The problem is the Democratic Party of Alabama. An awful mess looks better.
In Tuesday’s elections, Republicans won top to bottom in statewide and congressional races that had credible Democratic Party challengers.
And across those races, the Democrats were clearly, unquestionably, more qualified than their stale, same-as-always, mostly race-baiting, health care-hating, fear-mongering Republican incumbents.
Gov.-elect Kay Ivey clearly ran the better campaign. Democrat and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox had a plan for just about everything. He campaigned non-stop, answered every question, laid out his ideas, and lost in a landslide.
Ivey stayed quiet, refused to debate, promised nothing new, laid out no plans, and won in a rout.
It was pretty much the same across the board. Republicans offered nothing new; Democrats offered a lot new; Republicans refused to debate; Democrats answered questions. Republicans ignored their voters; Democrats engaged them.
Republicans, across the board, won easily. It wasn’t even close, in even the closest race.
But here’s the big difference: The Republican Party of Alabama has its stuff together. It knows how to run campaigns, knows how to win and what will win, and follows through.
The Democratic Party of Alabama does absolutely nothing. It’s a meaningless little club, for meaningless little people who think they can wield power, but only in their tiny, grotesque imaginations.
So all those Democrats who were shellacked on Tuesday stood alone without statewide Democratic Party support. Republican candidates had the winning infrastructure; Democratic candidates had losers running the state party – the same losers who have been running the state party for way too long now.
Credit those candidates — Walt Maddox, Will Boyd, Judge Robert Vance, Joe Siegelman, Heather Milam, those running for Congress and other offices – for doing a helluva lot –basically on their own — with their own campaign organizations, grassroots canvassing teams, fundraising, and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Many, many progressives (and Republicans) came out, too. It took me a half hour to vote Tuesday morning, most of that time spent in line. The only other time I’ve seen that much enthusiasm for an election was in 2008, when Barack Obama won his first term.
Still, it wasn’t enough. Because the state Democratic Party sat this one out. It couldn’t do otherwise, because it’s absolutely dysfunctional, in disarray, more than an awful mess, led by ancients or lackeys, and it’ll be the same in two years if something isn’t done.
The time is now to jettison Joe Reed and his cronies if Democrats ever want to do more than win the 7th Congressional District or the once-in-a-lifetime special election for the U.S. Senate against a child predator who, not surprisingly, was the Republican.
The results from Tuesday night did surprise me. Not that Republicans won every statewide race and the congressional seats. That I did expect.
But that the margins were so wide is discouraging. The difference, friends, is that the Republicans have solid party organization behind them. Even though Republicans elected to public office have been regularly removed from many of those same offices for corruption over the past few years. Even though Republicans sponsor programs that are terrible for most Alabamians. Even though they are peopled by many who are racist or homophobic or misogynous or xenophobic, or all of the above.
Even though they take Alabama voters so for granted that they don’t even have to campaign, or answer questions, or do much more than cut a few ribbons for new businesses or attend Republican-sponsored events where the crowds are peopled by folks just themselves.
Maddox, Vance, Siegelman, et al., did amazingly well, considering what they were up against.
Nationally, Democrats did well, winning back the U.S. House and some governorships and state legislatures here and there.
The 2018 Democratic Party of Alabama, however, did exactly what it’s done for the past decade or so: Nothing.
Nothing to write home about. Nothing to help Alabama move forward. And certainly nothing to vote for.
Somebody needs to get rid of it.
Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize winner, writes a column every week for Alabama Political Reporter. Email: jkennedy@alreporter.com.
