Alabama’s Bright Spot

Montgomery Alabama Mayor Bobby Bright, who is running for AL’s 2^nd Congressional district, is a candidate that both Democrats and Christians should be paying special attention to.  Democrats should have an eye on Bright, and others of his mold, because he could be their key to putting the South back in play for a party that has been shut out in the region on anything higher than a local race for decades.  Christians should be watching him because he is one of those rare candidates who views his campaign as a chance to put his faith into action.  As Bright himself has said

“The Republican Party has done a great job of painting themselves as the only party that   will offer a conservative Christian candidate out there,” he says. “But, with my candidacy, the Democrats are doing that, and it’s a challenge the Republican Party hasn’t had in this district in 44-plus years.”

As only a candidate of the big tent party can do, Bright embodies bedrock principles of the Democratic Party while faithfully representing Alabama’s values.  He is pro-life, supports gun rights and agricultural interests, believes we need to be investing in renewable energy, and make healthcare affordable and accessible to all, especially our children.  He is a candidate in the populist model that once made evangelicals one of the most progressive social activists in our country (no really, I’m serious.  Abolition, child labor laws, and prison reform all have evangelical roots.)  At the center of each of his stances is the inherent value and worth of every human being and a commitment to equality and justice.  A fiscal conservative, Bright argues that we must absolutely support our troops and bring them home safely and with dignity, but that large sums of the money we are spending in Iraq would be better invested in infrastructure here at home.

If you haven’t heard about this race, on one level it’s a fun story.  Bright, and his Republican opponent Jay Love are both deacons at Montgomery’s First Baptist Church, which led USA Today to dub them “dueling deacons.”  This article is a wonderful testament to the bonds of Christian unity and a rejection of the dirty campaign tactics so many Americans are fed up with.  As Bright and Love’s minister noted, “Our hope is this could be a model election where the high road is taken.”  Unfortunately, as the polls have tightened the mud slinging has begun, on one side at least.  Bright has come under a barrage of attacks in recent weeks, both from his opponent and independent Republican groups.   As Faithful Democrats writers addressed a few weeks ago, the conservative Republican group Freedom’s Watch has targeted this race, even going so far as to mock Bright’s faith.  These attacks have reached such a level that the Christian Coalition spoke out against them, stating,

“The Christian Coalition of Alabama strongly condemns and today is calling for Las Vegas casino baron Sheldon Adelson’s 527, Freedom’s Watch, to stay out of Alabama politics.  Freedom’s Watch has been buying a number of television ads and sending emails to Alabama voters blatantly mischaracterizing candidate Bobby Bright’s record and making light of the fact that he is an evangelical born-again Christian.”

Bobby Bright has pledged to run a clean, honest campaign and it has made him the target of unscrupulous attacks.  He is a politician who puts right and wrong above right and left.  I don’t know about you, but I think we need more Bobby Brights in Washington.