POLITICO is out this morning with a critique of the AL-01 GOP primary. The D.C.-based media outlet says the race illustrates the “GOP identity crisis” taking place nationally.
Some of the key paragraphs from the article are below.
A Nov. 5 runoff for the state’s vacant 1st District is emerging as a proxy fight pitting those who argue that the GOP should embrace a conventional, mainstream approach aimed at appealing to a broad spectrum of voters and those who favor a hard-hitting, bombastic approach that excites the conservative base.
On one side of the divide is Bradley Byrne, a former state senator and lawyer. An unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial candidate, he presents himself as a pragmatic-minded friend of the business community. A former Democrat, Byrne switched parties in 1997 while serving on the state Board of Education.
On the other side is Dean Young, a real estate investor and bomb-thrower who’s said that he’s “against homosexuals pretending like they’re married” and who’s called for President Barack Obama’s impeachment. His most prominent backer is Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, who is best known for refusing to implement a federal judge’s orders to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state Supreme Court building. He’s also won the support of Sharron Angle, the tea party lightning rod who failed to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2010.
POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt writes that, “with little to separate the two candidates ideologically, the race is more about style than substance.” He says that Byrne is working to cast Young as “mean-spirited” and “controversial.”
“There’s a way to do things in a way that’s successful and not successful,” Byrne said in an interview. “My opponent can get up and be bombastic, but that doesn’t get results.”
“There are a lot of people in this district who are conservative people,” he said. “But they’re not mean people.”
Young, on the other hand, is painting Byrne as the establishment candidate.
“It’s going to be a crystal-clear choice,” Young said in an interview. “He’s a lawyer and a former Democrat, and I’m a businessman and a conservative Republican. I don’t know how more different it could be for the people of south Alabama.”
POLITICO believes that Byrne could struggle to excite the base in a low-turnout runoff, while Young’s challenge is expanding his reach outside of social conservatives.
The toned-down Byrne faces a challenge in motivating voters in what’s certain to be a low-turnout runoff. To do so, he’s stressing his conservative credentials, such as his clashes with the state’s powerful teachers union during his tenure as chancellor of the state’s community college system.
Young has the opposite problem: While his socially conservative supporters are fervent about his candidacy, his reach is narrower.
Victory in the AL-01 GOP primary is tantamount to election in the Republican-leaning district, which Romney won in 2012 with 60 percent of the vote. Election day is Nov. 5.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.