Word: blacks
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...called the state the "Cradle of the Confederacy," the "very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland," and declared, "segregation now...segregation tomorrow... segregation forever." Davis' election would deliver another blow to what remains of the G.O.P.'s racially divisive Southern Strategy. He would also be only the third black elected governor in American history, the second from the South. Is Alabama ready for that much change? (See a graphic presentation of the American Civil...
...Davis had become adept at raising money, benefitting from donations from American Jewish groups concerned about Hilliard's views on Israel. Much of the African-American political establishment derided Davis as an elitist whose polished demeanor, Ivy League credentials and prosecutorial record made him inauthentically black. But this time, he won. One of the first congratulatory calls he received came from Obama, then an obscure Illinois state senator plotting his own U.S. Senate bid. Though they were among a handful of black men at Harvard Law at the same time, the two men hardly knew each other...
...fence along the U.S.-Mexican border, a measure that divided Democrats. The previous year, he followed his party in supporting a bill to halt restrictions on federal spending on embryonic stem cell research. He also showed an independent streak: Even as much of Alabama's Democratic establishment, including its black caucus, backed then-Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state's Democratic presidential primary, Davis endorsed Obama. (Obama won.) In the days after Obama's victory last November, there was talk that Davis would be the President-elect's attorney general nominee. But Davis was already weighing other options...
...poll commissioned by Davis' campaign, 51% of respondents said they believe Alabama is "ready" to elect a black governor in 2010, and 38% said the state is not. Davis' supporters point to those figures as evidence the state has progressed significantly on matters of race. Peggy Wallace Kennedy, George Wallace's daughter, drew headlines recently for endorsing Davis, and says, "I believe he'll be one of the best governors we've ever had." Asked what her father would say about the prospect of a black governor, she adds, "He'd just say, 'It's the future,' and I think...
...succeed, Davis believes he must take several key lessons from Obama's campaign strategy of attracting a new crop of voters. "It's people like the young professionals - black and white - who come to me and say, 'I haven't felt that politics in this state spoke to me.'" Like Obama, Davis has overcome initial skepticism among many African-Americans. So he will certainly galvanize Alabama's black voters in much the way Obama did in last November's elections. Historically, Democrats running for statewide Alabama office needed roughly 90% of black voters, and about 40% of white voters...