Alabama now ready for black governor, 53% say in survey

[flashl]

Birmingham News

Thursday, August 07, 2008
CHARLES J. DEAN
News staff writer

A black governor in the Cradle of the Confederacy?

Alabamians say they are ready for it, if you believe the latest polling numbers from a mostly partisan but respected Montgomery-based firm that works for the man who increasingly talks of becoming the state's first black governor - Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham.

The new statewide poll shows that 53 percent of those surveyed said they think Alabama is ready to elect a black governor, compared with 37 percent who disagreed.

That's a dramatic about-face from results in January, when 51 percent of respondents told the same pollsters the state was not ready to elect a black governor, and 42 percent said the state is ready.

The poll, conducted July 14-17 with 500 likely voters, was done by Anzalone-Liszt Research, based in Montgomery. The firm works mostly for Democrats, including Davis, and has gained much national attention over the past year having played leading roles in the winning campaigns of two new Democratic congressmen - Travis Childers in Mississippi and Don Cazayoux in Louisiana - who won special elections in heavily Republican districts.

An about-face indeed. Maybe, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis run for governor of Alabama in two years will materialize.

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. I don't know if the state is ready....

but we damn sure were ready for a black Mayor in Mobile....a city about as redneck and conservative as you can get. And he is doing a jam up job too.

[Drunken Irishman]

2. This is not good. Only 53%, or slightly more than half of Alabama, is READY for a black governor?

That is a very low number. This should be in the 90s, if you ask me.