Vanity of vanities; all is vanity

House Democrats urge Siegelman not to contest race

For all the local folks who continue to cast the Alabama governor's race as a repeat of Florida, this should give you some pause--

DAVID WHITE
News staff writer

MONTGOMERY--Democrats in the state House of Representatives Thursday urged Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman not to ask the Legislature to pick Alabama's next governor, which they say could badly hurt the party.

"It'll ruin the Democrats. They'll be perceived as trying to take the election," said Rep. Joe Carothers, D-Dothan, a 28-year legislative veteran.

He and more than a dozen other House Democrats, in town for a caucus meeting, said in interviews that they don't want Siegelman to contest the governor's race, which would force the House and Senate to pick a winner after hearing complaints and judging the evidence. [...]

Despite the constant yowling of Siegelman and Rip Andrews about uncounted votes, or the ballots being too difficult for Siegelman supporters to figure out, or discrimination or dark conspiracies--it is apparent that when even YOUR OWN PARTY says it's time to call it a day, it's time to call it a day. The only problem with Coruthers' comment is that Donnie doesn't give a rat's nekkid tail about the future of the Democratic Party in this state--his only concern is himself.

And once more, the only source of Siegelman's complaint is an erroneous, unofficial tabulation sheet given to the press on election night--his own campaign staff knew the count before the tabulation was released, as did Riley's, and Siegelman knows he lost. Yes, it was a slim margin, and yes, Alabama probably does need a mechanism for automatic recounts in close races that removes the final decision away from both the Legislature and the courts, and yes, Alabama did not do a good job of insuring that conflicts in the Election Reform Act of 1983 were removed, BUT, even the Dems know this fight is better fought another day--they already hold all the power--both Houses, the lieutenant governorship, the secretary of state, and the continued interference of power-hungry Siegelman is getting in the way of their own reelection prospects in a couple of years.

Just another day at the sausage factory.

(By the way, the story about Siegelman saying that his uneducated, illiterate supporters couldn't understand the optical scan ballots used in the state--his direct quote was: "I would argue that most of Bob Riley's voters have taken a test where you have to fill out those things," Siegelman said. "I represent poor people, working class folks, mom and pop store owners. A lot of those people didn't necessarily know the right technique to vote an optical scan ballot." --is particularly interesting given that Siegelman was elected to attorney general in 1986, lieutenant governor in 1994, and governor in 1998 using those very same optical scan ballots. In any case, basing your argument on the failure of stupid people is another one of those dogs which won't hunt.)
posted by Terry at 9:00:00 AM