WASHINGTON – When Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani visited Mobile earlier this month, it was his fourth visit to Alabama to solicit campaign donations.
So, has it paid off? According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Alabamians have given over $270,000 to the Giuliani campaign. That might sound like a lot of money, but compare that to his home state of New York where Giuliani racked up almost $10 million.
Giuliani is the top fundraising Republican in Alabama, but Giuliani’s not the leading overall fundraiser in Alabama. That distinction goes to former Sen. John Edwards – pulling in over $438,000, mostly from Alabama’s strong trial lawyer lobby.
But locally, if you examine campaign contributions to presidential and congressional candidates, you can see where the power and money are in Mobile. A Web site run by the Center for Responsive Politics, Opensecrets.org, breaks down FEC campaign contribution data by zip code. The Spring Hill neighborhood – zip code 36608 – dominates when it comes to campaign contributions this election cycle.
Although we’re over a year away from the election and three-and-a-half months away from the primary – ”’08ers” gave $284,870 to various political campaigns and no other zip code came close.
The closest zip code in Mobile County to that total comes out of 36616 – a P.O. Box zip – at $44,433 and that came mostly from Abraham Mitchell and the late Mayer Mitchell.
Zip codes on the Eastern Shore – Daphne, Fairhope, Montrose and Spanish Fort made a strong showing, giving a total of $202,380 to candidates.
Bonner takes stand
Uninsured children in Alabama are a modest problem compared to the rest of the country. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, only 7.2 percent of children 18 and under are without health insurance coverage. And Alabama is in good shape compared to our neighbors – Mississippi – 12.7 percent, Florida – 16.9 percent (highest in the nation) and Tennessee – 10.1 percent.
When Rep. Jo Bonner took a stand and backed the president’s veto of the $35-billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) last week, he may have realized the impact of no increase or a smaller increase in S-CHIP as proposed by President George W. Bush would have a minimal effect on Alabamians.
“Simply put – we must ensure that poor children are covered before we expand the program to provide coverage for even more adults,” Bonner said. “Now that the president’s veto has been sustained, the majority needs to stop playing politics, so we can pass a bill that truly provides health-care to America’s neediest children.”
Bonner has been consistent with Bush’s position on the expansion of S-CHIP over the past month. He made some strong remarks when Congress originally voted to approve the legislation. “I didn’t run for Congress because I believe Americans should be taxed more or because I think the federal government should take over every aspect of our lives from the cradle to the grave,” Bonner said.
The local push back came from Democratic congressional hopeful Benjamin Lodmell, who has mounted an offensive against the third-term incumbent.
“Bonner’s cockamamie reason for opposing healthcare for poor children – the S-CHIP bill would raise taxes paid by smokers. Can you believe it?” Lodmell said in a release. “Here’s a Congressman who earlier this year voted to make the rich oil industry even richer by giving it billions of dollars in subsidies now votes to deny poor uninsured children the healthcare they need because it will increase ‘entitlements.’ What kind of uncompassionate ideological nonsense is that?”
Time accuses Alabama prosecutors of ‘selective justice’
Time Magazine published a story earlier this month detailing a long and sordid affair about how Lanny Young, an allegedly corrupt landfill developer, gave thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions by laundering money to various past and present Alabama politicos.
Those given contributions according to Time were former Gov. Don Siegelman, who was convicted last year on corruption charges, and also Sen. Jeff Sessions and former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor.
However, Time makes the case Sessions and Pryor weren’t investigated by the U.S. Justice Department because they were Republicans and Siegelman was prosecuted because he showed signs of presenting a challenge to incumbent Gov. Bob Riley, another Republican, in 2003.
Whether or not there is anything to this has yet to be determined. Sen. Sessions’ office declined to comment on the Time article, but said a response would be forthcoming.
A source close to Sessions’ re-election campaign told Lagniappe there was “a lot in the Time article that was factually wrong” and “the story relied heavily innuendo.”
Contact Jeff Poor at jeffreypoor@yahoo.com.
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