Birmingham Blues

ETA:  This was another in a long line of well-organized and informative events sponsored by the Over the Mountain Democrats.  Mooncat and countrycat from Left in Alabama were there too — see coverage here.

There was a good crowd for the OTM Dems gubernatorial forum tonight.  My take?  Artur Davis was the clear winner.  He was relaxed, confident and well-prepared.  Ron Sparks came across as angry and defensive.

Davis supports a citizens’ convention to rewrite Alabama’s outdated 1901 constitution.  Sparks wants to let the legislature do an article-by-article rewrite,  which is never going to happen.  Even if there were the will, there isn’t enough time in the legislative session to get it done.  Davis wants diversified economic development; Sparks is putting all his money on legalizing and taxing the hell out of gambling.  Both of them oppose marriage equality, but Sparks was the only one who felt the need to assert that “marriage is between one man and one woman” (and let me say how much I appreciated the dead silence from the crowd as they went through their verbal gymnastics explaining how some people are more equal than others).

And, when the electability question came up, Sparks played the race card, basically saying that Davis can’t win because he’s black and we’d better vote for Sparks instead if we want a Democratic governor.  “We know how Alabama is.”  You know what?  He may be right, and what a disgusting thought that is, but he chose the wrong crowd for that dogwhistle.

I went into the forum undecided.  I saw one man fixated on a single idea to shore up revenue and fund education in the state, and I saw another who has a long-term vision of what this state can be and the smarts to back it up.  I have my differences with Davis — his lack of support for LGBT equality frustrates me no end, and I don’t like the weaseling on health care reform — but Sparks sounded for all the world like a Republican.

If I had to make a decision tonight, there’s no question who would get my vote, even if I have to hold my nose a little while I cast it.

The Over the Mountain Democrats are sponsoring a gubernatorial forum tonight featuring Agricultural Commissioner Ron Sparks and Congressman Artur Davis (D-7th District).  The forum will be held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and begin at 6:30 PM, but I suggest arriving early to beat the crowd.

Come and bring your questions for the candidates.  See you there!

ETA:  Feel free to post your questions in comments.  I’ll be happy to pass them along if you can’t attend tonight.

The hoopla of Super Tuesday is long past, but Alabama has another primary coming up on June 3. Want to know more about the candidates running for local and state-wide office? Here’s your chance to find out.

Over the Mountain Democrats* is sponsoring a candidate forum tonight at 6:30 at the Homewood Library Auditorium featuring Vivian Davis Figures, candidate for US Senate, Debra Bell Paseur, candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court (Judge Paseur has a conflict and won’t be able to attend), and other Democratic candidates running in the upcoming primary. This event is free and open to the public.

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* along with Birmingham Young Democrats, Shelby County Democrats, Magic City Democrats, Greater Birmingham DFA-PDA, National Jewish Democratic Council (Birmingham chapter), Hoover High School & Mountain Brook High School Young Democrats