WikiLeaks affirms Alabama Democrats have a Joe Reed problem
WikiLeaks continues to release hacked emails of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta, and Alabama Democrats aren’t exempt from the damage.
“I will NEVER support any candidate that supports [Alabama Democratic Party Executive Committee member Joe L. Reed] or his active efforts to segregate our party,” reads the message from an unnamed Baldwin County Democrat.
According to an October 1, 2015 email to Podesta from staunch Clinton supporters, all isn’t well within Alabama’s Democratic Party.
That’s not exactly shocking to politically engaged Alabamians who have watched the party fall apart over the last decade. What is interesting is the degree to which Joe Reed seems to be at the center of it.
According to WikiLeaks, Hillary Clinton Super Volunteers Timothy Bolden and Vivian Beckerle drafted the email to Podesta and others raising concerns about Clinton’s engagement with Democratic Party boss Joe Reed.
“We worry that if the [Clinton] campaign does not balance this appearance in the state with another appearance in the state (preferably one which does not have a financial component associated with it) it may alienate the rest of the party,” they wrote.
An apparent social media post from an unidentified Baldwin County Democrat does most of the explaining for Bolden and Beckerle.
“Baldwin [County] remains, by the way, unrepresented in the state party because Joe Reed won’t allow our seats to be represented.”
The sentiment aligns with a column written by Al.com’s Kyle Whitmire only a few months prior. “A bloc of members loyal to Reed have rejected many highly-qualified nominees [to the state Democratic executive committee] because they won’t ‘kiss the ring,'” writes Whitmire.
That doesn’t settle well with some Democrats in Alabama. In a contentious 2016 primary, affiliation with Joe Reed cost Clinton support.
“Since Mrs. Clinton has decided to support the segregation of the Alabama Democratic Party,” lamented the unnamed Baldwin County Democrat, “I will campaign against her.”
To be fair, Clinton easily bested Sanders in the Democratic primary in Alabama. A democratic socialist was clearly a bridge too far for the majority of the state’s Democrats regardless of Clinton’s engagement with Reed.
After sweeping control of the Alabama legislature in 2010, Republicans have experienced about everything but smooth sailing. Scandal in the governor’s office, the Speaker of the House convicted of corruption, and the Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice removed from the bench don’t exactly inspire confidence.
Yet Democrats haven’t been able to take political advantage of any of it. While most of the national conversation has been about fractures in the Republican Party, it’s Democrats in Alabama that can’t come together and find a way back to political relevance.
Alabama Republicans might be amused at the Democratic implosion, but it’s not as positive a reality as many of them might think. Strong competition regularly improves quality. It’s the same in markets and athletics as it is in politics. Right now Alabama Democrats are the political team every Republican wants to play for homecoming.
It might sound strange to hear a conservative suggesting Democrats get their act together, but we’re all better when we have to defend our ideas. If the next generation of Democrats wants to meet that challenge, it’s time for them to take charge and let Joe Reed’s legacy be just that.
