Alabama’s Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks has been pretty busy in recent weeks. He recently returned from a trip to Washington, DC to press for disaster relief for Alabama’s farmers. He also managed to squeeze some time in to meet with media guru Karl Struble, who helped put together a winning media plan for Lt. Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. last year, as well as meet with DSCC staff and freshmen Senators Webb and Tester for inspiration on a possible Senate bid against Jeff Sessions. So when can we expect a decision from Sparks either way? According to the Huntsville Times, the answer is early July:
Sparks, a two-term Democrat from Fort Payne, also confirmed that he is considering a 2008 run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile. He said he has received significant encouragement in Alabama and across the country to make the run and is evaluating his chances.Sparks, 54, said that decision-making process will be completed by early July. He said he is happy in his current job, but there is a two-term limit as commissioner and he needs to seriously consider an opportunity that may come just once in a lifetime. If he does run, the reasons include his concern about the country’s budget deficit; that 48 million Americans don’t have health insurance; high gas prices; the handling and financing of the war in Iraq; poor veterans health care; and a basic unfairness in tax policy and worker pay, Sparks said.
Now that’s what I’d call a campaign of progressive populism.
Race Tracker: AL-Sen
If he ran. Spreading spin in the Senate would just make them cry and it may by us a seat or two.
I think this is amazing that the GOP “dominance” of the South is starting to crumble. I’ve been following the story since the begining, and I’d give Sparks a 50-50 shot at this.
There is no doubt that a lot of donors from all over the US will support him, and that he has the issue advantage over Sessions (look at Sparks’ stands, you can’t argue those are what the people need). And the GOP POTUS ticket won’t necessarily slant in Sessions favor, since I wouldn’t expect Romney or Guiliani to particularly excite the base in Alabama.
Sparks’ stands remind me a lot of John Edwards to be honest, they align pretty well. I think, if Edwards was the nominee, it would help Sparks by maintaining the same clear message “This is what Democrats believe! We need your help to make it happen”.
I don’t know how I missed this in our local paper Saturday, and I’m so glad you caught it.
As a 9th generation Alabama native, I can give you my “expert” opinion that Sparks has an good to excellent chance to oust Sessions. He can do it by talking about the issues; Sessions is so out of touch that he might as well be on Mars. He thinks the big issue for Alabama residents is repeal of the estate tax at a time whem a lot of people are worrying about holding on to their houses while they’re still ALIVE – courtesy of sub-prime predatory lenders.
I’ve never seen such enthusiasm among local Democrats for the party in general and Sparks in particular. And I’ve rarely seen Republicans (I know a LOT of them) in such a dispirited funk. Used to be, I couldn’t drive the 5 miles to the post office and not see at least 10 of the black & white “W” stickers that turn my stomach.
When I went to Shabbas services on Saturday though, I conciously looked for them. In a 72-mile round trip, I saw TWO. Actually I saw one car that had two stickers. It was shocking since I live outside Huntsville, which is a big time military & military contractor town. Truthfully, some of these guys like wars because it makes them more money.
But the GOP is on the skids here. Now, a lot depends on who the Democratic presidential nominee is – which is one of the reasons I’m not supporting Hillary. We’re lucky this year to have such a deep bench. I hate it, but I think she’s the only one who could really hurt the ticket in the South.
But Sparks & a strong nominee – Edwards, say – could play off each others’ strengths and finally get us a decent senator again.