Jacksonville State University history professor Gordon Harvey doesn’t mince words.
“I think the Alabama Democratic Party is best compared to the Walking Dead,” says Harvey. “It’s moving. It seems to be alive. But I think inside it’s dead and dusty.”
Or to put it into football terms, you get repeatedly trounced by your rival and losing becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
“So people start to see there’s no point in giving money, “says Harvey. “There’s no point in trying to turn over leadership. They keep the door open and the light on, but nobody’s coming in to buy anything.”
Republicans have steadily eaten away at Democrats’ historic dominance of Alabama politics over the last generation and now hold firm control of all three branches of government. They defeated the last Democrat in statewide office in 2012. The state’s last Democratic governor was elected almost two decades ago. Alabama has just one Democrat in Congress.
But there’s excitement among Alabama Democrats about the upcoming Senate and gubernatorial elections. Party supporters are feeling something they haven’t felt for a while – optimism.
Strategizing for Jones
At a recent meeting of the Montevallo Progressive Alliance, about 2 dozen people sit around tables in a church fellowship hall. The group is talking about ways to support Doug Jones. Jones is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in a special election December 12th. Most public polls show Jones trailing Republican Roy Moore. But Moore is a polarizing figure, and Democrats see an opportunity.
The group discusses the logistics of canvasing neighborhoods or working the phone bank for Jones. They periodically note feeling demoralized as Democrats in Alabama. After the meeting, Betsy Inglesby says this moment feels different.
“Something is awakening that is different from years past where I felt like my vote doesn’t really count,” says Inglesby.
Nancy Worley is chair of the Alabama Democratic Party. She says the party is in a “state of improvement.” The party will turn around when voters become disillusioned with Republicans she says.
“That’s going to come with individual voters sayings I’m tired of the Republicans trying to run their campaigns on feel-good statements for voters, but then not doing anything when they get in office,” says Worley.
Take it from the Top
However, Delores Adkins, with the Montevallo group, says state party leadership is the problem. She describes one meeting of the party executive committee.
“It was chaos,” says Adkins. “They were calling each other names and I’m like, ‘We’re supposed to be on the same side, people.’”
A year ago, former House Minority Leader Craig Ford publicly called for Nancy Worley and Joe Reed, a fellow party leader, to resign. Amy Feger echoes those sentiments. She says Worley should step aside to make room for new people.
“I would like for her to have that sense of timing and grace to walk away,” says Feger.
Worley says when times are tough, it’s easier to point the finger at someone else.
Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels rejects the idea that the party needs new leadership. He sees a way forward for Democrats by unifying around a message to voters, about jobs and healthcare for instance.
“We’ve got to focus on the issues and less on the D and R but on the A, the Alabamian,” says Daniels.
Daniels says if Democrats can do that, all the things it takes to run a party, such as research polling, candidates, and money, will follow.
Right now though, the focus is on Doug Jones’ Senate campaign. Jacksonville State’s Gordon Harvey says Democrats have an opportunity.
“It’s an uphill battle, but Jones is the first candidate in a statewide election in a long time that I’ve seen that actually looks like a candidate,” says Harvey.
He says even just a good showing, much less a win, might be enough of a spark to turn the party from its zombie status.