(Above: CBS Evening News profiles Alabama First Congressional District race)

On Tuesday night, the six million national viewers of “CBS Evening News” got a taste of Alabama politics.

CBS national correspondent Chip Reid made the trip to Foley, Ala. to get a first-hand look at Bradley Byrne and Dean Young, the Republican candidates running to become Alabama’s next First District representative in the U.S. Congress.

Young, they noted, is running as the Tea Party candidate, while Byrne has positioned himself as the more traditional Republican in the race.

CBS and other national news outlets have started watching the race closely. They view it as a microcosm of what is set to take place in Republican primaries all across the country in the coming election cycle.

“In south Alabama, most people take pride in their good manners, but the Republican primary for an open House seat has become unusually impolite,” Reid said. “The race between Dean Young and Bradley Byrne echoes the party’s sharp divide over the government shutdown in Washington earlier this month.”

Reid asked Young if he views the First Congressional District race as a battle over the soul of the Republican Party.

“We’ve got the classic battle that the nation’s been looking for,” Young said. “Tea party against the establishment … I do see this as a fight for the soul of the Republican Party. We’ve got to get the government small again, even if it means shutting down the government.”

Byrne viewed things differently, saying the voters are looking for a leader who can make the government work again rather than shutting it down — a “work horse” rather than a “show horse.”

“What he wants to do is go to Washington and be a show horse,” Byrne said of Young. “I’m a work horse. I don’t want to be a show horse … I think his [approach] is bad for our party. I think it’s bad for our area… that approach doesn’t get anything done.”

The two are set to face off on November 5. The winner will be the heavy favorite in the general election scheduled for December 17 against Democratic nominee Burton LeFlore.

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