Governor of Alabama in 2010- Looking Ahead

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the time is closer than you may think. Alabama will elect a new Governor in November of 2010 and potential candidates have been lining up and jockeying for attention for the past several months. I will attempt to identify a few here and share some thoughts on their candidacy.

Gov. Riley will be forced to step down next time around after two terms in Montgomery. Riley, who was only Alabama's 4th Republican since Reconstruction, accomplished the rare feat of winning consecutive bids for Governor in 2006. Guy Hunt also won reelection in 1990, but had to resign before his 2nd term was finished. Fob James served 2 terms, but they came 12 years apart and James ran as a Democrat the first time around.

The recent success of Republicans in statewide offices leads some to believe that we now have a strong Republican state and that the real race will take place between those primary contenders. I am one who sees the scale as tipped in favor of the Republicans, but that does not necessarily mean the Rep is a lock. After all, Riley narrowly defeated the incumbent Siegelman in 2002. So, we Conservatives must be on the lookout for a Democrat with a plan. With that in mind, I'd like to highlight some certain and some not so certain Republican candidates for the high office.

The first is Tim James. The son of the formerly mentioned Fob James and a long time businessman, he has never actually held public office. He was though one of the three prime Republican contenders for Governor in 2002. Unfortunately for James, he finished 3rd out of the three. He admits the timing for his candidacy was bad. It had only been 4 years since his father had been defeated by Don Siegleman and so the perception among many could still be categorized by the phrase "no more Fob."

This time around though, James has dedicated 2 million dollars and an early start to hopefully finish the marathon first this time. I had an opportunity to sit down with Mr. James last year before he was allowed to formally announce and had an interesting conversation along with other political junkies in attendance. As many other candidates before him, James will place a special focus on education in Alabama. Riley put us a step ahead of the curve with the AR program as well as broadcasting AP classes around the state to rural schools who couldn't afford such teachers. James' plan will center around giving local principals and superintendents more control over their respective schools. Allowing less bureaucratic interference and putting less of an emphasis on buying new bricks and a fresh coat of paint should give our schools a jump start over other states.

In addition, James plans on bringing a new and more responsible fiscal conservatism to the state. As we have seen recently with the passage of Amendment One, our legislature is far too open to taking and spending our money. The raiding of the state's Alabama Trust Fund in order to supplement last year's avoidable budget shortfalls is just the latest example of their disregard for good fiscal policy. James opposed the amendment as I did. Considering that money will likely never be paid back to the state despite the promises of such, it is even more important to have a fiscal conservative in Montgomery. James also promises to get rid of yearly appraised property values which, of course, leads to higher property taxes each and every year instead of every four years as it once was.

I believe James' experience and success as a businessman make him more than qualified to take the reins of the state. It certainly is more of a qualification than being in career politics as so many of our Legislature members and other politicians rely on.

http://www.timjames2010.com

Tim James website is above and I hope you all will consider his candidacy for 2010.....