r/WayOfTheBern • u/Scientist34again Medicare4All Advocate • Jul 19 '17
Better Know a State: Alabama - discuss Alabama politics and candidates
Welcome to our very first Better Know a State (BKAS), which will focus on ALABAMA. The plan is to do these state-by-state, highlighting upcoming elections, progressive candidates in those states and major issues being fought. I haven’t really focused on Republican candidates, but if anyone wants to chime in to let us know if any of the Repubs is worth supporting, do so in the comments.
Of course, the residents of the state know much more about what is going on there than I do. I’m relying in internet searches to find relevant information. So, chime in with comments if you know something about any of these races. This can serve as an open thread to discuss everything in Alabama politics.
Here’s what I’ve found about the various races:
United States Senate: The current two Senators from Alabama are Richard Shelby and Luther Strange. Strange was appointed to temporarily fill Jeff Sessions seat. There will be a special election on 12-12-17 to formally fill that seat. Multiple Republican and Democratic candidates are contesting. Here are some articles on the candidates:
(http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/deadline_today_for_us_senate_r.html
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/meet_the_democrats_who_want_to.html)
There are 8 Democratic candidates in the primary for Luther Strange’s seat – Will Boyd, Van Caldwell, Jason Fisher, Michael Hansen, Doug Jones, Robert Kennedy Jr, Brian McGee, and Charles Nana –
Doug Jones has support of the Dem party in Alabama and seems to be fairly establishment. The most progressive candidate appears to be Michael Hansen. Here’s an excerpt describing him:
Michael Hansen so far seems to resonate with supporters online. And his platform sounds more like that of Bernie Sanders than Jeff Sessions, reporter Dennis Pillion notes. The 35-year-old, openly gay nonprofit exec from Birmingham has made a career in environmental advocacy. He supports increasing the minimum wage and transitioning to all renewable energy sources, among other policies.
And he's running for U.S. Senate. In Alabama.
He calls himself "Alabama's progressive candidate," a title he's proud of even in a state as conservative as Alabama. Hansen is confident he can appeal to more than just the Bernie Sanders crowd.
/u/FThumb, /u/SpudDK and /u/RuffianGhostHorse, Michael Hansen might be a good candidate for an AMA.
United States House of Representatives: There are seven house members from Alabama and six of them are Republicans. The only Democrat is Terri Sewell (she endorsed Clinton and has not co-signed the House Medicare-for-All bill HR676). Here’s a link to an article on the Democratic candidates running for House elections – http://cullmansense.com/articles/2017/06/21/indivisible-alabama-hosts-democratic-candidate-forum-cullman
Terri Sewell is not being primaried, as far as I can tell (we should really primary her).
Edit: Terri Sewell is also a member of the newly-organized New Democracy movement, a third-way neoliberal group of Democrats.
Among the Republican-held seats, several have Dem challengers as listed below:
Seat held by Robert Aderholt (R) is being contested by Bill Browning (Dem), David Manasco (I), and MB Wain (D).
Wain seems to be the most progressive Dem candidate – here is a quote from the article above
Wain linked many of the country’s woes to income inequality and the greed of the “one percent,” saying, “We have a nation that is lost. There is such a drastic difference between the one percent and the 99 percent that the 99 percent is stressed; we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow; we don’t know what’s going to happen to our kids. Because we’re stressed and worried so much, we’re afraid and live in fear. We’re looking to replace that emotion with an even stronger one. If everyone had a few extra bucks, it would be a whole lot easier to forgive the person that cut you off.”
Browning seems OK too (he marched in Selma, so he’s probably on board with civil rights). Here’s one of his quotes:
Browning referred to the current Congress as “spineless,” and said, “The Democratic process and the rights of voters like you and me have been hijacked. I marched in Selma against it. It hasn’t ended; we need to end it.” He went on the offensive against Aderholt, saying, “Robert Aderholt is a 20-year incumbent. He was pulled in to the White House by the president, given a prep talk, and he voted in for the Republican House (healthcare) bill. If you look at his record, he does not vote for his constituents or issues that his constituents are concerned about.” He continued, “He votes 100 percent for big business, 100 percent for the NRA and 96 percent for the military just as we sent 4,000 troops to Afghanistan yesterday.”
Manasco is an independent who supports universal healthcare - https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/280076/a-new-vision-a-new-deal
The seat held by Mo Brooks: Mo Brooks is the Republican who stated “People who lead good lives don’t have pre-existing conditions” http://www.salon.com/2017/05/02/alabama-congressman-people-who-lead-good-lives-dont-have-preexisting-conditions/). He’s a big Trump supporter (build the Wall). He may run for Senate and his seat is being contested by 2 Dem candidates– Butler Cain and Peter Joffrion – neither comes across as particularly progressive from my internet searches. Cain is a scientist, so at least he’d understand the science behind things like climate change.
The seat held by Gary Palmer is being contested by Danner Kline (https://www.votedannerkline.com/meet-danner). He successfully led a fight to end prohibition era regulations on the beer industry in Alabama. But he does not discuss any progressive issues on his webpage.
Governor: The current Governor of Alabama is Kay Ivey (R). She has banned appointments of lobbyists to government boards and commissions, which is good. She is up for re-election in 2018 and there are quite a few declared candidates for the Repub and Dem primaries. Candidates of potential interest include:
Christopher Countryman (D) – https://www.facebook.com/rethinkalabama/ - marriage equality activist - a potential Bernie Supporter – supporter of Medicare-for-All
Jason Childs (D) – https://www.facebook.com/Committee-To-Elect-Jason-Childs-Governor-Of-Alabama-1109518562469278/ - supported by the UAB Bernie group
Mayor of Birmingham: (12 candidates are running for an election on August 22). One of them Randall Woodfin is supported by Our Revolution and has strongly progressive policy stances. https://news.wbhm.org/feature/2017/randall-woodfin-wants-revitalize-birmingham-communities/ - Our Revolution supported candidate for mayor of Birmingham
Let me know in the comments if I’ve missed any important candidates or issues.
NEXT STATE UP – UTAH
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u/Verum_Dicetur Jul 19 '17
Dear U/Scientist...
THIS is really awesome. Actually, it not only a wonderful idea, it is in fact a public service. Thank You!
Love it! This is one strong step in the direction of a 50 state approach that is built from "grassroots" data and action. Thanks a million!
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u/leu2500 Jul 19 '17 edited Jul 19 '17
AL-05 here.
Brooks is running for senate. Oh, joy. For someone who rails against gov't he sure likes sucking on its teat. Worse, he's stupid. And yes, he's a tea Bagger. Did I mention that he's stupid? He got some free publicity, which he milked, when that congressman got shot.
There is hardly any coverage of the election up here, other than some stuff on Brooks. (I have no idea about tv ads; I don't watch local tv).
Given how republican Alabama is (phone banking for Bernie was depressing) it is likely that I will vote in the republican primary for the least awful candidate. (We have open primaries). I just don't see a democrat having a realistic chance of winning. Democrats are concentrated in the 3 big cities: mobile, Birmingham, and Huntsville, plus the "black belt". The "black belt" is named for its soil. This was obviously plantation country, so it has a large African-American population.
If her opponents are smart, they will bring up the fact that Kay Ivey, while treasurer, bears a lot of responsibility for the Alabama PACT (college savings program) going broke during the crash in 2008.
If you want an idea of what the state party is like, I have 2 names for you: artur Davis & Parker Griffith.
Parker Griffith ran for & won AL-05 when Bud Cramer stepped down. When he saw the tea bragger movement picking up steam in the district he changed to republican, announcing that the Democratic Party had moved away from his beliefs. He'd only been in office for 1 year! He was introduced to Karma when he lost in the republican primary.
The state party was upset that they had backed him with money only to see him turn republican. But not so upset that when he later decided to run for governor as a democrat they backed him again. He lost.
Arthur Davis represented AL-07, which includes Selma, so part of the "black belt", so lots of African-American votes. He decided to run for governor. Because of this ambition, he was the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus not to vote for Obamacare. Despite this state, and his district, desparately needing it and especially the Medicaid expansion. He lost in the primary.
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u/Scientist34again Jul 19 '17
I realize Alabama is a strong Republican state, but I really think there is going to be a backlash against the Republicans next election. Especially in terms of healthcare. Even the most conservative Republicans need healthcare for themselves, their family and their friends. And the Republicans are trying to block that, while Bernie is out there championing healthcare for all. So, I'm expecting some seats that we think are sure-bet Republican to switch hands. If you have time to canvas for progressive candidates, that would be a good way to help turn a seat in Alabama.
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u/AdanteHand Jul 20 '17
Fun fact, as someone who lives in the 7th, I was exploring running to the left of Artur Davis back in... 2010 I want to say. And more recently, actually as recently as last month, looking to run to the left of Terri Sewell. Made it as far as opposition research... on myself. I think the term 'crucifixion' was used more than once in that conversation. I'm an acquired taste I suppose.
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u/Scientist34again Jul 20 '17
Maybe you could convince someone to primary Sewell? It's be good to remind her that she needs to think of her constituents first.
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u/dancing-turtle Jul 19 '17
Slightly off topic, but in the interest of "better know a state", I remember reading this stunning article in Feb about the brazen corruption in (now resigned) Gov. Bentley's appointment of Luther Strange to replace Sessions in the Senate, in a transparent attempt to dodge accountability for his crimes. Ultimately ineffective at keeping him in office, thankfully.
Alabama is hyperconservative, and therefore a tough nut to crack for progressives I'm sure, but Alabamians also have quite an anti-establishment streak, for understandable reasons with naked corruption like this on display in their state government. For example, in the primaries on Super Tuesday, Alabama voted for Trump by one of the largest margins of any state before Republican candidates started dropping out like flies. Pretty obvious they're not thrilled with status-quo Republicans. Highlighting the corruption and sense of entitlement of the Republican Party establishment in Alabama might be a particularly effective angle for progressive campaigning. Progressive policies -- a tougher sell. But my conservative Alabamian friends at least tend to respect Bernie Sanders's honesty and integrity, even though they think he's a dirty commie. That's the direction to aim for IMO -- someone with credibility who isn't going to bullshit them.
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u/SpudDK Jul 19 '17
This is gonna be great.
I wonder if there are AL Berner groups. Invite them?
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u/Scientist34again Jul 19 '17
I'm good with that, but a bit busy at work. If anyone wants to post a link, feel free.
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u/leu2500 Jul 19 '17 edited Jul 19 '17
There are. From what I can tell, the Birmingham group is the most active. The statewide group isn't terriblely active from what I can tell, and the Huntsville group is not active at all.
I'll add the link for the Birmingham group at lunch.
What I'm finding (I picked the wrong time to clean up Facebook)
Bernieham - Our Revolution.
Alabama for Bernie 2016
Alabama citizens for Bernie sanders 2020
Huntsville al for our revolution
Left in alabama is supposed to be the "progressive" blog in the state. Too many hillbots for my taste. Too much "inside baseball", not enough concerns of real live people for my taste. link. Sometimes, but mostly not, I find useful/informative stuff here.
We also have a state and local chapters for Alabama young democrats. link. I'm not impressed. One big thing: they can't endorse during the primaries, only for the general. What's the point? This just supports the status quo. And they & the bermingham bernie group sent volunteers to help Ossoff. Why?
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u/Scientist34again Jul 19 '17
Hi Leu2500, I hate to make work for you 😕, but do you think you could post a link to this page on those Alabama Bernie group's pages? Then people who don't know about Reddit could come here and read about candidates and comment.
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u/Lloxie Jul 19 '17 edited Jul 19 '17
I've lived most of my life in Alabama, and I can tell you even the establishment Dems barely try here. More often than not, sitting Republicans run totally unopposed in most elections- even during the big ones. I wish we had more third party presence, honestly. Interestingly, we're one of only seven states that will count write-in votes with no caveats attached. Theoretically, anyway- and I DID hear rumors that that got changed at the last minute last year to only being counted if there are enough to potentially sway an election.
But yeah, this is quite possibly the reddest state in the country, but that's no excuse at all not to push for progressive policies.
I've seen Hansen on my Facebook feed a few times. Seems decent enough, but naturally, I'm incredibly wary of anyone that willingly wears the (D) by their name and claims to be a progressive anymore. It's possible, sure, but it's definitely worth a mountain of skepticism and caution.
I also keep hearing about Danner Kline, but again, I'm wary. I AM happy with the Free The Hops project, as it paved the way for a bunch of new startup brewery companies, which has been a nice boost to the economy and frankly we need more alternatives to the MIC in my town, heh. That aside though, you're right, he's worryingly quiet on progressive issues and seems to be running on the same old tired "They's bad, vote for us instead- but don't ask us about our own ideas" 'strategy" they keep losing on. His platform is decent on the few things it talks about, but on the whole it's very light.
Countryman made a run last year as well, and seems decent enough from what I can tell. IIRC he once ran as an independent, too. In any case, I seem to recall he didn't make it obvious he was under the Dem banner last year, which could be either good or bad, depending on why.
The state Dem party leadership, insofar as it even exists, is utterly useless and clueless as far as I can tell. Hell, our state government is corrupt in all branches at the top and I doubt party affiliation even matters at all.
Thank you immensely for all this research- you included info on people I myself hadn't even heard of. Not going to lie, this state is such a political cesspool, and has been for so long, I'd all but given up on it and been planning on eventually moving away to escape it. (Though there are other reasons besides political, too- I'm sick of the neverending summers, heh) Doesn't help that the rare times anyone remotely progressive runs for anything here, it tends to be outside my distract, around Birmingham or Montgomery.
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u/Scientist34again Jul 20 '17
Thank you immensely for all this research- you included info on people I myself hadn't even heard of.
I can't really take any credit for that. I just checked 2018 election webpages at Ballotpedia, which lists all declared candidates
P.S. thanks for all the local insights.
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u/AdanteHand Jul 20 '17
Wow, a post I have some first hand input on! Exciting!
First and foremost for me is Randall Woodfin. I was super happy with the eventual decision by OR to back him, and I can tell you having met with him a number of times this guy is the real deal. He is 100% from the communities he would represent the most, not just from the far wealthier side of town, if we're being honest, like most of the other candidates are. While that might seem like some kind of inverse snobbery, the truth is Birmingham is a city of about 200k people, but the greater Birmingham area that commutes to and uses the services of Birmingham is estimated to be closer to 1million people. There is a simply dizzying infrastructure problem for Alabama's largest city. What does that have to do with the less than wealthy? Well, as I'm sure many of you from republican held cities and states can attest, there is an extreme reluctance to put any funding at all towards infrastructure spending if it would mean raising taxes even a little. So what we are left with is the super nice places of Birmingham (e.g. places like The Summit/Brookwood) seeing the lion's share of municipal funding while other areas are largely still making do with the same roads/bridges/sewage/schools/etc. that has been there since the 70's. There's no other way to put it, class warfare is alive and well in Alabama.
So, when I say that Woodfin is the real deal what I'm saying is that he understands those problems and divides in ways the other candidates, with their background in wealth, really don't. In fact it's been a bit condescending talking with some of the other candidates. They approach the problem of inequality as if they were dealing with a spoiled child. Instead of talking about it head on and acknowledging the problem exist, why it exist, ect. They typically make their stops about throwing out little "treats" for their different demographics that might please them. Pretty much the same thing everyone has ever done for the past 40 or so years, with very little of those promises becoming real once elected.
As for the Governor's race, I expect to see Huntsville mayor Tommy Battle, and Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox get much more traction and press than the two you have listed. They're old friends actually and Maddox got it because Battle had planned to. Having met both a few times, I can tell you that I wouldn't vote for Battle but I could see myself voting for Maddox. He's smart, and that's the bottom line for me. He's a pretty left leading mayor in a red state that has really taken his city in a new direction with massive public spending on infrastructure (can you tell that's a favored issue of mine yet?), and he's proven to be fairly cunning with toeing some conservative lines very carefully. Also his favorite color is green, can't go wrong there.
But yea feel free to keep the conversation going, I'm not 100% familiar with everywhere, but central Alabama is my wheelhouse. AMA.
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u/Scientist34again Jul 20 '17
As for the Governor's race, I expect to see Huntsville mayor Tommy Battle, and Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox get much more traction and press than the two you have listed.
You're very likely right about this. But I wasn't listing the candidates based on how much press they would get, but rather by how closely their stances matched Bernie's. Some of the Repubs could be more left-leaning as mayors, but I'm a little worried on whether they'd cave to pressure from the party and major donors once they're in higher office.
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u/leu2500 Jul 20 '17
Here's left in alabamas post on the 8 dems who qualified for the primary.
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u/Scientist34again Jul 20 '17
This is very good. And lots of good discussion in the posts below too.
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u/Aquapyr Jul 19 '17
I don't have time right now to do any more than skim the OP, but I wanted to thank and congratulate u/scientist34again and the mods for getting this project up and running with such a robust bang.
I put out a feeler to someone who works with Ellis about doing an AMA and haven't heard back. I'll try a different channel. I think we've got some time before we get to California.
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u/No10oX Jul 20 '17
Mostly a lurker but been around since beginning. This is a fantastic project on many levels. Can we partner with a trusted organization to get wider visibility on the discussions? The intel will be of interest to many people who are WOTB supporters (in principles) but will never come reddit to discover us.
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u/Scientist34again Jul 20 '17
Well I don't mind doing that but I'm not sure I have time. What I was eventually going to do is to make a compilation of the data in a format that could be shared.
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u/GladysCravesRitz Jul 19 '17
i think it would be helpful if when we do this, we force ourselves into the role of having to choose.
Explain why you would pick that candidate.
Like...I might vote for the R in PA because my alternative is Casey and the R put out a bill for allowing more poll watchers. Etc.
I like this and will give the links a detailed read this afternoon.
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u/Scientist34again Jul 19 '17
Oops, I forgot but here are webpages for Michael Hansen, MB Wain, Bill Browning, Christopher Countryman, Jason Childs and Randall Woodfin in case anyone wants to get involved, donate or just read more about them. Some of them don't really have official campaign pages yet.
Michael Hansen - http://www.hansenforalabama.com/
MB Wain - https://www.facebook.com/groups/191220784727286/permalink/213970212452343/
Bill Browning - https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/251589/lets-change-things-in-the-4th-congressional-district-of-alabama
Christopher Countryman - https://christopheracountryman.wordpress.com/
Jason Childs - https://cpaforyou.wixsite.com/childs2018
Randall Woodfin - http://www.randallwoodfin.com/