For some reason, Tuesday's Possumblog is stuck on car stories--Toyota weighs at least 4 sites

One of them being in Fackler, Alabama up near Scottsboro. This would be another nice addition to Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai, and the Toyota engine plant already in the state. I have never let my distaste for Dapper Don Siegelman, our royal governor, stand in the way of acknowledging his prowess, along with that of the Alabama Development Office, in attracting these folks (whether such deals are good for the state is another topic)--HOWEVER, much of their success in the past has been the ability of everyone to keep their big yaps shut until the company decides what they are going to do.

This discretion has been uniformly praised and pointed to by the companies as one of the reasons for locating in Alabama. This being an election year, though, and one in which Dandy Don has a pretty good fight on his hands, means he thinks he has to take credit for everything and start breaking some of his own rules:

[...] A spokeswoman for the Mississippi Development Authority said Monday the agency does not comment on economic development projects, as did a spokesman for Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.

But Siegelman told The Huntsville Times in a Saturday story the state is making a play for the project. The Times story first reported Fackler was in the running but didn't mention specific sites in other states.

"We have a very competitive. (sic) This is a very competitive situation," Siegelman told the newspaper. "A number of states are competing and Alabama's offer is very competitive, but my standard refrain is, I don't comment on an industrial prospect until it becomes a reality." [...]

'I don't ever comment. Except now, because I want everyone to know I am trying to buy some votes by letting everyone know we are going for another auto plant. Not that I would comment.' Wrong move, Don, even though I'm sure you think it's for The Children™. If the competition for this plant is as hot as that for your seat, you may have just blown it, giving Toyota a reason NOT to come here.
posted by Terry at 9:21:00 AM