Long before AL(dot)com, The Montgomery Advertiser, The Decatur Daily and all the other old legacy print newspapers in Alabama were trying their darnedest to force-feed a right-leaning readership a regular dose of uninteresting and poorly written liberal editorials and op-eds, The Anniston Star under the leadership of H. Brandt Ayers was setting the state’s gold standard for such activities.
Under Ayers, it lived up the nickname “The Red Star” given to it by former Alabama Gov. George Wallace for its socialist leanings. Since Ayers’ departure earlier this year for an alleged sexual harassment “spanking” incident, nothing has changed, evidenced by the slate of candidates the Star has endorsed for next month’s statewide office contests.
Over the last several days, the Star has given its endorsements to every Democratic Party nominee, except for one contest.
In the race for governor, the Star urged readers to pull the chain for Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, the Democratic Party nominee — because Medicaid expansion, lottery or whatever Chip Hill and the merry band of Democrat consultants that have lost every Alabama Democratic gubernatorial campaign for the last 20 years have told us was the most critical issue of the day.
The long and distinguished list of Anniston Star-endorsed Democratic hopefuls continues from there with Lauderdale County Democratic Executive Committee chairman Will Boyd (who?) for lieutenant governor, Joe Siegelman, son of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, for attorney general and Bob Vance, Jr. (not the owner of Vance Refrigeration from “The Office” fame) for Alabama Supreme Court chief justice. It further enhances its liberal bona fides with a call to oppose the statewide amendments on the Ten Commandments and abortion.
But the editorial board of the Star throws us one curveball — it endorsed incumbent Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill over his Democratic challenger Heather Milam.
“The Merrill who is worthy of Alabamians’ vote is the one who does everything in his power to assist eligible voters — all of them,” the editorial said. “The Star’s editorial board recommends John Merrill.”
Obviously, the individual taking the biggest political hit is Milam. It is quite a feat to be the only Democratic candidate not endorsed by the Star.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
