Well, you have to hand it to him--he might be crooked, but he's got plenty of gall to go with it. Siegelman says Moore helps his re-election bid
He meanders around and embraces the potential grand jury indictment using the sort of reverse logic common to politicians being investigated, in which such an indictment is touted not as an indicator of his potential guilt, but as absolute proof of his innocence. And his power. Evil People want to get rid of him because they's SKEERT of him!
Hey, it could be politically motivated, it's not like politics in Alabama is any different from work in any other slaughterhouse--but sometimes there's more to it than just revenge. Believe it or not, there actually are some crooked politicians in this state. As hard as that might be for you to believe. Not that the former governor is, mind you.
He then goes on to posit that Roy Moore's entry to the race would help him, and then in the charming manner we have all grown to love about our pure-as-the-driven-snow Don, he leaps to the defense of one of his potential rivals for the Democratic nomination:
[...] He also said polling data indicate that voters' perceptions of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco's response to Hurricane Katrina could hurt his opponent in the Democratic primary, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley.
Siegelman said Blanco's performance created doubts with some voters about having a woman in charge of the National Guard.
"I want to make it clear those are not my feelings," Siegelman said Tuesday. "I was reflecting on the results of a survey that was taken after the hurricane." [...]
Just reflecting, that's all.
Because people can be so mean to girls. And to point out that other people (of some sort) have doubts about those silly girls, well, it's just his way of showing how much he cares about the injustice of it all. Look, just because he made up a poll, doesn't mean that there aren't some people who would want to judge Lil Lucy based on another woman's crappy performance under fire.
Don wants us all to know that's just wrong. And likewise, there's not a thing wrong with reminding everyone that he's a man.
Baxley's camp had to issue the standard round of "I'm insulted" statements, but I think she'd gotten more traction if she'd challenged him to a duel. Of course, dueling's illegal in Alabama, but hey, I know he'd back down before she would.
None of the foregoing is meant to imply I'd ever vote for Baxley, but at least she doesn't seem to be inordinately crooked and venal like at least one of her challengers.
Anyway, it appears it's time to get on the hip waders--and so early in the season!
Posted by Terry Oglesby at October 6, 2005 03:41 PMIsn't the election at least 9 months off? Does this mean that I will soon be hearing my wife complain about the political ads on TV? Does this mean I am having the iniquities of my Great-Great Grandpa visited on meper the second commandment? Why? I didn't even know the gentleman.
Posted by: Larry Anderson at October 6, 2005 04:25 PMYes, yes, yes, and just because.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at October 6, 2005 04:42 PMDid you see the follow up though? I found it through Lee P.
The story: Baxley said that if the gender of governors makes any difference, then “far more men" governors have been indicted or are in prison for criminal convictions.
“I am positive of this. He knows more about [being indicted]," Baxley said.
Siegelman is going to run a typical campaign and he's going to skewer himself on it. The dynamic changes against a female opponent, that's just a political reality. Kinda like the one he also doesn't see about how Roy doesn't help him much given that he's in the *other* primary.
Posted by: Kenny at October 7, 2005 09:29 AMHeh--'Oh, I love Lucy--I'm just sayin' is all...' What a weasel. But he's a weasel with lots of money flowing in from other weasels. He can say anything, basically, and still pull votes. Huey Long ain't got nothing on him--either in the ability to get votes, or in the way he perpetuates his own political survival.
For anyone who doesn't see the smarminess of his original comment, imagine if one of his opponents was black, and imagine if Don had said something about some poll he read where people didn't think they could trust electing a black leader after seeing how Ray Nagin reacted--oh, and how wrong it was for people to think that. It was a ham-handed, stupid thing for him to say, but it won't cause much more than a minor stir because he's who he is. One need only imagine the firestorm that would have erupted had it been a Republican who said it--and not without reason. It just irks me that "progressives" don't get nearly the heat for saying such obnoxious things.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at October 7, 2005 09:54 AM