Sparks vs Davis

[trof]

My money's on Sparks.

Locust Fork News-Journal
Alabama Governor’s Race Heats Up
Primary Vote Just Three Months Away

by Glynn Wilson

Birmingham Congressman Artur Davis, a conservative Democrat who voted to oppose President Barack Obama’s health care plan being debated on national television today, made a show this week of rolling out what he called an “economic plan” for Alabama, just three months before the vote in the Democratic primary race for governor scheduled for June 1.

According to Davis’s opponent in the primary, Agricultural Commissioner Ron Sparks, the plan has lots of spending, tax credits and new programs, “all during the worst recession and budget crisis in Alabama history,” according to a statement issued by the Sparks campaign.

How does Davis propose to pay for this plan?

“We have absolutely no idea,” the Sparks campaign says.

“This is just another example of Artur Davis jumping on the bandwagon,” Sparks said. “I was the first candidate to have a plan to put Alabamians back to work, give their children an education, and generate a revenue source you can see clearly to pay for all of it. A plan is worthless if you don’t have a way to pay for it, and Artur Davis’ plan is worthless.”

Davis tries to explain how he will fund his ideas, Sparks said, “but it’s the same ol’ political promises and dodges that Alabamians have heard for years: growth and cutting waste.”

More:
http://blog.locustfork.net/2010/02/25/sparks-counters-daviss-economic-plan/

[Syrinx]

1. do you prefer Sparks, or are you just betting on him?

To tell the truth, I don't think I've ever even heard Sparks speak, even on TV.

The political coverage on local television is beyond pathetic. The other night, channel six, the local Fox affiliate, "reported" on a debate of sorts that the gubernatorial candidates, Democrats and Republicans, had on the "issues." They listed some issues that the candidates supposedly discussed, state finances, crime, education, gambling, etc., but they failed to mention a single comment by any single candidate on any issue whatsoever. I thought it was pretty ridiculous and worthless. I felt ashamed for the "news"-reader transmitting such non-information.

The ups and downs of my opinion of Artur Davis are well documented in this forum. He's obviously an extremely intelligent, well-educated individual. But I think his ambition to become governor, and the first black Alabama governor at that, has led him to sell out his core constituencies.

I think Davis' catering to the Blue Dog right has sapped any enthusiasm that may have paved his ascension to the governor's mansion. Democrats, if they want to succeed, must learn to grow a back-bone. Davis has sold his soul the the right-wing lobbyists, in his misguided belief that they would ever support him for higher office. They never will. And that reminds me of a certain president trying to make friends with certain people that hate him personally and everything he stands for.

Like I said, I've never even heard Ron Sparks speak on television. Our TV news is just too pathetic. But at least the occasional quote I stumble over in the newspapers indicates that Sparks has some core beliefs that he isn't so willing to compromise.

That being said, if Davis gets the nomination, I will vote for him without hesitation. At least he will keep the state firmly footed in the twentieth century. Any one of the Republicans would drag us from the fairly recent past back into the nineteenth century.

[craigmatic]

2. I'm thinking Sparks because he's the only one who seriously addressed the gambling issue