Alabama Democrats are optimistic about the governor’s race, but for what reason?

Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) recently told the Associated Press that Alabama’s gubernatorial race is “probably the most competitive race that we’ve seen in a couple of decades.”

What informs his judgment, Jones leaves unclear. Perhaps it is self-confidence, born out of his own victory last December.

It doesn’t come from Ivey vs. Maddox polling (there has been little), nor by way of indication from Democrat primary turnout. Nearly 50,000 more people voted for Ivey in the Republican primary than voted in the Democrat gubernatorial primary altogether.

Something more like wishful thinking, or a desire to communicate to Democrat voters that they actually have a chance, and so should turn out in November, is responsible for Jones’ confidence in the competitiveness of this race.

Here’s the way I see it:

If Democrats want to recreate the results of December’s special election for U.S. Senate, they need to recreate the circumstances.

I don’t mean that Maddox needs Ivey to become engrossed in scandal, but he needs to create some serious buzz.

Right now, nobody is talking about him. Perhaps it’s a little early, but you’ve got to get started early in this state if you’re a Democrat who wants to win.

Doug Jones was able to win a Senate seat due to a blue wave, if you ask his party cohorts; due to entirely anomalous circumstances, if you ask Alabama GOP Chairman Terry Lathan; due to George Soros, Mitch McConnell, and Obama-Clinton elites, if you ask Roy Moore.

Whatever the primary reason – and I think Lathan comes closest to it – one thing is sure: the massive amount of media attention infused into that race, resulting in a large number of national voices advocating on his behalf, helped boost voter interest and lead to Jones’ victory.

Maddox will need something like that attention and support from far and wide, or at least a fraction of it, to motivate enough voters and overcome Ivey.

@jeremywbeaman is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News