Ouch.

Adam Serwer 

writes in a blog entry in The Washington Post:

The role black Republicans play has nothing to do with winning over black voters Rather, it’s all about reassuring white Republicans that there’s nothing wrong with the party’s approach to racial issues.

     It got me thinking about black Republicans in Alabama. Tuskegee's Johnny Ford used to be a Republican, but I think he returned to his Democrat roots.  

     Others? If not, why not? The state GOP has tried over the years to attract more black members and candidates, with little success. 

[UPDATE: GOP makes big gains in poor, young, white males. Especially since President obama's election.] 

Recall

      Libertarians, first or second-cousins to Republicans in Alabama, seem to be the most passionate advocates of Recall and Referendum.   

      The first would allow voters to "un-elect" someone who has proved a disappointment in office, without having to wait for the end of the election cycle.

      The second allows citizens to collect signatures to put a bill before legislators for a vote.

     In my 35 years in Alabama, I have interviewed or talked with many people who wanted voters to have those powers.

     But the legislature itself that would have to make it happen.

     In Wisconsin, there may be an indication why the new GOP Majority Alabama Legislature (and The Democratic Majority who preceded them) hasn't rushed to embrace them. Legislators there are about to face recall elections, and are now rushing to pass their favorite laws before they are tossed out of office.

     It's easy to push through your agenda (except, apparently, to revoke a 61% pay raise) when you have super-majorities in both houses. But Alabama is a poor state, and not just a poor black state. And when you chop away at programs that help Gramma or Cuz or the poor old neighbor lady, and refuse to fund public education at a sufficient level for the kids to learn without spending time selling cookies to pay for their pencils, recall is always lurking around the corner to bite you back.

     Unless you've never allowed voters to have that power in the first place.

The Governors New and Old

     At Noon on Monday, Bob Riley will ride off into the sunset on a motorcycle (as the story is being spun), and Dr. Robert Bentley will become the state's 53rd Chief Executive.

      Both men are Republicans, but there a significant distance between them, despite comments about how supportive Riley is being and how many long meetings the men have held to make the transition go smoothly.

     The most obvious part of the chasm stems from Riley's support for candidate Bradley Byrne as his successor rather than Bentley, who came from behind (in money and expectations) and won both the GOP runoff and the General Election.

    But two other pieces of evidence have presented themselves since the election.

    Though Bentley says he gave his blessing to Riley's decision to call a special session on Ethics before he left office, Bentley really had no choice. What could he do other than protest publicly? Bentley says he did not see any of the legislation before the session---despite the claims of cooperation---and now he's told CBS 8* there may be changes to some of the bills once he takes office. One of those could be the new law that prevents AEA member teachers from having their dues withheld from their state paychecks (called The Kill AEA bill by members). Byrne and Riley used AEA as a whipping boy while Bentley accepted campaign contributions from the group and avoided rhetorical attacks.

    And then there was Friday's sudden resignation of Republican Alabama Supreme Court Justice Champ Lyons, and the equally fast replacement named by Riley on his last workday in office. What was the hurry? After all, a fellow Republican was taking over on Monday---did the Riley Administration not trust Bentley to name a new justice? Or did Riley just want to appoint his longtime friend Jim Main to the post, and not give Bentley the opportunity to start making his own imprint on the Judiciary?

     One way or the other, it will be a different four-year term in the Capitol, even though the new and the old Governors display the Capital R after their names.



[* You can watch the entire interview with the Governor-Elect Monday morning at 5:30am on CBS 8 in Montgomery.]