George,

As a current resident of Montgomery, Alabama, I could not help but send in my 2 cents on Mr. Byrne, who was attacked for not being sufficiently dedicated to Creationism and the literal truth of the Bible. Alabama politics is, indeed, its own strange world.

Compared to the other people running, Mr. Byrne is the moderate, centrist candidate, at least by Alabama standards. The fact that he actually has to defend his devotion to Jesus is evidence that he is not, in fact, a genuine Alabama right-wing crazy person. No one would say these things about, for example, our U.S. Senators, Richard Shelby or Jeff Sessions.

Another Republican candidate for governor, Tim James, was recently the object of national attention, and the center of a lot of jokes, because of his TV ad promising that drivers tests would only be offered in English if he was elected. It reminded me of the old joke about the Alabama preacher who, in defense of such a policy, proclaimed that "if English was good enough for Jesus then it is certainly good enough for us!" I did not actually hear Mr. James say that. But it sort of gives you the tone of his campaign.

Another candidate is former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, who was forced to resign when he refused to remove a large rock engraved with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building. After leaving the bench, Mr. Moore has made a lot of money taking his rock on tour.

On the Democratic side, we have Congressman Artur Davis, who is trying to become the first black governor of Alabama. Mr. Davis has run into a lot of problems, because (1) he voted against the health care reform bill and (2) he refused to attend and seek the endorsement of the major organizations representing black Democrats in Alabama. They have endorsed his principal opponent, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks. Mr. Sparks is famous for being a big supporter of legalized gambling. I don't know what he thinks about Creationism, but I suppose if he is the Democratic nominee, we may find out.

While I would never defend these goings on in Alabama, does anyone think that Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling or Ken Cuccinelli would not respond using exactly the same words -- and the same tone -- as Mr. Byrne if any of them was accused of insufficient support for Creationism and the Bible?

Anyway, it sure is interesting down here.

On a personal note, despite the entertaining version of politics we get to experience around here, we still miss Charlottesville and Virginia, and all our friends up that way. Warm greetings to you all!

Ed Wayland (Electronic mail, May 14, 2010)