Clarke County Democrat

Alabama Scene

Gubernatorial shots fired long before Labor Day



 

 

There is an unwritten rule that general election campaigns in Alabama don’t begin until Labor Day weekend.

One reason for this is that the party nominees need to catch their breath from their primary campaigns…and another is that the voters of Alabama would like a break from the constant campaigning before the fall election.

Gov. Bob Riley either isn’t aware of this rule or he is simply itching for a fight.

A week ago at a speaking engagement in Cullman he came out slugging…I don’t mean bobbing and weaving and a few light jabs…he was throwing haymakers in his attack on Democratic gubernatorial nominee Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley.

Then came the release a few days later of a wicked television commercial in which he sought to put Baxley in the same political bed with U. S. Sens. John Kerry and Hillary Clinton.

She’s “too liberal” the commercial said over and over. It also noted that Baxley had supported Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and that she was once quoted as saying she thought Hillary Clinton was an “inspiration.”

It didn’t take long for Baxley to respond, and it was a dandy response that she gave:

“Being called liberal by someone who proposed the largest tax increase in Alabama history is like being called fat by a hog.”

Oink, oink. The fight is on.

Somewhat surprising, at least to some observers, is that Riley kicked off his campaign so early and with such vigor.

Every poll to date shows him with a commanding, almost insurmountable lead over Baxley, but even he discounted these polls in his Cullman speech.

“This is going to be a tough race,” he said. He urged his supporters to pay no attention to the polling numbers.

A spokesman for Riley was quick to defend the commercial, saying Riley was forced to respond to Baxley’s “caustic negative attacks.”

A Baxley spokesman suggested that there was some “desperation” in Riley’s campaign tactics.

The bottom line: Alabama voters best be prepared for a slugfest between Riley and Baxley for the next 90 days.

Some of you old timers might remember your boyhood when a lot of you would gather on the outdoor basketball court with only one basketball to play with…you would all fight to get the rebound, no holds barred. We called it “root hog or die pore.”

It appears we will have a political version of that in the coming months between Riley and Baxley.

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When the State Employees Insurance Board voted last week to increase the cost of family health insurance coverage by 10 percent the reaction from the State Employees Association was as predictable as the sunrise. They howled in protest.

Does their protest have any merit? We will let the numbers speak for themselves.

The employees will see their premiums increase from $164 to $180 a month. What are most of you in the private sector paying for similar coverage?

These premiums have not been increased since 1993 but during that time the cost of health insurance has skyrocketed. One study shows these costs have increased by 143 percent during the past six years.

The fact is that state employees have an incredibly generous health insurance plan. Add to that the very grim projection that the state faces a $20 billion unfunded liability for future health insurance costs for employees and retired employees, and this modest increase, if anything, is too modest.

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It was a story that brought a smile to my face. There a raging debate in Lowndes County over a proposed landfill…and in case your head has been in the sand lately…landfills in Alabama are the closest thing there are to money trees.

Recently as the debate continued over the proposal, the company which wants to build the landfill became remarkably civic-minded. They gave out bags of school supplies to children in Lowndes County and made donations to churches and volunteer fire departments in the county.

Opponents of the landfill said this sudden generosity was an attempt to buy support for the project…but a spokesman for the company said that accusation was “beneath contempt.”

You can make up your own mind on who is right.

Bob Ingram, 80, has been covering Alabama politics for over 50 years.



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