Perkins is definitely positioned as an outsider this year -- which I view as a good thing. The day after the primary the ADP put out a press release noting (emphasis mine) that "James Anderson and Giles Perkins may possible face off once more for the nomination in a July 13 run-off election" which I took to mean "we really need Perkins to just get the hell out of the way and give Anderson a clear field." Didn't happen, which is how the Democratic process is supposed to work.
Michel Nicrosi continues to run as an outsider, a prosecutor not a politician, not the usual kind of candidate for AG.
"Protecting"
I like this line:
"Over the years we've had one politician after another as Attorney General. Where's that gotten us? ... One system of justice for the powerful and another for everybody else."
The Decatur Daily has a good profile of Giles Perkins, one of the three Democrats running for Attorney General this year.
The 43-year-old Mountain Brook Democrat said the next attorney general should focus on ethics reform and consumer rights.
“It may not be exciting to say it, but what you’re really doing is running a big law firm that has as its client the citizens of Alabama and their interests,” Perkins said. “I believe I’m well suited to do that.”
Attorneys general do not put drug offenders in jail, he said; they supervise litigators who do.
“The attorney general’s job is substantially more than being prosecutor. Most of the prosecutions are handled either by the staff attorneys or, more appropriately, by the district attorneys in the counties where the crimes are committed.”
Perkins pledges to accept no gambling money for his campaign, but in Alabama that's pretty hard to be sure of because of the way money flows -- legally -- from PAC to PAC to PAC until even the recipients can't be completely sure where it comes from. Which brings me to another, very important, quote from Perkins:
“I got in this race because I think we are in a crisis of public corruption in Alabama. If we don’t resolve that, we’re never going to address the challenges that face us. We need good people in government who are tough enough to take it on,” Perkins said. “I think I can do that.”
No kidding. A study a few years back found Alabama the 4th most corrupt state in the nation. Trust in government is unbelievably low in this state and the folks currently running the show haven't done a darned thing to restore the public trust. Here's hoping the next AG will make that a high priority.
With an eye towards the June 1 primary, state and local candidates are thick on the ground everywhere.
AG candidate Michel Nicrosi was recently in Cullman and gave an interview to the Cullman Times. She emphasized how important it is for the state's attorney general to set politics aside when dealing with issues and cases.
Campaigning on a party platform creates a politically-charged environment that Nicrosi said must be separated from the actual office of Attorney General, Nicrosi observed.
“The AG position is a little bit different than the other offices,” she said. “You can’t be driven by politics; it cannot run your decision making. You do things instead as a prosecutor, even if it costs you politically.”
Great idea! We've seen enough at both national and state levels to know what happens when an Attorney General is more interested in scoring political points than in doing his/her job honorably and impartially.
She also noted - as virtually everyone in the state has also - that the relationship between AG Troy King and Governor Riley is dysfunctional and is hurting the state:
“I think what you’re seeing now is a lack of communication; a lot of rhetoric and not much working together,” elaborated Nicrosi. “You don’t ever get to a point where you don’t listen and don’t talk to each other. When you are holding office, you are working for the state of Alabama — you have to put your personalities, your parties, your rhetoric aside and be a professional.
All the Democratic AG candidates - Michel Nicrosi, Giles Perkins, and James Anderson - will be in Huntsville March 4th at the lunch meeting of the Madison County Democratic Women. This is an important race with three interesting candidates so I urge everyone to make an effort to see them in person before the primary.
As reported in a previous "On the Road with LIA" post, we attended the February 5th meeting of the Downtown Democrats club in Birmingham.
We were anxious to see the Democratic Attorney General candidates for the first time. All three: Giles Perkins, James Anderson, and Michel Nicrosi spoke and answered questions. (Please email me if you have a url for Anderson.)
As Countrycat noted in an earlier post, we were most impressed with Nicrosi, but Giles Perkins also came across well. He is an attorney, a former Executive Director of the Alabama Democratic Party and definitely has the right attitude towards the current Attorney General: "Troy King is a disaster and it is our duty to remove him from public life."
As Mooncat reported in a previous "On the Road with LIA" post, we attended the February 5th meeting of the Downtown Democrats club in Birmingham.
We were anxious to see the Democratic Attorney General candidates for the first time. All three: Giles Perkins, James Anderson, and Michel Nicrosi spoke and answered questions. (I can't find Web sites for Perkins and Anderson. Anybody have the URLs?)
I was most impressed with Nicrosi. She presented her credentials as an experienced prosecutor willing to make tough decisions and wasn't afraid to ruffle the feathers of party insiders or hurt their tender feelings:
I've never run for political office before. Some people think that's a bad thing. I look around the government and I think it's a good to be new. [...] If you want the status quo in the Attorney General's office, vote for one of the other guys in this race. At the end of they day, they're all the same: political insiders and lobbyists. If you put an insider or lobbyist in charge of the Attorney General's office, it's like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
Good thing she isn't running for Treasurer. That straight talk would have the party's "inside man," Charley Grimsley, in tears 24 hours a day....
Perkins did a credible job, although is main pitch seemed to be "vote for me because I used to run the Alabama Democratic Party and know lots of influential people.... Oh, and Troy King is a disaster as AG...."
Anderson's speech was, to me at least, bizarre. He wasted over half the time allotted to him by reading the contents of his daytimer for the previous week. During the last 2 minutes or so, he finally explained that he has been the Alabama Democratic Party's lawyer, has served on the Ethics Commission, and been appointed to numerous other statewide boards by Lucy Baxley and others.
Video of Nicrosi and Anderson is on the flip. Mooncat has the Perkins video and will post when she gets the time. Between stalking Parker Griffith, keeping track of the antics of the Alabama Democratic Executive Committee, and interviewing Democratic candidates, we're covered up with video footage here at LIA, so please be patient!
Our esteemed Attorney General Troy King has been in the news pretty frequently recently for his investigation of Senator Ben Nelson's so-called "Nebraska compromise," but thanks to the ubiquitousness of the Google Ads system, he's turning up in some other interesting places as well.
While browsing this excellent Five Thirty-Eight post on Rasmussen Reports' polling practices, the Google Ad sidebar on the site turned up a gem of a Troy King ad. The link takes you to a screen shot I took - if you don't want to click, it helpfully instructs you to visit ALVoterGuide.com for a "voter guide" with "important information for the Attorney General Campaign."
Not surprisingly - the ad does say in the corner it's paid for by Troy King's campaign - clicking on the actual ad itself takes you to Troy King's website. Trying to visit ALVoterGuide.com? Turns up nothing at all.
Maybe it's late, maybe it's the giddy excitement inspired in me by the Iron Chef America White House garden special, maybe I'm just easily entertained, but: really? An ad touting a voter guide that doesn't exist, using an address that points to nothing, directing people to nothing more than Troy King's front page.
Alabama Attorney General Troy King, in his capacity as Alabama state chairman of John McCain's presidential campaign, will speak about McCain's campaign today in Huntsville.
And what do you suppose Troy said at his Huntsville appearance on behalf of McCain? This isn't hard folks, he followed the talking points:
POW
War
Terrorists -- he personalized this point, saying "we must stop them so we don't meet them in the streets of Birmingham and Atlanta."
Although the paper didn't mention it, I'd be real surprised if Troy didn't give a plug for drilling too, but he's probably laying off the "family values" theme these days.
(Is there room for one more post about the AG's payroll? If not, feel free to disregard. :) )
The Birmingham News ran an article yesterday (the online version of which is in serious need of an editor's mouse) detailing the inflated salaries of some of AG Troy King's aides. King's chief of staff and spokesman, Chris Bence, apparently managed to keep a straight face while explaining how King had designated Bence a paralegal this spring -- despite his complete lack of legal education or experience -- in order to increase his salary from $94,000 to $104,400. He says Troy did it to make up for the three years he didn't get a raise. And, according to him, the AG has the authority to appoint five paralegals without regard to their qualifications.
Okay. Assuming Bence is telling the truth about not getting a raise for three years, it might be reasonable to give him what amounts to around a 3.5% annual increase in pay. (Although, geez, $104,000 to be Troy's spokesbot? Maybe it includes combat pay.) What's not reasonable is allowing the AG to confer the title of paralegal on someone who hasn't earned it. It's an insult to the actual paralegals who have put in the time and effort to obtain what is, in the real world, a professional designation.
The article's most explosive account, however, is the meteoric rise of 24-year-old John Godwin, Troy's executive assistant.
Thursday Night on WVTM's 6 O'Clock News, Alabama Attorney General Troy King faced his first questions on camera about his troubled personal life and the possiblity of his resignation.
The journalist asked in very generic terms about the controversy surrounding his personal life and whether or not he would resign. King said something along the lines of "No comment, I'm not commenting on that here. I'm here to talk about the accomplishments of those graduating." [loosely paraphrased] And he was smirking as he spoke.
I've been searching the wvtm site, but they seemed to have nixed putting video online.
It's been two weeks since rumors surfaced that King had been kicked out of his home after his wife caught him in a compromising position with a male aide.
It is somewhat bewildering to see Alabama among the top 10, one analyst told LNL.
Alabama Attorney General Troy King is paid the second highest salary in the nation in a state where lawyers earn an average annual salary of $108,730. With a cost of living adjustment, King's salary would be to $209,664.7 in California's capitol, Sacramento.
"I'm a little surprised Alabama's at the top just because one doesn't associate high salaries with the more rural Southern states," said Michael Shires, a public policy expert with Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
"But," he added, "it's not a smoking gun kind of surprise. It's just: Oh, that's interesting."
Maybe we're paying Troy extra for the added entertainment value he brings to the office. Or maybe it's for his controversial actions as Attorney General. Hat tip to Dan for keeping track of Troy's shenanigans all in one place -- that's getting to be a mighty long list.
Danny is reporting that his sources (the impeccable #1-in-a-jug Steve Windom and King consultant Chris Brown) say Troy King will hang in there as Alabama's Attorney General. And get this denial from Alabama GOP Communications Director Philip Bryan -- “I haven’t heard any plans that he is going to resign.” Strong stuff. Did you even bother to inquire, Mr. Bryan?
We can only hope that Troy Boy sticks it out in his current office, that he goes to the Republican convention to endorse John McCain and even that he becomes the Republican nominee for governor in 2010. I can't imagine anything more perfect.
But here's some unsolicited advice for Troy from this DFH blogger: You can't stonewall your way through this thing. Your office is telling people who call that they won't confirm or deny any rumors. If it's a false, scurrilous rumor, why not just say "There are false, scurrilous rumors circulating and we will not dignify them with further response?" A flat denial would at least convince a few people and provide a fig leaf so others could credibly drop the story.
Instead of dying down, the talk is still picking up steam -- I know that from the Sitemeter at this blog which is in uncharted territory right now on a Friday night, of all things. Journalists around the country are interested in our Attorney General. I'm getting calls from media folks as far away as Washington, DC, for heaven's sake, and that isn't an everyday thing for this peaceful Alabama blogger.
While we're waiting on a denial or confirmation, I'll sort of channel Lucianne Goldberg and Linda Tripp here, with some advice to friends of Troy. If you have the equivalent of a blue Gap dress in your closet, don't send it to the dry cleaners, you know? Like Linda said, "I would tell my own daughter," that she should save the dress "for your own ultimate protection" should she later be accused of lying about the affair.
You never know what the future will hold. Save the evidence to protect yourself.
Update: McCain has scrubbed his website, taking down the page that announced Troy King had been named as his Alabama campaign chairman. Does this mean that King has resigned from that post? Or that McCain has fired him?
Fishbowl America has a screenshot of the original press release, and I know the page was there this morning because I read it and linked to it. More inept coverup from the McCain camp. Here's the Google cached page which says:
Alabama Attorney General TroyKing will serve as Chair of the McCain 2008 Alabama campaign. Representative Bachus and Attorney General King will continue to lead the growing grassroots organization on behalf of John McCain's candidacy in Alabama.
...
"JohnMcCain is the best hope for conservatives to succeed in November," said Attorney General TroyKing. "He is a principled conservative with a clear record of supporting a strong national defense, fighting for fiscal responsibility, and defending the sanctity of life. JohnMcCain has served our country his entire life, and I am honored to lead his efforts here in Alabama."
I just heard from a very reliable source that Troy Boy is resigning as Attorney General. No report of King's official reason, but the unofficial reason almost certainly involves the rumors swirling around Montgomery that he was recently caught in embarassing misconduct. The resignation may be enough to keep King's personal life out of the papers, but I don't look for him to run for governor in 2010.
I'm almost sorry to see him go -- Troy was like a caricature of the Republican party. Never met a death sentence he didn't like, against sexual gratification, publicity hound, etc. ... life as an Alabama blogger will be harder without Troy King.
Davis was open about his future political aspirations. When asked whether he might be a candidate for a cabinet position if Barack Obama wins the presidency, Davis argued that he had other plans.
“Senator Obama can find someone much more qualified than me for attorney general,” Davis said. “I am not interested in being in the cabinet.”
What would Davis be interested in? How about being the state’s first black governor?
“I don’t think I have made any secret about my ambitions,” he said. “We are probably eight, maybe seven months away from a definitive statement.”
I don't know. There's an emerging case for John Edwards as Obama's VP pick. If that happens, Davis would move to the top of my list for Attorney General. He's young, smart and well liked -- AG could be an excellent next step for him.
Davis is smart to talk about alternative energy sources. We had an opportunity to change 35 years ago and we lost it. Jimmy Carter was right in pursuing solar, wind and conservation and Ronald Reagan was dead wrong to take the country off that path.
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The Decatur Daily has a good 
Although Troy Boy hasn't yet returned to the 
Thursday Night on WVTM's 6 O'Clock News, Alabama Attorney General Troy King faced his first questions on camera about his troubled personal life and the possiblity of his resignation. 
Danny is reporting
