Luther Strange Campaign Slogans

Big Luther is running against Troy King for attorney general.  Here is the usual rundown:  Montgomery Advertiser; Press Register; and the Birmingham News.

Now he just needs a slogan.  Me, being ever helpful, volunteers:

Tim James and a New “Road to Nowhere”

From the Montgomery Advertiser: Tim James feels timing is right on 2010 gubernatorial bid.

Using $2 million of his own money, James has been building a road that he hopes will land him in the governor’s suite of the Capitol building. . . .

Too easy. . . .

Artur Davis (or his peeps) Should Read This Map

The Center For American Progress has a great map showing Democratic progress in elections since 1988.  Click on it here.

Click on Alabama and click on a few of the counties.  Discuss amongst yourselves, draw your own conclusions.

Artur is a good guy, but he won’t be Governor.

Time Magazine drops the ball on Artur Davis

Nice article in Time on Artur Davis.  Artur is a good guy and an excellent congressman.  Too bad he will soon be returning to public life.  I was struck by this quote:

Davis will find his toughest proving grounds in the state’s largely white northern hill country. “They know his candidacy doesn’t make sense in the context of Alabama’s history,” Browder says.

They should have added Davis will also have a tough proving ground in the Wiregrass region of Alabama.  Here are President Obama’s vote percentages from the Wiregrass counties and Artur cannot improve on these numbers.

Houston      29.47%
Dale               27.51%
Geneva         18.47%
Coffee            25.40%
Covington   20.66%
Crenshaw     30.97%
Escambia     35.62%

I hate to throw cold water on the party, but here it is.  Artur Davis cannot win this race.

Team Artur

I continue to believe Artur Davis cannot win the Governor’s race in Alabama in 2010.  However, he has assembled a pretty impressive campaign staff.

Jessica Vanden Berg – she helped elect Jim Webb in Virginia; Impressive.  Read about her here.  Sharp, very sharp.

Ben Chao- again, very impressive.  Check out his work here.

One thing drove me crazy about Ben Chao.  Click on the “Revisionist” ad he did for Josh Segall (A great Americian who should be in Congress).  The music and the images in the ad touched something deep in my subconscious but I couldn’t identify what it was.

Now I know and am filled with even more respect for Ben Chao.  (To understand, you have to watch the “Revisionist” ad before you click this:)

Artur Davis, “No Religion Has a Corner on Truth”

I hate to slam Artur.   But he can’t be elected Governor in Alabama.

Here is a taste of what the Repubs will hammer Artur with in the fall.  He says, immediately at the start of the clip, “No religion has a corner on truth.”

The problem is there are a ton of folks in Alabama that sit in the pews and are told every Sunday the Bible is the only truth.  Religion is the justification for all their political beliefs.  (Abortion, School prayer, etc.)

And here is Artur telling them Christianity has no corner on truth.  And yes, before you slam me, I watched the rest of the clip and I understand where Artur is coming from and I understand what he is saying, but I don’t know how he explains that in a 30 second ad.

But I can see the Repubs ad now.  A tense, stressed announcer’s voice says, “Artur Davis is against Religion.”  Cue quote from above clip.  Insert concluding snide remark about what Artur believes or doesn’t believe and why he shouldn’t be Governor.

Too easy.   Too perfect for the quick soundbite of what passes for political discourse.

Compare that to Judge Ashley McKathan and his wearing of the Ten Commandments on his Judicial robe.  “McKathan told the Associated Press that he believes the Ten Commandments represent the truth “and you can’t divorce the law from the truth.”

“The Ten Commandments can help a judge know the difference between right and wrong,” McKathan said.

Alabama is more likely to buy Judge McKathan’s version instead of Artur’s.

Artur Davis- Delusional?

Artur Davis is telling the world he is going to run for Governor of Alabama in 2010.  The Birmingham News reports:   “. . . he plans an announcement in early February, after which he will “travel the state for several days and take my case to the voters of Alabama.”"

Meanwhile, the Montgomery Advertiser has this to say about Representative Davis:

On Wednesday, he outlined a scenario for the governor’s race.

“I think there are going to be eight or nine of us who are going to be getting in the governor’s race. And I think the eight or nine of us will be making announcements between January and March,” he told reporters.

As for himself, he said, “I am going to save the formal announcement until early February.”

Okay, I will say it.  Artur, I like you, but man you are delusional if you think you can be Governor of Alabama.  I like your speeches, you are pretty cool, but you-can’t-win-a-gubernatorial-race-in-Alabama.  There.  I said it.

Look, Harold Ford, a guy with more charisma and more electable, could not win in Tennessee, you can’t win in Alabama.

Geez!  Barack Obama, a man widely reported to wear pajamas with a large “S” on them under his suit and able to leap buildings with a single bound, could only muster 39% of the vote in Alabama.  What makes you think you can do better?

And don’t tell me Race doesn’t matter anymore.  This is Alabama.  Race is gonna matter for some time.  Sorry.  Truth hurts.

Artur, if you run, you are going to be beat.  And beat bad.  And it won’t just be you, every Democrat in Alabama is gonna take a beatdown too.  Do you really want to be known as the guy who screwed the pooch for the Democratic Party in Alabama?

Or do we need to get you on this show?