re: Off Topic: Governor's race. Walt Maddox vs. Kay Ivey

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Was hoping for Tommy Battle to at least win enough votes for a runoff. Guess his name isn't known enough beyond north Alabama.

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Oh he's known, it's just that a good chunk of Alabama looks at anyone and anything coming from the Huntsville area as just another "god damn yankee"

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If the Democrats promote a more progressive Alabama, then why would the sexual orientation of an opposition candidate be the slightest bit important?

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Walt isn't going to touch the rumors of her sexuality. He's just not that type of politician. People will bring it up, but it won't be Walt or his campaign.

He is a long shot, but Ivey winning the GOP nomination was the best thing for him. He will outwork her on the campaign trail, which is what he will have to do. She'll sit back mostly and rely on the R straight ticket voters that do no research. Maddox needs a massive GOTV campaign, and even that won't be enough. He needs to convince a lot of Republican voters to come over to his side. He has a lot of that in the Tuscaloosa area, but that won't be enough.

The scary thing to me is the Lt Governor race and Twinkle Cavanugh in the runoff. If Ivey's health concerns are legitimate, Cavanuagh as governor could be a distinct possibility and that is very worrisome to me.

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If the Democrats promote a more progressive Alabama, then why would the sexual orientation of an opposition candidate be the slightest bit important?

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Democrats don't care about her sexual orientation. I don't think many people do. She is free to have a relationship with whoever she wants. However, the one group of people who would absolutely have an issue with her lifestyle are the republicans who she is depending on for votes. Therein lies the problem.

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That's hypocritical.

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welcome to politics

Walt is an old-school business friendly Democrat. He believes there can be balance between unfettered capitalism and strong support for social programs. And while he supports a lot of the social/civil rights causes, they're not really central to his campaign.

I truly think if people in this state studied both candidates without looking at the R or D, Walt would win easily.

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I truly think if people in this state studied both candidates without looking at the R or D, Walt would win easily.

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Absolutely. Unfortunately, we live in a state where people vote republican regardless of how good or bad the candidate is. Even though Jones won, look at how many people still supported Roy Moore.

If people would put party aside, and just vote for the best candidate, Alabama could be in good shape moving forward.

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Speaking of elections, is there a list anywhere of all the politicians that supported Roy Moore? I want to make sure that I never vote for any of them.

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Completely irrelevant in my vote. Heck, I still hold if Moore did what he's accused of, he'd be in jail. He's not been brought to court, because, despite being tried and condemned in the public arena, any prosecutor could tell you, there's no evidence and no case to be had.

In any case, if Moore had an iota of a clue and cared anything for keeping the GOP from losing any ground in the senate (ie, party over country). He would have swallowed his pride, realized the damage had been done and announced his withdrawal from the campaign and encouraged Alabamians to write in Strange and announced his time would be now spent countering the slanderous claims.

As someone who lives in Tuscaloosa, I disagree. I haven't noticed an increase in homelessness or crime. I have seen major improvements around town including infrastructure which was greatly needed.

I think he has done a great job as mayor and would hate to lose him as mayor if he became governor.

ETA...I do see where gun crime is up this year. I have noticed a lot robberies late night around campus.

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It's largely reflected in increased homelessness population and higher crime rates in areas that aren't the University

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Tuscaloosa's crime rate has gone down pretty steadily since to became mayor.

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higher crime rates in areas that aren't the University. Look at Holt and Alberta as the major examples.

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Are you saying the crime rate in Alberta has increased since the tornado? I find that hard to believe as the tornado basically wiped out the crack dens behind Alberta Elementary, and that are has seen some gentrification. But I don't live in Tuscaloosa so not as connected to it as some. I think even Walt would admit the city has made some mistakes in its post-tornado recovery and rr-development. That development where Cedar Crest used to be is a quagmire for example. But overall, I think his leadership has been a good thing for the city.

And it's often overlooked how he lead the city's bailing out of Stillman College. Say what you want about Stillman, but it's a valuable resource for the city and the West side.