Esquire magazine endorsements

[Syrinx]

Esquire's November issue has endorsements for all the House and Senate races, as well as for president.

In their endorsement of Barack Obama, they compare John McCain to a "monkey dancing on a string," then go on to say that McCain has been "making brave noises in public that he later abandoned in private. And now he genuflects to Pastor Warren and a hundred other preachers who are a hundred times worse, people whom he called 'agents of intolerance' eight years ago, when John McCain still had the soul he's auctioned off piecemeal to pay the salaries of the men he's hired out of Karl Rove's shop."

The endorsement concludes, "To continue to govern ourselves this way is unthinkable. It is unsustainable as a democracy to to continue to mock so egregiously in secret what we continue to profess in public. That's the task for the next president. That is the main reason to vote for Barack Obama of Illinois. We strongly encourage you to do so."

Now to the Alabama content.

U.S. Senate

Jeff Sessions (R)
Vivian Davis Figures (D)

Sessions, who loves his reputation as a budget hawk, defended his opposition to broad federal relief for Hurricane Katrina victims by saying it would saddle generations of Americans with debt. Yet he's happily supported war-funding bills that now top $600 billion. And like many wayward conservatives, he now also apparently loves unbridled executive power. Oh, and he's okeydoke with torture. Esquire endorses: Figures.

1st House District

Jo Bonner (R)
No major-party opponent

Bonner has been clear from the start: He represents his district's interests as conscientiously as he can and has no further political ambitions. Esquire endorses: Bonner.

2nd House District

Jay Love (R)
Bobby Bright (D)

Montgomery mayor Bobby Bright promise to bring "wiregrass values" to Washington. Whatever those are, his record is clear: He'll leave behind a city with a balanced budget and years of growth under its belt. Esquire endorses: Bright.

3rd House District

Mike Rogers (R)
Joshua Segall (D)

To pick just one failure of the many he proudly brandishes, Rogers voted against the 21st Century GI Bill -- a slap in the face to the military families who make up his base. Esquire endorses: Segall.

4th House District

Robert Aderholt (R)
Nick Sparks (D)

"Too extreme" for Alabama. That's saying something. And that's the word for incumbent Aderholt. Sparks, the self-made son of a local farmer is a far better fit. Esquire endorses: Sparks.

5th House District

Wayne Parker (R)
Parker Griffith (D)

Popular incumbent Bud Cramer is retiring. Local Republicans that their ultraconservative candidate's values more closely match the district than Cramer's merely conservative stance. Not so. Centrist state senator Griffith is Cramer's heir. Esquire endorses: Griffith.

6th House District

Spencer Bachus (R)
No major-party opponent

Bachus's refusal to cut human-rights abusers any slack -- including our best pal China -- was refreshing in 2006. It still is. And his pragmatic work with the Democrats on the Financial Services Committee shows independence too. Esquire endores: Bachus.

7th House District

No major-party opponent
Artur Davis (D)

See "The 10 Best," page 145. Esquire endorses: Davis.

On page 145, Davis is chosen as one of the ten best members of Congress.

Barack Obama gets all the plaudits as America's first postracial black politician, but it is the electric Artur Davis (Obama's law-school classmate at Harvard), elected in 2002 on a farm-city unity platform, who truly deserves that title. Look for Davis to truly test this approach by running for governor in '10.

The nine others on the list are Mike Pence, Henry Waxman, Jeff Flake, Ike Skelton, Sheldon Whitehouse, Mike Simpson, Olympia Snowe, Lamar Alexander and Mark Pryor.

The ten worst members of Congress, according to Esquire, are Saxby Chambliss, Michele Bachmann, John Cornyn, Joe Lieberman, Pete Stark, William Jefferson, Steve King, Joe Baca, John Murtha and Ted Stevens.