Elections, once more

I've always considered myself a firm (small d) democrat, but some voting outcomes really make me wonder if "one man, one vote" is the best way to run a political state. I sometimes wonder if the cheerful Texan in Catch 22 -- who felt that "decent folk" should get more votes than others -- might have had a point. Here's what's gotten me worked up this time:

Larry Darby believes that Jews exaggerated the Holocaust, that the country should be all-white and that illegal immigrants should be shot on sight.

In Madison County, Darby received more votes Tuesday than his opponent for attorney general in the Democratic primary, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr.

That just leaves me speechless -- almost. Since I voted in the Republican primary (for reasons discussed last week) this time, I wasn't that aware of this race, but I have to agree with the sub-headline, "Democrats call AG candidate's strong showing 'embarrassing'." Actually I take it back. I don't think it's embarrassing. I know there likely are some folks who really did vote for the guy because of his views, but there's no way a majority of Madison County Democrats agree with this guy's platform -- just not possible. Hence I don't think it's embarrassing as much as it's an indictment of the sacred "one man, one vote" principle.

Most of the experts seem to believe a combination of factors led to this clown's strong showing, but it basically boiled down to two factors: this was a low-profile race with not much advertising and Darby's name was listed first because the ballot was in alphabetical order. Those two factors almost led to this man being the AL Democratic Party's nominee for attorney general!!! I don't know what the remedy is, but this tells me there's a problem with voting in the U.S. In light of this story I can admit that I've always been a little leery of the "get out the vote" movements that pop up every election cycle. I mean if you basically have to bribe someone to show up to vote, what's the chance he/she is going to cast an informed vote? A healthy democracy involves more than just getting people to the polls.

So who do I blame for this particular mess? Two groups:

1. The AL Democratic Party. Did they not recognize the potential embarrassment their party faced if this guy won the nomination? They're a well-organized body and I just have to believe they could have publicized this race a little better. I assume they didn't want to be viewed as "favoring" one candidate over the other, but I think they should have in this case. Of course the AL Repubs are LOVING the whole thing. Tim Howe, exec director of the AL Repubs, thinks "it is noteworthy that the Democratic Party had an atheist candidate and avowed Holocaust denier get so many votes in their primary."
2. This being Alabama, race also has to creep into the picture. According to another story, the Alabama Democratic Caucus may have to share some of the blame as well:
   

   The Alabama Democratic Caucus, a statewide black political action group,
   endorsed in every race on the Democratic primary ballot except the attorney general race.
   
   ADC state field director Jerome Gray said most members of the caucus feel Tyson came down too hard on Mobile school board member David Thomas, whom Tyson impeached for charging $9,033 in Mardi Gras beads to the school system.
   
   The ADC broke with Tyson after he filed additional double-billing charges against Thomas over hotel room charges for a 2004 Las Vegas trip.
   

So the ADC was pissed that Tyson went after a corrupt school board member (the whole story was even more lurid as I'm pretty sure this is the same guy who ran over a little girl's foot at Mardi Gras and left the scene) for misuse of funds and as a result they wouldn't even speak out against a Holocaust denying white supremacist?!?! Darby blamed Jewish supremacists for the "browning" of AL and claimed, "They're trying to wipe out the white race in Alabama," yet the state's premiere black political group could not endorse his opponent?!?! That's just messed up.

Oh, according to the Decatur Daily story, " Voting patterns in Morgan County show that many local black residents indeed voted a protest vote for this avowed atheist after the Alabama Democratic Caucus failed to endorse a candidate in that race." Now I'm not sure how sophisticated the DD's analysis was, but I think the ADC needs to be taken to task for this -- as does the state party.

In the end I like the advice from a local political science professor, "If you don't know the candidates, don't vote in that race." Amen, Professor Brown.