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The WaPo discovers that there are Alabama Democrats.

Stop laughing: these people don't get out much.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  March 25th, 2010 at 09:05 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

(Via the Corner) I am not really going to get into the meat of this WaPo article about Alabama candidate for Governor Artur Davis.  If the man is going to run on the admittedly sensible notion that being for health care rationing is political suicide in Alabama, then presumably Rep. Davis was already aware that he’d be more or less called a race traitor for doing so*.  My sympathies are, as they say, muted.

But I wanted to highlight this one throwaway line, because it reveals a certain problem for the Washington Post.

Davis has played down the impact of race in his run but acknowledged that being a Democrat is a challenge in Alabama.

Um.  No, it’s not.  It’s actually fairly easy to be a Democrat in Alabama: Democrats have powerful if not super-majorities in both houses of their state legislature, the current Lt. Governor of Alabama is a Democrat, and up to the point where Parker Griffith flipped they had a 4-3 GOP-Dem ratio in the House.  The reason why that ratio could be 6-1 after the next election is because being a liberal is a challenge in Alabama – which, by the way, accurately describes Artur Davis, Washington Post or no.

This may seem a minor problem, but it’s actually one of the reasons why the newspaper business is in such horrific shape these days: a basic lack of knowledge outside of a very narrow comfort zone.  An editor who happened to know these details about Alabama, or who had thought to look them up (like I did, for some of this), could have easily flipped this story back to the reporter for a quick rewrite.  But the editor was as ignorant of Alabamn politics as the reporter was.  So why are they writing stories on the topic?

Bless their hearts.

Moe Lane

*Artur Davis happens to be African-American.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

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COMMENTS

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  • marshmom

    until NOW. Having said that, it is difficult to be a “progressive” in Alabama. People here are (naturally) outraged about the HCR and are throwing every solution they have at the problem.
    The Democrats in our state legislature are still getting flooded with phone calls to do something about the impending doom of Obamacare.
    I would say that any Democrat doesn’t stand much of a chance in Alabama this year because of what is happening in Washington. Already, our Republican candidates are running ads stating they’ll fight to keep Obamacare out of Alabama and I haven’t even seen any ads for any Democratic candidate yet.
    As a matter of fact, one of the Republicans running–Bradley Byrne-used to be a Democrat way back when and people are already looking into his record and finding that he’s going to have some ‘splainin’ to do come closer to elections.
    I was happy to see though, that NOBODY from Alabama voted for Obamacare in D.C. Even our Democrats know better.

  • eburke

    of how the Liberal Media deftly equates being a Republican with being a racist. They first identify Davis as a minority, and then oh so subtly pivot to calling him a Democrat and then that Dems have trouble in Alabama.

    Davis = Black

    Black = Dem

    Dem = unelectable in AL

    AL, therefore = Republican

    Republican won’t elect black man = Republican’s are racist

    They do this kind of crap *all* the time and the average American lacks enough reading comprehension that this subtly weaved meme repeated ad nauseum has taken root in the casually engaged voter.

    It is absolutely reprehensible. I can’t wait for the dinosaur media to die it’s well-deserved death.

  • http://UnitedConservativesofVirginia Cargosquid

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    They won’t get it.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    I *am* a Yankee, after all.

  • Jack_Savage

    Because if you didn’t, my grandma would come up out of her grave and snatch you bald-headed.

    Extra points if you can work THAT one in sometime soon…

  • Repair_Man_Jack

    ‘Cuz Them Thar Wapos Sure Are Gooder At matricalatin’ then people who, you know, actually *live there* or something.

  • Adjoran

    for all the “levels of editing and fact-checking” that a newspaper brings to bear as opposed to mere bloggers!

    Moe, for example, in his amateur naivete, believes that simply bringing the simple, unvarnished, unembellished “facts” to his audience is enough. As a result, we miss the subtle nuances that since Alabama is in the South, and was a part of the old Confederacy, that of course a black Democrat will find himself mistreated by Republicans there – IF he is fortunate enough to get out alive at all!

    See, Moe, it’s not just about plain unadulterated “facts,” which by themselves are dry bits of data, devoid of all flavor and meaning. The “facts” must be processed through the proper Narrative which puts them in the correct context for the reader. Heck, your way, people might have to think on their own or something! Get real!