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Last night at a Montgomery function, Roger Bedford (D – Russellville) was telling people that he was going to run for governor, including a lobbyist that spoke to me today. “He said he had had a conversation with some people, and they convinced him he could win the Governor’s race. He said that Folsom was one of those people.”
“Roger and I are friends, and I said, ‘You know, Ron Sparks is going to run.’ We’re all friends, and I said, ‘I wish you weren’t going to do that.’ He said, ‘Ron is my friend too, and I don’t think he could win. I’ve been convinced I can win, and I’m going to run.’”
“He told others [last night] he was going to run. But another lobbyist told me that Roger said this morning that he was ‘almost certain’ he was going to run, said it in a very positive way. But that tells me that he got some feedback from others, and he’s thinking about it.”
“I talked to Ron Sparks last night, the three of us spent some time together. Ron said [about Bedford running], ‘Well, I hate it, but I’m going to announce I’m running for Governor.’”
Is Folsom encouraging or orchestrating Bedford’s potential candidacy? A source close to Folsom said, “Jim has made it clear that he is not getting involved in the governor’s race. He is not orchestrating anything but anyone would certainly understand him having encouraging words for his longtime friend Roger Bedford.”
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The Mountain Brook Clubite is on the web: http://lutherstrange.com
On why he lost in 2006:
“In the 2006 general election Luther was the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor. As a first time candidate, he ran a remarkable race against a Democrat whose father was governor and who himself had already served as both Lt. Governor and Governor. He lost by 1% in the single worst election year for Republicans in 30 years.”
Also, important to note, there are not any pictures of lacoste shirts or tennis rackets.
Luther has had real jobs, where you got your hands dirty, unlike Bedford who has made a living off the people of Alabama
Bedford may be a good guy who is close to Jim Folsom but he cannot win. Sparks or Davis would be much stronger than him in a general election.
can one run for two offices at once (Gov. & state senate)?
no
Luther had real jobs, where he got his jobs dirty? Like lobbying for major corporations moving Alabama jobs to Mexico? Or working for investment funds with a minimum buy-in of hundreds of thousands of dollars? Or sitting on a cushy bank board for his best friend, with a bank with a hugh minimum account level, and a very high board compensation? Where can I get jobs like that?
Roger Bedford is one of the best and most charming campaigners in the United States.
Do not underestimate his abilities.
I have personally observed him working a crowd and was amazed.He even had republicans charmed!
just not sure how he sees his way through the crowd, i mean he’s got that personal driver because he is blind, right?
a personal driver that WE pay for
Is working on a North Sea boat as a Ordinary Seaman enough of a real job?
Bedford one of the “best and most charming campaigners in the United States”, lost his last statewide race to an unknown Jeff Session.
So, does the indictment hurt him? I’m asking, really, just curious on what the wise ones here think
By the time the Birmingham News, much less Davis or the Republicans, finished with Bedford on ethics, he would be under indictment again. The idea of a Bedford candidacy is a first class example of lobbyists in Montgomery thinking that their world counts in the rest of the state. other examples: blacks don’t like Davis based on the insight that black legislators don’t like Davis; better example, the statehouse animus toward Bob Riley, when the rest of the state gives Riley a 70 percen approval rating; best example, the belief that voters dismiss the juco investigation as politics, when most voters believe that about ten more legislators should go to jail.
Anon #11, I think you hit the nail on the head in general. That said, my encounters with folks have been a little different on the JUCO mess. Most believed that the first prosecutions were desereved but are not so sure about Sue Schmitz. Many people have conveyed to me their dismay that they could get Sue Schmidtz for being a lazy teacher making $70,000, but they couldn’t get Roger Bedford for all his shenanigans worth much, much more.
11, Pretty dang accurate. Especially on the juco angle. Folks are tired of hearing about legislators (and a governor) being convicted of felonies.
Bedford can raise money, has a proven record, and with all of his health problems, can relate to normal voters.
He forces a runoff with Artur.
He should be able to raise money, yes. Has a proven record, sure, but the record that he has proven will certainly not resonate positively with the voters. Health concerns won’t exactly instill confidence, regardless of whether or not voters identify with his health problems. So not real sure, my senator, where the proof is that he could force a runoff, much less win said runoff. But “let the people vote”
I don’t understand this. The very best situation Dems can ask for is that he wins and then gets impeached and sent to prison. No way if he wins he serves 4 years.
There are a lot of white Democrats that are desperate to have a strong candidate so that they don’t have to support an African American. Several North Alabama Democrats have been openly concerned about losing their general elections if Artur is the top of ticket in November.
So, Roger will have a ton of support. There will probably be as much spent on the primary as the general considering how high some top Democrats view the stakes.
The Obama/McCain results have people very worried.
Sparks won’t stay in the election. He will announce and run but will pull out next January and then support Roger.
I would much rather have Artur as governor than Bedford even though I disagree with him philosophically. This is because I think Davis, unlike Bedford, has a few ethical bones left in his body.
If Bedford runs against Davis and Sparks it won’t be a run off with Davis. It would be doubtful that he ever poled above 15%
Danny…he is from Russellville not Rogersville.
Thank you, Charles! I knew that (and had it right in the previous post) but I guess our proofreader has a case of spring fever right now. …sigh… Fixed. Thanks again!
This situation should be a wake up call for black Democrats. Davis is obviously a smarter and better candidate than Bedford and Sparks put together, but the Democratic establishment is rejecting him due to race.
Don’t forget that Bedford will have the support of the uncrowned King of Alabama – Noopie Cosby – for Governor.
Re #15 – What the people of Alabama are tired of is legislators and governors doing things that get them indicted and convicted. That is a big difference.
Which is why Bedford is the worst choice possible for Democrats. What a joke!
It’s easy to be a charming campaigner when you have a check in your pocket that belongs to your constituents.
Call them “lobbyists” or “party leaders” or “party elites,” what these Democratic leaders know is that Davis cannot win in usually Democratic counties like Lauderdale, Colbert and Etowah, where Obama lost badly. A Democrat who loses those counties is like a Republican who can’t win in Shelby or Baldwin: hopeless.
Bedford has not one, but two, statewide losses. AG in 1990 primary, and US Senate in 1996. But both of those are long ago. The biggest question for Bedford now is, what happens when these same Democratic leaders begin to think about November electability? They may not love Sparks, but they’ll love Byrne, Strange, James or Moore even less. Unlike Bedford, Sparks can take ALFA’s money and organization away from the GOP, and can deliver a lot of Sand Mountain votes that used to be Democratic, but have become part of the Republican base.
Davis has zero chance to win the general. Obama got 10% of the white vote in Alabama, which is half of what John Kerry got in 2004. The Democratic establishment is not being racist, they are just recognizing reality that the people of Alabama are racist, and will not elect a black statewide.
Maybe the people of Alabama are conservative -not racist.
If Obama is at 10 percent popularity with white voters in November 2010, Davis would not break 40. If he is at 30, Davis would hover around 45-46, If Obama is at 40, Davis will be inviting the President to his inaugural.
Two points
1. Davis needs about 30-35% of the white vote to win the election if he gets black turnout like Obama did. Given that Obama got 10%, I don’t think that is likely at all.
2. William- John Kerry was no powerhouse among white voters in Alabama, he was perceived as a liberal too, yet he got 19%. Also Bush was lot stronger in Alabama in 2004 than is John McCain in 2008. Further, Obama did significantly better among white voters outside the South, Obama got 49% of whites outside the South compared to Kerry’s 43%.
Putting it all together, I can come to just one conclusion why Obama would do that much worse than Kerry in Alabama.
James – there is a possibility that you could be right but I just don’t accept these over-simplified comparisons. The Bush/Kerry race was in a completely different political environment than the McCain/Obama race. It isn’t an apples to apples comparison (political races never are) and you are making the assumption that the only positive correlation to make the difference is race. I don’t know that to be true.
William, the “completely different political environment” in 2008 was MORE FAVORABLE TO OBAMA than the environment in 2004, meaning that James is correct, race is the only explanation.
The white South still has substantial racism, and even if today it’s display is limited mostly to conversations between white people behind closed doors, the fact is it will show up at the ballot box when either a black candidate.
The South does have substantial racism as does much of the rest of the country. But Rep. James Fields obviously overcame it, as did Oscar Adams in the eighties. Davis will have to overcome race, but I have seen a reference on some blogs to a recent poll of Alabamians showing Obama has become considerably more popular with whites in Alabama, about 35% approval rating, 47% approval rating overall. Davis would not have to do much better to win.