-Caveat Lector-
>From TheIndependent (UK)
> SOUTH GIVES REPUBLICANS A SURPRISE
>
>
> THE RESULT of the Alabama straw poll was such a surprise that it left state
> dignitaries smiling at their Southern "difference" and sent reporters scurrying
> to rewrite their headlines. While George W Bush confirmed his standing as
> front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in Iowa two weeks ago,
> he did less well when Alabama Republicans delivered their verdict this weekend
> in the first poll of its kind to be held in the South.
>
> Birmingham, Alabama, a sprawling industrial city once known for steel and
> violent racial conflicts, is the very antithesis of Ames, the farm- belt college
> town that stages the Iowa straw poll. Where Ames had verdant fields and spacious
> marquees bursting with free sustenance, Alabama's Republicans thronged into the
> baking concrete of the brutalist civic centre, where the coffee and fries -
> which they had to pay for - soon ran out.
>
> And where Ames had a full slate of candidates - bar the maverick Senator John
> McCain - all of them intent on throwing their dollars at an election more than a
> year away, Birmingham had but two national candidates: the black preacher and
> popular television show host, Alan Keyes, and Orrin Hatch, the long-time Utah
> Senator, who had distinguished himself a year before by trying to persuade
> President Bill Clinton to admit his sins with Monica Lewinsky to avoid
> impeachment months before he was forced to confess.
>
> Birmingham also had Angel Rocker, a local black activist and self-help advocate,
> who drew much applause and laughter, but polled only six votes. The other
> candidates all stayed away. They were either on holiday or campaigning
> elsewhere. Mr Bush was in the next state, Georgia, but did not deign to make the
> slight diversion from his plans. "This was never for the media or the
> candidates, it was for the Alabama Republicans," said the party chairman, Winton
> Blount, who professed himself delighted with the 3,000- strong turnout. It was,
> the organisers said, the biggest gathering of Republicans the state had seen.
>
> The stars may not have graced the Birmingham civic centre, but Alabama's
> Republicans did their level best. They opened proceedings with a street parade,
> complete with band, cheerleaders and four real live elephants, trucked in from a
> circus in Illinois, which stood benignly to greet participants as they arrived,
> and then give rides to their children. The city's police, equipped with bicycle
> helmets against any elephant indiscipline, looked on warily.
>
> Inside the hall, there was all the paraphernalia of the political rally. A
> (white) jazz bandplayed "Happy Days are Here Again" at key moments and stalls
> sold the jokey political junk at which America excels. Sweatshirts with a
> Clinton profile and the legend: "So many interns; so little time." Little
> bottles of "Monica mouthwash" to "gargle away the DNA". Baby's bibs inscribed:
> "Future Republican President", and car bumper stickers: "Kevorkian for White
> House physician" (after the now-jailed euthanasia advocate). And brooches,
> scarves, T-shirts, bags, everything with the Republicans' elephant motif.
>
> This was an almost exclusively white gathering; black Republicans are few and
> far between in the Republican Party anywhere and in the South they are still
> fewer. But the few blacks there were, several of them en famille, and decked out
> in American flags, socialised easily with the rest. Sherrill Williams, a
> self-employed financial analyst who had driven 200 miles from a small town in
> the south-east of the state, said he had been welcomed. "The Republican Party
> represents my priorities," he said.
>
> If the organisers were content, many participants were disappointed that Mr Bush
> and the rest had not shown up in a state that sees itself as the "bell-wether of
> the South".
>
> The system of presidential primaries, which begins in Iowa and New Hampshire,
> skews the selection process in favour of the north and east, even though the
> political and economic clout of the South has grown exponentially in the past
> decade.
>
> The Republican Party in the South has advanced at the same time. The Alabama
> straw poll was a first attempt to claim more influence for the South, and -
> enthusiastic participants insisted - certainly not the last. A hall that had
> listened attentively to the three candidates who were present and lauded their
> oratory, sustained its defiance.
>
> Those who voted at Birmingham rewarded their two national guests. Mr Keyes, the
> black fundamentalist, topped the poll; his overwhelmingly white audience, as Pam
> Ward, a delegate, said, "liked his message and the way he delivered it". Mr
> Hatch came second, pushing Mr Bush unexpectedly into third place. It was, said
> Mr Blount, "a vote of Southern courtesy, a vote that said thank-you for showing
> up". But it was also a warning, however mild, that the South's voters cannot be
> taken for granted.
>
> How They Polled
>
> Alan Keyes: TV talk show host and fundamentalist preacher - 500 votes
>
> Orrin Hatch: Upright Mormon and presidential aspirant who takes his politics
> seriously - 458
>
> George W Bush: Front-running centrist, damned by his absence and equivocation -
> 421
>
> Gary Bauer: Moral majority with the moralism toned down - 124
>
> Elizabeth Dole: Political wife tapping the women's vote - 71
>
> Steve Forbes: Billionaire publisher out to "buy" the presidency - 43
>
> Pat Buchanan: TV debater and right-winger wavering about leaving the party - 42
>
> Dan Quayle: Bush snr's vice-president, damned by his spelling gaffe - 22
>
> Angel Rocker: Local black activist trying to join the mainstream - 6
A<>E<>R
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