“Lil Wayne + Ecclesiastes + Frank Sinatra = one of the best Alabama campaign ads of the year”
That Yellowhammer headline from June of this year launched a whirlwind of national attention focused on a relatively obscure Alabama legislative race.
Republican Darius Foster is running for Alabama House of Representatives in District 56, which includes the suburban Birmingham areas of Bessemer, Lake Cyrus, Lipscomb, Oxmoor Valley, Ross Bridge and Shannon.
Foster is one of a record number of black Republicans who decided to put their name on the ballot this year in the Yellowhammer State.
The aforementioned headline went with the ad below, which has now been viewed over 170,000 times and led to Foster being an invited guest on Fox News on multiple occasions.
The ad got Foster some well-deserved attention and some positive press, both nationally and locally. But if history is any indication, viral video success does not always equal success at the ballot box. Actually, it rarely does.
Perhaps most notably, perennial candidate Dale Peterson went viral worldwide with his now famous “don’t give a rip” ad during the 2010 election cycle, even spawning viral parodies. He got beat on election day in 2010, and again in 2014.
Foster’s YouTube video is the rare viral campaign ad that didn’t go viral for negative — or at best, funny — reasons, so he has a chance to break the cycle. But it’s important to remember that every one of the 170,000 individuals who watched the video and don’t live in Alabama House District 56 are essentially useless to Foster’s campaign when election day rolls around.
To his credit, Foster does not seem to be relying on the video to propel him to victory Nov. 4. In addition to typical campaign tactics, like running ads, knocking on doors, and attending local events, Foster has also taken a more unconventional approach.
He donated computers, tablets, audio visual equipment, computer accessories and furniture to the Oxmoor Valley Community Center, helping launch the center’s technology center in an effort to give low-income individuals in District 56 access to technology that could help them land a job.
He also donated laptop computers to be used by school administrators and teachers at McAdory High School.
And his biggest success was organizing a massive job fair at the Bessemer Civic Center that was attended by hundreds of local residents and 16 major employers in the area who were looking to make hires.
“No candidate in the history of this district has ever gone to such great lengths to put their constituents back to work but I believe in Bessemer and I believe in the people of Bessemer,” Foster explained. “There are great companies that are hiring in this area and there are hardworking, qualified people in Bessemer who are looking for employment opportunities. I (hosted) this job fair (to) connect those companies with great employees from right here in Bessemer.”
Numerous attendees received job offers as a result of the event.
That’s an especially big deal considering the 5-year average unemployment rate in the 35020 zip code in Bessemer is 17% and another 30% of citizens in the area are underemployed.
“I am fully committed to putting Bessemer back to work even before Election Day and I will remain as committed after Election Day,” Foster promised.
But he’s still got an uphill climb to get elected.
The fact of the matter is that Foster is running as a Republican in a district that traditionally votes overwhelmingly Democratic.
He needs to carry the more Republican areas of the district, like Ross Bridge, by a wide margin and hope the Democrat and Independent candidates he’s running against split the vote in Bessemer between them.
Regardless of the outcome, people in HD56 seem to be responding well to a candidate who’s taking concrete steps to put people back to work, rather than just reciting the same old political talking points about jobs and the economy.
“This is just the beginning,” Foster said. “If I am elected, people will be able to look around in four years and see how much better things have gotten. I will work hard each and every day to increase the quality of life for every citizen in my district. They deserve that.”
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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