[Reactionary]

Even Democratic Congressman Artur Davis said that "Bob Riley is the best Governor in my lifetime".

zenjenn - 2010 Governor Race:
Dems - Congressman Artur Davis of Bham and AL Ag Secretary Ron Sparks of Fort Payne have announced for Governor. State Senator Roger Bedford of Russelville is reported to be considering it.

IMO Davis wins the Democratic Primary due to the Statewide black vote plus liberal Bham vote. Sparks should be a contender (he was the biggest vote-getter statewide in the last election), but he won't get many black votes against a black candidate.

GOP - Tim James of Greeneville (son of Former Gov Fob James), 2 Year College Administrator Bradley Byrne (who cleaned up the corruption), and State Treasurer Kay Ivey are probably running.

I don't see a frontrunner yet on the GOP side.

For more information see Doc's 2010 Big List.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

Even Democratic Congressman Artur Davis said that "Bob Riley is the best Governor in my lifetime".

zenjenn - 2010 Governor Race:
Dems - Congressman Artur Davis of Bham and AL Ag Secretary Ron Sparks of Fort Payne have announced for Governor. State Senator Roger Bedford of Russelville is reported to be considering it.

IMO Davis wins the Democratic Primary due to the Statewide black vote plus liberal Bham vote. Sparks should be a contender (he was the biggest vote-getter statewide in the last election), but he won't get many black votes against a black candidate.

GOP - Tim James of Greeneville (son of Former Gov Fob James), 2 Year College Administrator Bradley Byrne (who cleaned up the corruption), and State Treasurer Kay Ivey are probably running.

I don't see a frontrunner yet on the GOP side.

For more information see Doc's 2010 Big List.

Tim James? Ugh. The guy is a halfwit, just like his father. Heck, the last election he got about 3% in the GOP primary. Part of it was the family name. Another part of it was that he looked like a neanderthal on the political ads. The only way he could have looked any dumber is if he wore animal skins, held a club over his right shoulder and said, "Oooooo, fire hot."

[james_hsv]

"Alabama's Best Governor Ever"? haha. That title has a low standard. If you don't go to prison, you win. But Riley has raised that standard quite a bit. I really liked the guy. He didn't support a state lottery or constitutional reform, which I didn't care for. But his accomplishments and reforms greatly outweighed the "un"-accomplishments. Remember when we used to be 48th or 49th in the nation in everything? Now, I rarely see Alabama in the bottom 5 (except for obesity). Granted, we're still in the bottom 10. So there's still a whole lot of room for improvement, but at least Bob got us on the right track.

Right now, out of those who have announced/expected to announce to run for 2010, Artur Davis has my vote. Heard him speak a couple of times, seems like the kind of guy I would vote for-- a Montgomery outsider with a desire to seriously reform the state government. And think about what he would do to the state's image if he won! He does have his disadvantages, such as his voting record in Washington being a little more left than I (a moderate) would like it. But I don't see anyone else in the running (yet) that is any better. They all seem to be crooked, or want to make this state into a evangelical pseudo-theocracy.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by james_hsv

"Alabama's Best Governor Ever"? haha. That title has a low standard. If you don't go to prison, you win. But Riley has raised that standard quite a bit. I really liked the guy. He didn't support a state lottery or constitutional reform, which I didn't care for. But his accomplishments and reforms greatly outweighed the "un"-accomplishments. Remember when we used to be 48th or 49th in the nation in everything? Now, I rarely see Alabama in the bottom 5 (except for obesity). Granted, we're still in the bottom 10. So there's still a whole lot of room for improvement, but at least Bob got us on the right track.

Right now, out of those who have announced/expected to announce to run for 2010, Artur Davis has my vote. Heard him speak a couple of times, seems like the kind of guy I would vote for-- a Montgomery outsider with a desire to seriously reform the state government. And think about what he would do to the state's image if he won! He does have his disadvantages, such as his voting record in Washington being a little more left than I (a moderate) would like it. But I don't see anyone else in the running (yet) that is any better. They all seem to be crooked, or want to make this state into a evangelical pseudo-theocracy.

Actually, you're wrong on an important point. He expended considerable political capital early in his term to back an attempt to rewrite the constitution, which was voted down in a popular referendum. Unfortunately, it was voted down be cause of the backing of entrenched Old Boy interests in the state. So you have to at least give the man props for that.

[james_hsv]

^What? Are you talking about the massive tax increase that was voted down in 2003? The reason why that was voted down was because it was so dang huge... $1 billion+ if I recall (but I do commend him for that... he put his political career on the line to do what he thought was best for the state). But I don't remember a constitutional rewrite being a part of it. Even if it was, he has since retreated back to the opinion that the current constitution should be rewritten "piece-by-piece."

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by james_hsv

^What? Are you talking about the massive tax increase that was voted down in 2003? The reason why that was voted down was because it was so dang huge... $1 billion+ if I recall (but I do commend him for that... he put his political career on the line to do what he thought was best for the state). But I don't remember a constitutional rewrite being a part of it. Even if it was, he has since retreated back to the opinion that the current constitution should be rewritten "piece-by-piece."

There were two different referenda, if you recall. And the rewriting "piece by piece" is more realistic, given the reactionary legislature we still have.