Alabama Candidate

Les Phillip ad - A Story of Two Men @ Yahoo! Video

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100601/pl_ynews/ynews_pl2329

Now there is a man I would not mind having as a Commander in Chief.

One of the big problems down here on the beautiful (Aside from a little oil) Gulf Coast. Both candidates are genuine good guys. Hard to choose. Neither is a left wing nutlicker. Either is a big win for Alabama. Today, we here in MS have to choose between two good guys running in the congressional Republican primary today. Both successful, ethical, and hard working young men, both genuine good guys. Whoever wins, we all win. You never have that sort of choice with the Democraps.

What’s the rules in Alabama on election pluralities? Are there run-off elections if nobody gets 50%?

Love the NRA hat at the end and they will call him an uncle tom rather than a racist or worse terms like they called Condi Rice.

Yes, winner must get 50.1% to move on.

Phillip did not choose campaign advisors very well. He took some people in who do not reflect well on his ability to make decisions.

Brooks is non-nonsense, level-headed conservative. OUTSTANDING voting record on conservative issues. His opponents only found ONE issue to hit him on. Here is the local reporting of it.

I kow people who have been on UAHuntsville rowing teams or “club” teams. Many of these are young people competing to get scholarships for college. It’s public property on public land. BTW, once the facility was built, the rent fees pay for it’s up keep.

Boathouse stirs political row in 5th Congressional District
By Challen Stephens, The Huntsville Times
May 16, 2010, 6:49AM

This time Congressman Parker Griffith has angered the rowers.

“I was surprised that we’d be characterized as a bad thing,” said head coach Glen Yates of the Rocket City Rowing Club, showing off a public boathouse Griffith has thrust into the center of a heated race for Congress.

Griffith, seeking to win the Republican primary on June 1, last week released an ad attacking one of his two opponents, Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks. The ad warns that Brooks is a “big spender” who “wasted pork” and used “earmarks to buy votes.”

The ad names just one example of waste. That would be the boathouse on the Tennessee River.

“We didn’t like that our club was being used and spoken about in a derogatory manner,” said Cindy O’Gorman, vice president of the Rocket City Rowing Club, who called a news conference Saturday.

She said, “Keep the innocent civic organizations out of it.”

Griffith’s ad says Brooks contributed $100,000 in taxpayer dollars for the construction of the boathouse. Brooks actually gave $100,000 in 2002 and later gave $25,000 more. And he’s far from contrite about it.

“Parker Griffith just messed up,” Brooks said Saturday morning. “He picked on the wrong issue. If he’d known more about his community he would have known this was a great asset to the community.”

Designed for about 100 rowing shells and kayaks, the boathouse sits on county land next to Ditto Landing marina. The building is managed by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and includes bays to store boats for UAH, the rowing club and the public.

Rowers say they were left scratching their heads, wondering how a public project for crew enthusiasts was much different than a park for dog owners or a ramp for skateboarders.

“I know both men. I like both men,” said Kurt Peterson, father of a rower and former equipment manager for the club. “But I’ll guarantee you after this commercial my vote will go to Mo Brooks.”

On Dec. 22, just halfway through his freshman term, Griffith switched to the Republican Party and upset voters on both sides of the aisle. Many Democrats demanded their campaign contributions back. The local Republican Party took the unusual step of endorsing either of his primary opponents.

Griffith isn’t letting up on this issue.

On Saturday, his campaign issued a news release that said Griffith chose the boathouse because it “is a good example of the out of control spending at every level of government that is bankrupting our country.”

The third GOP primary candidate, Les Phillip, was also critical of Brooks.

“As a public servant, you should spend money that benefits the vast majority of people,” said Phillip on Saturday. The boathouse “doesn’t benefit the general welfare. If exclusively just for the boaters, they should have raised the money themselves, not the taxpayers of Madison County.”

Brooks does indeed pass out hundreds of thousands of tax dollars each year, tax dollars he often delivers in person at PTA meetings.

But he wasn’t alone on this project.

The old boathouse had been condemned. The county paid $7,000 for the land for the new one. Commissioners Mike Gillespie and Faye Dyer combined to chip in $30,000 toward the project. Commissioner Jerry Craig provided labor.

The rowing club also contributed $30,000, and now gets to use one of their two bays rent-free. UAH put up $40,000 for a floating dock, fencing and insurance.

“This building has meant the continued existence of our club,” said head coach Yates.

Brooks recently has promoted such projects, noting that when he took office in 1996 he had just $30,000 for south Huntsville. He helped turn that into $740,000 in discretionary spending as of last year.

Commissioners are left to decide who gets such money based on personal criteria. For example, Dyer said she helped improve a campground because she likes to camp.

Brooks acknowledged that he is no stranger to the rowing club. His law partner is Carl Leo. Leo’s brother, Jada Leo, is a former head of the rowing club. “I know some of the people who are rowers,” said Brooks.

And Griffith is no stranger to earmarks. In fiscal 2010, he counted more than $20 million in federal earmarks, setting aside $700,000 for the University of North Alabama, $350,000 for the National Children’s Advocacy Center, and millions for an array of military and road projects here.

In his statement, Griffith cited his opposition to the federal stimulus package.

“Many of the projects in that bill had supporters that believed they were good projects,” said Griffith, “but the truth is our government can no longer afford to fund everything for everybody.”

“The bottom line,” Brooks said, “is that (Griffith) is a rookie, and he’s still making rookie mistakes. He’s still learning the ropes and unfortunately it’s hurting our district.”

I don’t know. I’m not from Alabama, I just stumbled on the video clip, and thought it was newsworthy.

Yeah, but I suspect they’d have a fight on their hands with this guy....

Ah - well, Les Phillip is most likely gonna finish third in the primary tonight — not because of qualifications or any other relevant reason, but because he lacks name recognition against a longtime county commish (Mo Brooks - who I hope wins; also a great candidate) and Parker Griffith, the incumbant former Democrat opportunist. Les would be a great guy, but he’s up against a buzz saw this time.