Election! (Huntsville, Jackson, Sanford: 2009, college, live)

[zenjenn]

Tomorrow's the day.

Who watched the Sanford-Hall debate? Thoughts?

My main question is.. what was Hall talking about when she kept bringing up "comments that Mr. Sanford didn't distance himself from." Not everyone listens to local talk radio. What is she talking about? Why wouldn't she tell us what comments were? If those comments are so terrible, I'd think she'd be eager to share them?

[DvlsAdvc8]

Sanford's people keep calling my freaking cell phone with automated attack ads on Hall.

I called the contact number on his website several days ago and the person said they would make sure my number was removed from the list. Lo and behold... I get another automated call last night.

Guess who isn't getting my vote?

[Reactionary]

DvlsAdvc8 - hopefully Hall won't be getting your vote - which is more important: punishing Sanford for your justified pique at a flawed phone system or voting for Hall who abides the Democratic Party's culture of corruption (stealing money from children re: the 2 year college system scandal which has resulted in the convictions of several Democrat politicians).

zenjenn - Hall was talking about Dale Jackson at WVNN who said that black voters who vote at 90% for the Democratic Party are like "lemmings" - which apparently is a racial slur to Hall. Jackson brought up the subject after Hall ran ads on WEUP targeted at black audiences accusing Sanford of being a racist because Sanford "doesn't care" about her "community". Plus the ALGOP noted Hall's double-dipping and vote for the 62% pay raise, and bringing up those issues is also racist.

Hall played the race card. She is counting on a high black turnout to win the seat and inciting racial division is how she plans to win. Blacks make up about 35% of HSV (and also Senate 7 district). Hall hopes to win 90%+ of the black vote and then she just needs about a third of the white vote to win. BTW, this works.

IMO Sanford should have called her on playing the race card, but he's too nice to do that. Plus it's tricky to pull off.

BTW, Dale Jackson supported Roger Richardson in the GOP primary against Sanford. Richardson is black; he is a frequent guest and sometimes hosts Jackson's show.

[zenjenn]

I don't listen to Dale Jackson regularly but I have caught snippets of his show here and there. I'll be the first to identify certain talk show hosts as being needlessly incendiary but I don't think Dale Jackson is one of them.

That statement is more or less true. It's difficult to even determine what Laura Hall intends to do for this district. Her web site was devoid of any information that would tell us how she stands on the issues, and her responses at the debate only offered some marginal insight. She is not particularly eloquent or charismatic. On the basis of merit alone, there no way is she the kind of candidate that should logically draw 90% of the vote from ANY group, especially if you consider that social conservatism is well-entrenched in many facets of African American culture.

But I do get it. Being black and openly voting Republican isn't easy. (I can relate to it - being a Jewish woman who openly votes Republican is hard enough.)

[CFOTOCEO]

"But I do get it. Being black and openly voting Republican isn't easy. (I can relate to it - being a Jewish woman who openly votes Republican is hard enough.)"

That is very true, well said.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Being black and openly voting Republican isn't easy. (I can relate to it - being a Jewish woman who openly votes Republican is hard enough.)

No. Being Jewish and openly admit he/she is a Christian.. now that's really hard !

[caution]

Sanford won, according to the Huntsville times

Sanford wins Senate District 7 race - Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com

note that's a pre-formed URL, so it may change

[deesonic]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

No. Being Jewish and openly admit he/she is a Christian.. now that's really hard !

Let me try to one-up... Being Southern, straight, white, male, prior military and voting Dem! That is until yesterday when I voted for Sanford. It's the first time I have ever voted GOP. Not that I always vote Dem either. I consider myself a left-leaning libertarian (with a lower case "L") actually. I often vote Libertarian or third party, but mostly Dem. At any rate, I try my best to avoid political affiliation because I believe that to be short-sighted as I find no party has a monopoly on correct answers. I find Reactionary's comment about "the Democratic Party's culture of corruption" to be an example of partisanship negativity that is unnecessary. I think both major parties are equally lacking in integrity overall and both have a few good folks as well. Now Reactionary and I know each other personally and I'm sure he respectfully disagrees with me as always. We're bound to have a beer and discuss it one day I'm sure.

I actually like Laura Hall just fine. I actually used to indirectly work with her at Calhoun. She was a very well respected administrator at Calhoun and I found no one that I worked with who had anything bad to say about her. This alleged time sheet controversy was in no way a factor in my vote for Sanford yesterday. What swung my vote away from Hall was her vagueness and downright evasiveness when questioned about issues, her race card playing in ads and the debate, and her being so ill-prepared for the debate in general (showing up late, seeming confused, defensive, etc). Sanford, on the other hand, was sharp, calm, clearly verbalized his ideas, etc. He seems like a man on a mission to make positive change and I think he'll make a fine Senator. And for what it's worth, Hall is still my district's representative.

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

DvlsAdvc8 - hopefully Hall won't be getting your vote - which is more important: punishing Sanford for your justified pique at a flawed phone system or voting for Hall who abides the Democratic Party's culture of corruption (stealing money from children re: the 2 year college system scandal which has resulted in the convictions of several Democrat politicians).

Considering that I am new to the state and know nothing of the issues here, I did not vote. Sanford certainly didn't gain a vote from me with that nonsense however. Ideologically speaking, I'm more liberal than most Alabama Democrats - so Sanford might not have gotten my vote anyway.

As for "the Democratic Party's culture of corruption" - I hope you are specifically referencing the party in Alabama (which I am unfamiliar with), because the national party is no more corrupt than the Republicans.

In this state I'm not going to see eye to eye with anyone electable, so voting for me is going to be very similar to when I lived in Mississippi - chosing lesser evils occassionally trumped by specific issues.

[Charles]

Numbers hint race a factor in District 7 - al.com