Doc's Political Parlor

The recent off year elections in New Jersey, Virginia and New York have kept the political pundits chattering the last few days. Everyone seems to have the answer to what the message was from those elections. Of course my side of the aisle will claim (and to some extent are correct) that this is a repudiation of the Obama administration. Democrats will continue to push the spin that these were solely local races with no national implications. I fear that both of these arguments taken in the absolute are akin to an ostrich sticking his head in the sand. I think the message that these elections sent were not nearly as black & white (or red & blue) as the so called experts would like for us to believe. I do believe that these elections did give us a peak into the upcoming 2010 elections here in Alabama and across the country.

This was an election of unhappiness. Unhappiness with some of the spending practices in Washington drove the elections to a large degree. However passions inflamed on both sides of the aisle in the health care debate brought many conservatives to a fever pitch. But even more foreboding for both Democrat and Republican elected officials (I would be included in this class) is the deep unhappiness with elected officials in general. Voters are in an anti-establishment mood. While they are not happy with the direction that congress is headed under the control of the Democrat Party, they are not embracing the leadership of the Republican Party either. It is more a vote for “anyone except the person who is currently there,” than anything else.

In 2010, Alabama will one of the most hotly contested Governor’s race it has seen in a while. It will also probably see the closest battles for control of the legislature in over a century. I believe the elections we saw last week tell us that neither party has the love and support of the electorate right now. It will be up to both sides to prove they have a real plan (more than the bumper sticker slogans we have worn out) to solve some of the state’s economic and ethical problems. Incumbents who are viewed as part of the problem will not be given a pass because of party affiliation. Voters are upset and they are going to take their anger out on someone at the polls. While it is still too early to say how much anger will be in place when November 2010 rolls around it is safe to say that with the economy being the way it is, this discontent is not subsiding any time soon. The party that addresses that anger in a way that makes the voters feel that their issues are being heard and finally acted upon will be the party that can harness all that political energy and turn it into victory in 2010.

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Back Online

Danny — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:33:09 +0000

A couple of times now something has gone awry at the site that has caused it to eat up resources to the point that the host company had to suspend the site so as not to bring the whole server down.

I blame tea partiers, the 1901 state Constitution, Mississippi’s casinos, Paragon Source, and the health care reform effort.

Plus a couple of other technical considerations that I hope to address before they cause an issue again.

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Daily Headlines, Friday, 11/6/2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:10:10 +0000

Birmingham News - Archibald: Price of business was high, but the cost higher

Birmingham News - Alabama National Guard solider among 31 wounded in Fort Hood shooting; 12 killed

Press-Register - Angry fishermen plan protests of limits on snapper and other popular Gulf fish

Press-Register - Kenyen Brown’s U.S. attorney nomination goes to full Senate

Press-Register - AG says county can give money to USA football program

Press-Register - Mayor Jones requests bond issue to fund museum, other projects

Press-Register - Nodine, Dean express concerns with chamber

Huntsville Times - 380 oppose authority home buy

Huntsville Times - Battle pushes Ares I work

Huntsville Times - Sound off about sales tax

Huntsville Times - PACT changes investing strategy

Huntsville Times - Looking for a PACT rescue

Montgomery Advertiser - Lawmakers put pressure on contracts

Montgomery Advertiser - PACT board turns to non-politicians for help

Montgomery Advertiser - Renovation delays give Salvation Army residents reprieve

Montgomery Advertiser - IRS seeks check recipients in area

Montgomery Advertiser - Superintendent suggests new study on MPS consolidation

Montgomery Advertiser - Low tax revenue may lead to furloughs

Montgomery Advertiser - State reports 3,600 jobs from Kia

Montgomery Advertiser - Foreclosures in Alabama will get worse, real estate expert tells forum

Montgomery Advertiser - Kia plant boosts jobs in Alabama

Tuscaloosa News - UA plan marks civil rights role

Tuscaloosa News - Langford: Jury reached guilty verdict too quickly

Tuscaloosa News - The $162,000 question: Is it a ditch or a creek?

Tuscaloosa News - School board split OK if all is equal

Tuscaloosa News - Maddox’s restructuring plan a good idea

Anniston Star - Tell it to Alabama: More signs of tax inequity

Anniston Star - Sharing oversight isn’t ideal: 2-year colleges need board

Anniston Star - Phillip Tutor: Crimson jerseys and lawsuits

Anniston Star - James L. Evans: Sharing God’s concern for poor

Decatur Daily - New era of economic development

Gadsden Times - DOT halves local match on Black Creek Parkway project

Gadsden Times - United Way celebrates $1.3 million raised

Opelika-Auburn News - Kia appeals to laid-off plant workers

Opelika-Auburn News - Smoot lawyer denies SEC claim of payments

New York Times - Southern Dems Cast Wary Eye at Election Results

New York Times - Court Rules Tyson Foods to Pay $250K in Labor Suit

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Small town political gazette

waltm — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:09:44 +0000

Troy Messenger - Brundidge City Council man to stand trial

Andalusia Star-News - For local merchants, new one cent sales tax would be …

The Tuskegee News - Encore visit for Obama’s education tour

The Piedmont Journal - Love in action: One church found a need and filled it

The Daily Home - State tax system holding the state back

The Selma Times Journal - Time to adjust city pay

The Monroe Journal - Water Works should move forward with expansion

Dothan Eagle - Reckless bid-ness

Cleburne News - Johnson visits Heflin

Hartselle Enquirer - Ronald Grantland not seeking re-election to House

Daily Mountain Eagle - Aderholt begins agriculture tour

The Piedmont Journal - Brian Young mulls run for HD-40

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28 Sheriffs Endorse Ron Sparks for Governor

Danny — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:43:22 +0000

Speaking of Ron Sparks… 28 sheriffs across the state gathered today to endorse his Democratic candidacy for governor.

We keep up with press releases here at the Parlor for you - particularly the ones received that meet what I intend to be modest guidelines for submission.

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Johnson Believes Millions of Casino Dollars Influence Gov to Oppose Electronic Bingo

Danny — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:25:55 +0000

Former Riley Cabinet member and gubernatorial candidate Bill Johnson makes hard accusations:

“I was in the leadership of the 2002 and 2006 Riley for Governor Campaign,” Johnson said Thursday morning during a press conference he called at the Country Crossing development south of Dothan.

“We received money from the Mississippi Indians — millions of dollars.“

Johnson concluded with his belief that Riley’s aggressive opposition to the electronic bingo portion of Country Crossing is because of these outside influences in the form of campaign contributions.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ron Sparks jumps on [.doc], saying, “I want to commend Bill Johnson for revealing Bob Riley’s hypocrisy on gambling. ”

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Wheels Slowly Turning to Replace U.S. Attorney in Middle District

Danny — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:56:21 +0000

Obama was elected a year ago this week and has been in office since January. What kind of politics is at work that has led Obama to nominate Joyce Vance to the U.S. Attorney spot in the Northern District in less than four months, but to leave Bush appointee Leura Canary as U.S. Attorney in the Middle District to this day? Has a deal been struck to leave Canary in place? Many of you have heard the whispers suggesting just that. I wrangled the person most knowledgeable about the process that I could find and asked about it.

This individual recalled that Redding Pitt was appointed by Bill Clinton to replace James Wilson [who had been appointed by Bush I] in the Middle District in August 2004, some 19 months into Clinton’s administration. Using that yardstick, there is nothing extraordinary at work here with Obama yet to name a replacement 10 months into his administration.

Still, why even this delay? The source lays it out for us.

An advisory committee headed up by Artur Davis recommended two names for the Middle District: Michel Nicrosi and Joe Van Heest. Sen. Jeff Sessions raised objections about Nicrosi. (A customary practice that most presidents have followed is to respect a “hold” put on a nomination for U.S. attorney, federal judge, or appellate judge by a U.S. Senator in the state where the appointees would serve.) Nicrosi worked with Sessions in the Southern District when Sessions was the U.S. Attorney. The source offers that perhaps because Nicrosi clashed with some of Sessions’ hires in the U.S. Attorney’s office, “Sessions was openly critical of Nicrosi, and the White House decided to go in a different direction.”

There were no initial objections to Joe Van Heest, though Sen. Richard Shelby eventually decided to oppose Van Heest’s nomination. The nominal reason that Shelby blocked Van Heest, according to the source, is that Shelby objected to some aspects of Heest’s law practice; others have speculated that Shelby blocked Van Heest because Shelby has another name he would rather have nominated. Efforts to get Shelby to lift the block have not panned out.

Since then the nomination has been offered to and turned down by Delores Boyd, Truman Hobbs, Tracy McCooey, Vanzetta McPherson, and Bobby Segall. Charles Price refused to be considered for the position.

Artur Davis had suggested attorney George Beck to the Justice Department as an alternate in case Shelby would not release the hold on Van Heest, and Bessie Ford’s “Inside Politics” newsletter has recently suggested that Beck has emerged as the likely nominee.

Our source familiar with the process believes that there is a very good chance that the matter will be resolved in a matter of weeks in one of three ways in this order of likelihood: 1) Shelby will release the hold on Van Heest, 2) George Beck will be nominated, or 3) the Obama Justice Deparment will send in a career person from outside the state, similar to what George W. Bush’s Justice Department did when it sent Deborah Rhodes to the Southern District of Alabama.

A deal to keep Bush appointee Leura Canary? That’s not what we hear.

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