As voter registration closed with record numbers (more than 2.9 million!) even amidst problems with the new voter registration system, local and state races are heating up in Alabama. Doc’s Political Parlor is the hotbed blog for local races, and they’re always up with the newest ads.\
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Things have gotten pretty dirty in the Wayne Parker (R)/Parker Griffith (D) race for AL-05. Freedom’s Watch, an independent group, launched this ad that takes statements that Griffith made WAY out of context, which followed on the footsteps of a previous ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). After reviewing the “truthiness” of those two ads, a Huntsville TV station pulled them from the air. You can read their press release here. Birmingham News has a lengthy piece on that campaign here.\
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In the third district, challenger Josh Segall (D) has received support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the blogosphere’s Red to Blue initiative. Birmingham News ran an article on this race that put Segall’s name in the lede, but barely talked about him, instead fluffing incumbent Mike Rogers (R). It’s a bit ridiculous, because Segall’s a pretty talkative guy, it seems, and he loves talking about promoting local farming and the economy. Oh well.\
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Over in the Bobby Bright (D)/Jay Love (R) race for the second district, the pandering is very interesting. It hurts to watch Democratic candidates dance around the issue of supporting the Democratic nominee for President just because we’re in Alabama. I would transcribe Bobby Bright’s rather pathetic answer,but it hurts my head. He seems to be deathly afraid of fully supporting Obama. This race is pretty tight right now, say polls. A side-show story in this race is the unproven allegations that Love’s competitor in the Republican primaries, Harri Anne Smith, sold her endorsement to Bright for $150,000 (to retire her campaign debt). It’s not really clear at all that anything like that happened, but the allegation still sucks.\
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In Alabama’s Supreme Court race between Deborah Bell Passeur (D) and Greg Shaw (R), thihngs have turned rather negative. Press-Register blames this on Passeur, but it’s been dirty on both sides, which caused the judicial campaign oversight committee to call a meeting with the two candidates over the negative campaigning.\
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In other Alabama news, Regions is selling stock to the gov’t (look for them to purchase other banks soon), home sales are slipping, and foreclosures are up 53 percent. Southern Progress is cutting jobs. And the county’s general debt obligations are suffering from sewer debt problems.\
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In GOOD NEWS, the Magic City Classic seems to have been magically successful, attracting more than 69,000 folks!