'Bush lite' Not What State Needs

A HUGE thanks is in order to Mr. John Burgess for this letter.

'Bush lite' not what state needs


Despite being a Republican, Bob Riley has done an OK job as governor the last four years. He has a comfortable lead in the polls and in campaign funds. But, being a Republican, enough is just never enough.

Riley climbed on the sleaze machine by having Dick Cheney conduct a fundraiser in Dothan. (Fortunately for Riley, hunting season had not yet opened.) Riley then used the money to air Karl Rove-inspired ads attacking Lucy Baxley as "too liberal" for Alabama. And when Baxley fights back, Riley runs more attack ads accusing Baxley of running attack ads. What twisted logic.

Then Riley takes a page from the Bush playbook with a plan to lower taxes and increase spending. If bankruptcy is good enough for the federal government, it should be good enough for Alabama, too. And to keep the money machine rolling, the King of Sleaze, George W. Bush himself, appeared at a fundraiser for Riley.

The best qualified candidate for governor seems to be Loretta Nall, the Libertarian write-in candidate from Alexander City. Unfortunately, the electoral system in Alabama is heavily rigged against third party and write-in candidates, so she has little chance of winning.

I don't "love" Lucy, and she's wrong to oppose annual property tax reappraisals, but she's a much better choice than "Bush lite" Riley. It's time for a change in the statehouse as well as in Congress.

John H. Burgess
Montgomery