Edwards makes campaign swing through conservative Alabama


Well, the ‘Have Your Cake and Eat It Too’ Tour rolled into town last evening to raise money for the Dems. Nice party up at the ultraswank Summit Club on top of the AmSouth-Harbert building, where they raised $600,000 or so that they can now use to go and complain about the corrosive effects of filthy evil Republican lucre on the purity of the body politic.

Whatever.

Anyway, I was watching the Wendy Garner Show this morning and they had a short clip with the normal sound bites--‘not red state and blue states, only the United States,’ followed quickly by the assertion that there are, in fact, two Americas. Wonder if either one is closer to Cambodia than the other?

But I wax impertinent.

What struck me most was the earnest Kerry (not Kerrey, by the way)/Edwards supporter waiting at the AmSouth-Harbert plaza to greet the Great White Hype. Paraphrasing, she said she was TIRED of the Republicans thinking they had Alabama all tied up, and that she wanted to let them know that there were a LOT of Alabamians who were going to vote Democratic, and that she was out to change some minds along the way.

Which is good. Helps to have dedicated partisans to get your message out.

But I marvel at the cold comfort that so many Democratic supporters seem to take in blaming the Republicans for EVERYthing. If the kind lady was so concerned about the Republicans thinking they had a lock on Alabama, she might want to first look at her own party organization.

The Kerry/Edwards campaign headquarters here in downtown Birmingham has been open in a storefront on Birmingham Green--the main drag through downtown--for months now. The only evidence of its presence, however, has been a slapdash posting of little 18 x 24 inch yard signs in the windows. No permanent sign marks the spot (although it appears they did stick up a bigger banner in the window for the event yesterday), but worse yet, the lights are always off, and no one is ever there. Although it might make you feel better to castigate the Republicans for taking Alabama for granted, it appears to be a much worse thing for the Democrats to concede it without a fight. The biggest city in the state, and the whole operation looks less organized than an Andy Hardy barn show.

Sorry, lady. You can’t blame that on the Republicans.
posted by Terry at 8:19:00 AM