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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Byrne For Alabama

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 10th, 2010 at 08:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Alabama voters head to the polls on Tuesday and I haven’t had as much to say about this race as I should.

I’m supporting Bradley Byrne. Unions in Alabama are doing everything in their power to stop him — spending millions on him.

His opponent, Robert Bentley, regularly sided with the Alabama teachers union to stop school reform in Alabama. People always make jokes about the smarts of people from Alabama largely because of how entrenched the school unions are and just how much damage they are doing. Robert Bentley sided with them.

Contrast him with Bradley Byrne who has been fighting the teachers unions for years. He started out a Democrat and moved over time to the GOP. He is conservative. He is pro-life. He is willing to beat up the establishment, fight the unions, and make enemies within the GOP for doing what’s right.

Quin Hillyer has a great review of why Alabama is important and I hope those of you living in the state next to me will go vote for Bradley Byrne on Tuesday.

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COMMENTS

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  • rdelbov

    Alabama is also next door to my state and by all accounts Riley has been a great governor. He supports Bryne.

  • BooBooKitty

    to run fake conservative attack ads against Byrne while partisan dem AEA chief Paul Hubbard plays king maker.

    Two men said to be connected to the True Republican PAC ad are Dr.?s Paul Hubbard and Joe Reed. Both are employed by the AEA, but the Democratic Party denies it employs either of the men. However, Reed is chairman of the state Democratic Caucus. ~ BEA

    Alabamian here, and I support Byrne.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    The jokes are made by ignorant:

    Yankees
    jealous Southerners
    those they think too much of their own smarts

  • rdelbov

    are the lowest form of politics.

    Lowest of the low in my opinion.

  • RINKER

    I live in Alabama, and this is the most wrong you have been on a race this year.
    Bradley Byrne, while anti-union, IS the establishment. He has all of the “Riley” people backing his campaign. The moderate establishment of the Alabama GOP is behind the mythical conservative Bradley Byrne. Who is Riley? Riley is the same super-moderate governor who proposed THE biggest tax increase in Alabama history back in 2003. Riley got with the AEA and the liberal interest groups to help push his tax plan. Riley tried to say it was our “Christian duty” to support higher taxes to “help the poor”. Who was one of the BIGGEST cheerleaders for his plan? BRADLEY BYRNE.
    I despise the AEA, but the facts they present are true: Byrne was a Democrat until just a few years ago. He supported Bill Clinton for President. He is a trial lawyer. Those are facts. Now that he is running for governor, he is magicly against tax increases and all things liberal.
    Robert Bentley has the support of many of the supporters of the conservatives who ran: Tim James and Roy Moore. He has a VERY conservative voting record. If you are looking for anti-establishment, it is Robert Bentley and NOT Bradley Byrne. Check the facts next time, please.

  • tdwatts Watts

    The teacher’s union is the establishment.

    A candidate must be willing to challenge Paul Hubbert. I don’t see that with Bentley.

  • pwest

    I live here and I still don’t know who I will vote for. I am a conservative, college teacher, who is not, I repeat, not a member of AEA. I did not join, and I will not join ever. I hate all they stand for.

    So, you would think the choice would be easy vote for Byrne? Well, it’s not that simple. See, I also hate a hand picked sucessor. And that is just what Byrne is. Riley put him over the schools to pave the way for this run for Governor. I do not like hand picked sucessors. This is not the House of Lords; this is a governorship in the USA.

    Dr. Bentley is a Conservative who has voted with AEA most of the time. So, if he wins, so does AEA. I also know that while the good Dr. has their vote on Tuesday, he will not have their vote this fall. In the fall, all the AEA Democrates will vote for Ron Sparks.
    So, I am really torn. I won’t decide till I walk into the booth!

  • Gmac

    THE establishment in this state they are about to get jacked up by conservative voters. Between that Jackson county idiot speaker and Paul Hubbard this state has been ridden into the dirt by their control over what comes before the state legislature for any vote.

    That’s about to change because of conservative voter involvement.

    It’s to bad the Republican party doesn’t have a closed primary like the Democrats do so that there can’t be any crossover voting but that’s the way it is here. Funny thing is if you have enough aggravated conservatives that come out and vote then it doesn’t make any difference how many people from the AEA and Democrat party pop over and try to influence the outcome. We remember Charles Grassley.

    Tim James is supporting Bradley Byrne.
    Roy Moore has taken his one tune campaign and gone home.

    I can point out that Ronald Reagan was a Democrat and a union leader at one point in his journey. You appear to be a MOBY as you’ve hit every single one of the AEA’s talking points in your diatribe.

    The fact remains that Bradley Byrne is THE anti establishment conservative that HAS fought against the AEA and double dipping in the legislature. Maybe you missed it but there are a few of them in prison now. Its time for a change in this state, the Democrat party has always been in control but that may change this year.

  • RINKER

    Yeah, Ronald Reagan was a Democrat, but Bradley Byrne was a CLINTON supporter. How can you reconcile supporting BILL CLINTON with being a conservative? Bradley Byrne is anti-AEA, which is why I won’t have any problem voting for him IF he wins the nomination. The fact rremains he is a MODERATE Republican who voted for higher taxes, and was one of the biggest cheerleaders for Amendment 1 in 2003. Now that he’s running for governor, he will say ANYTHING he can to get elected.

  • RINKER

    http://www.alabamateapartyexpress.com/index.php/2010/07/11/alabama-tea-party-express-endorsements-for-gop-runoff-july-13/

    And Tim James has not made any endorsement. His campaign manager endorsed Bentley, saying there is “no way” he would support Byrne.