A blogger in Alabama makes the case for a presidential run by Republican Gov. Bob Riley:

http://betweenthelinks.com/2006/06/11/bo b-riley-08/

President Bob Riley? Nah. Vice President Bob Riley? Hmmmmm. Actually makes some sense, especially if Guiliani or McCain is the nominee.

This poll can be found at the website of the Alabama Democratic Party:

http://www.aladems.net/index.php?itemid= 869

Some interesting points:

1. More Alabamaians identify themselves as Democrats
   
2. Only 35 percent would vote for Bush again.
   
3. By a 46-33 margin most feel the country is on the wrong track.
   
4. 51 percent say the war in Iraq wasn't worth it.

http://www.krdotv.com/DisplayStory.asp?i d=10851

Fifth district congressman Joel Hefley has announced he will not seek re-election. Hefley has been debating for some time whether to seek an 11th term.

In a statement released late this afternoon Hefley says the decision was not easy to make. He says he looks forward to working hard for the people of the district for the remainder of the term. Former El Paso county sheriff John Anderson has already announced he is a candidate for the post.

Several others are rumored to be interested as well including Springs Chamber Vice President Jeff Crank.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/12/22/impeach/

Dec. 22, 2005 | On Tuesday, Dec. 20, Washington Post polling editor Richard Morin participated in an online chat with readers. The liberal blog MyDD urged its users to take part, and evidently they did. In previous days, legal experts had declared that Bush had committed a federal crime by authorizing the surveillance of American citizens without a court order, and Morin was grilled about the issue of impeachment.

First, someone from Naperville, Ill., asked Morin why the Post hasn't polled on public support for impeaching Bush. "This question makes me mad," Morin replied. Someone else repeated the question and Morin typed, "Getting madder." It came up again, and he wrote, "Madder still."

Finally, a fourth person asked it, and he answered: "[W]e do not ask about impeachment because it is not a serious option or a topic of considered discussion -- witness the fact that no member of congressional Democratic leadership or any of the serious Democratic presidential candidates in '08 are calling for Bush's impeachment. When it is or they are, we will ask about it in our polls."

Morin was wrong. It may be exceedingly unlikely that President Bush will be impeached, but in the past few days, the I-word has become a topic of considered discussion among constitutional scholars, former intelligence officers and even a few politicians.

It probably seems like an arcane issue to base a gubernatorial campaign on, but Roy "Ten Commandments" Moore has latched onto an issue that has traction in Alabama. This is a foreboding sign. The man that most people outside of Alabama consider some kind of buffoon has positioned himself well and has gone beyond his Ten Commandments base.

Property used to be reassessed for taxation every four years. That changed under current Gov. Bob Riley and property is now reassessed every year. The result, of course, is higher property taxes.

Moore has latched onto this and made it his issue. He wants to go back to every four years. And now -- at least on this issue -- he has lined up the support of Alfa, one of the 800-pound gorillas of Alabama politics. If Alfa (Alabama Farmers Federation and a large insurance outfit) abandons Riley, Moore will have scored a major coup. See below the fold:

If Roy Moore wants to be governor of Alabama, he's going to have to deal with some actual issues -- something other than plastering the Ten Commandments everywhere. Alabama has a public school system that needs an overhaul, an antiquated tax system where the income tax kicks in at $4,600 a year and out-of-state corporations that own huge tracts of timber pay next to nothing, a constitution that needs rewriting, etc.

Moore has outlined some of his ideas -- although he refused to answer questions from reporters when he made his announcement. Mostly he attacked the Legislature, which, frankly, is a winning issue in Alabama. The Legislature's favorite activity is appropriating money for personal slush funds for each legislator to pass out in his/her district to worthy projects as he/she sees fit. Legislators spend this money on soccer teams, schools, etc. to endear themselves and win votes.

Which brings us to Roy Moore's one good idea:

This is not a good development. Former Gov. Don Siegelman has announced his intention to run for governor of Alabama again, challenging Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley for the Democratic nomination.

Siegelman lost a razor-thin election in 2002 to Bob Riley, was subsequently indicted on corruption charges and acquitted.

It's not good because Roy Moore will be running for the GOP nomination against Riley. The best chance of beating Moore will be for Democrats to cross over and vote for Riley in the GOP primary. With a contested Democratic primary, that's not likely to happen. Besides, Baxley is more electable. But Siegelman has strong support from balck voters, which makes him a potent force in the primary.

Joe Scarborough says he won't run against Katherine Harris. And he makes sure to point out that "party leaders approached me."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/20/AR2005082001349.html

Details below: