2010 Alabama Governor - Bentley vs. Sparks

10/9/10 -- With three weeks to go, Bentley is up by twenty points in the polls.  Sparks is a talented politician, but it is difficult to see how he pulls this one off.

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Governor Bob Riley is term-limited after a tumultuous two terms.  State Representative Robert Bentley, a fairly traditional conservative, will face Democratic nominee Ron Sparks.

Sparks, the agriculture commissioner, has long been touted by the Democratic netroots as a potential statewide candidate in Alabama, and in 2006 he was the leading Democrat on the statewide ticket, winning re-election with 59 percent of the vote. A self-described liberal, he trounced 7th District Congressman Artur Davis in the Democratic primary, who had focused on the general election and tried mightily to position himself as a conservative Democrat. As a result, Davis placed himself too far to the right of the primary electorate.

At the end of the day, this is likely going to be a bad year to be running as a Democrat, and we suspect it will be even worse for a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat, especially in Alabama.