Alabama Politics in
Doc’s Political Parlor
& Home of Lawn Mower Repair

I hear people getting ahead of the game on what kind of majority will control the state Senate. Some I’ve heard are ready to hand the leadership to a coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats. That may be exactly how it ends up, but it’s too early to know with certainty.

Gov. Riley knows this:

Riley, who tried but failed to organize the Senate four years ago, said neither side should claim victory before the Senate votes.

“It will always be a fluid process,” he said.

The Senators know this:

If the alliances that are shaping up this time hold - and senators on both sides say there is no guarantee they will - Barron could be out of power by the same narrow margin that he used to gain control eight years ago.

Dissident Democratic Sen. E. B. McClain:

“There’s a lot of jockeying around. We’ll just have to see,” he said. “Things are still pretty fluid.”

Sen. Larry Means shows no certainty that the six will caucus with Republicans:

Means said some Republicans have been “nicer to us than ours” and if necessary the six will organize with Republicans. “We formed something called the Alabama Senate Democratic Caucus,” Means said.

I don’t mean to throw cold water on your predictions or hopes for the Senate. Me? I think I agree that it’s as likely as anything that we will have a solid Democratic majority without Barron as pro tem, and perhaps with more responsibility given back to the Lt. Governor’s office.

But right now it’s like looking at the baseball scoreboard in the 5th inning. We just can’t be sure how it ends up.

It’s fluid.

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