During a chat on politics while home visiting friends and family in Birmingham Ala., one friend remarked that candidates who speak in `positives' rarely do well in campaigns for state office in Alabama. She pointed to the legacy of unfortunate condescension, that use political formulas where candidates steer people's attention from true `center of life' issues towards hot button social topics.
Of course, this is probably one of the easiest, oldest and cheapest tricks in politics but, fueled on by a media focused on the sensational, it often works, not just in the South, but, across the nation,
And, for some us who grew up or live in Alabama, headlines seem to say this deep-south state has produced more than its fair share of these dangerous political games.
Over the past few weeks, Americans have met Alabama Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim James, the 48-year old son of former Governor Fob James who was noted in part for blunt language and loud opposition to the teaching of evolution.
The younger James, a millionaire businessman, has inspired news headlines, sneers from liberals and now a barrage of viral videos based on a real television campaign ad where the candidate for governor tackles Alabama's practice of offering drivers license exams in 12 languages.
During the ad, James looks earnestly into the camera and say's "this is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it." One would be hard pressed to find evidence that offering drivers license tests to a variety of languages is a `central to Alabama life issue,' nonetheless, since the ad's debut, James' poll numbers have gone up and local interest in the governor's race has jumped. These days, he's drawing big crowds as he criss-crosses the state in the `common sense' express.
James' exploitation of anti-immigrant sentiment is one of the latest incidents in an immigrant backlash we're seeing in many states like Arizona. But, in Alabama, one can't help but draw comparisons to other candidates who, especially during times of economic instability, have exploited the insecurity of voter fear and insecurity.
As meticulous research in the book `Alabama, Portrait of a Deep South State,' notes, in the 1960's, when poor whites who'd recently entered the middle class saw their earning power failing to keep pace with inflation, instead of acting rationally and organizing or joining unions, they often acted in non-rational ways, "through scape-goating, fatalism, or blind rage." To champion the cause, "they chose George C. Wallace.".....more at
Just had an email from a friend with the rumor George Wallace, Jr. will be running for office again. It didn't specify which party or office, but I'd bet on GOP -- any of the second tier offices are possible, unless his two previous terms mean he can't serve again as State Treasurer. After Wallace became a Republican, he was elected to the PSC and ran unsuccessfully for the Lt. Gov. nomination in 2006.
I totally agree with my friend's assessment of Wallace, Jr. as a candidate:
With George, Jr. you get to use the ultimate Southern putdown: "He's not the man his daddy was."
It's a question floating around blogs, newspaper editorials and letters to the editor. Why did PACT parents and grandparents think their investment wouldn't lose money? Furthermore, the questions ask: "I've lost a lot in the market, so why should tax dollars prop up your dumb investment?"
...but if it was just some glorified mutual fund, aren't the people who invested in the program culpable also in this matter?
I mean there is something called "Buyer Beware"...that it is incumbent upon everyone that signs a contract to know what they're getting themselves into. Thats why you need to read any contract before signing it, or if you're unable to for whatever reason, to get a competent lawyer to do so for you. I think, after giving it some thought, I for one need to see the contract before rushing anymore into this blame game.
Below the fold, I'll try to answer some of the questions and criticisms I've seen in a FAQ format. One that I certainly hope is more illuminating than the one the PACT board put up.
Oh, there's also a short video of parents and grandparents at the Montgomery parent's meeting on March 12th. They tell their stories. One is a banker who describes how George Wallace Jr. (then state treasurer) solicited the Alabama banking community to sell the program to the public in the early 1990's. Other parents read from their contracts... words like "guarantee" and "assurance" are in each one. To my knowledge, the definitions of those words haven't changed in the last 20 years or so.
Healing must come, hope will be our lodestar, humility will reshape the American conscience, and honesty in both word and deed will refresh and invigorate America, and having Barack Obama to lead will give us back our power to heal."
It's a cheap political stand, and it provided King a chance to insult Owens, a Republican who joined other district attorneys in backing King's Democratic opponent in the 2006 election.
The state of Maryland is planning to release George Wallace's attempted assassin from prison within coming months. Arthur Bremer has served 35 years of a 53 year sentence and is being released early for good behavior. However, Alabama Attorney General Troy King is protesting the early release, producing this headline in the Washington Post:
Ala. Hopes to Keep Wallace Gunman Jailed
That's certainly the way to let the rest of nation know that we're over our racially divisive past. Thanks to King's actions, the Post's readers (including countless political and business leaders) now think that the state of Alabama is going to bat for a segregationist a full four decades after the struggles of the Civil Rights movement played out in the streets of our cities.
I understand that Troy King likes to pretend he's tough on crime, but this is simply political grandstanding because Alabama's Attorney General has absolutely no jurisdiction and very little influence within Maryland. All this maneuver does is reinforce a negative impression that most of the nation has about our state.
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Just had an email from a friend with the rumor George Wallace, Jr. will be running for office again. It didn't specify which party or office, but I'd bet on GOP -- any of the second tier offices are possible, unless his 
Peggy Wallace Kennedy, daughter of former Alabama Governor George Wallace, will i
