Obama Coalition Style

Artur Davis wins the Democratic primary here on Tuesday, placing him within one step of becoming the first black governor of Alabama, he will have reached this milestone in the most improbable of ways bypassing the hierarchy of the state’s oldest civil rights organizations.President Obama’s policies are fueling a fierce debate in midterm races across the country, there is a different test under way in Alabama. Can Mr. Obama’s coalition style of victory — winning over white voters before gaining support from black leaders — be replicated in the Deep South?“Some people have said during the course of this race that this is a good idea, but Alabama’s not ready for it,” Mr. Davis said, rallying supporters at his campaign headquarters on Monday afternoon.
Mr. Davis announced his plan to run for governor early last year, the president’s popularity was at its peak. Mr. Obama had won the state’s primary, and even though he suffered a 20-point defeat in the general election, the enthusiasm surrounding the arrival of the first black president added to the notion that voters in Alabama, too, might be ready for change.Mr. Davis said he opposed the health care bill because it was too expensive and he preferred a targeted approach. But his rival, Mr. Sparks, and other critics said that Mr. Davis’s vote was merely an attempt to build his appeal to white voters for the fall election.
Glen Browder, a former Democratic congressman from Alabama who last year wrote “The South’s New Racial Politics,” said a victory by Mr. Davis would “change the dynamics of Alabama politics” and loosen the establishment’s “grip on the black vote.”

“He’s taking a bold and risky gamble with an eye toward the general election, trying to establish himself as a new-style candidate, who is not the black candidate for the Alabama governorship,” Mr. Browder said. “The course he is taking is a roll of the dice.” “There’s no question that many of President Obama’s policies are unpopular in the state, but that’s not going to determine who the next governor is,” Mr. Davis said in his office, where a painting of the president was hanging on the wall. “National issues just simply aren’t relevant to the questions that are going to decide this race.”

source by-nytimes.com