So far, it looks like the Republicans in the race are content to run stealth campaigns like Bobby Jindal in Louisiana. With a sizable portion of the black population of New Orleans still living like refuges in other states, Jindal walked into the governor’s office as a Republican without participating in a single debate. All he had to do was run a few TV ads in the final weeks calling his opponents “too liberal for Louisiana,” and badda bing, he was elected.

In the absence of something dramatic happening here, I suspect Bob Riley’s heir apparent Bradley Byrne will easily win the governor’s race in Alabama in 2010, unless Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore can mount a dramatic challenge. The Democratic Party has no money or leadership and just allowed the Bush Justice Department to criminalize most of their first team players for six years without putting up much of a fight.

As I have told the trial lawyers over and over and over again, in the absence of a fully-funded Web Press, the Newhouse/Advent/al.com gang will push the Republican nominee into the governor’s mansion and give them a seven year honeymoon, as they did Bob Riley.

Funding the alternative, independent Web Press is the only prayer the Democrats have to hold a majority in the Legislature as well, and I don’t mean anonymous blogs. Unfortunately, I see very little evidence they understand this yet, so they will most likely have to lose big this year before they will wake up and smell the coffee…

Regardless of how infuriated the Alabama Democratic Party leadership might be about Parker Griffith, voters in this state have historically not given a tinker’s dam about people switching parties. Dick Shelby is a good example of that, as was Fob James.

The Dems need a high profile candidate to oust Griffith, and that would be Sparks. With 27 to 37 freshman Democrats at moderate to high risk in the 2010 mid-term House elections, Sparks probably should make the congressional race, which he could win much easier, in my opinion, than the governor’s contest.