D-Day For Aspiring Black Politicians.

Hope ya'll all had a great holiday. I sure as heck did. I'm still recovering from Sunday's Annual AverageFam Memorial Day Party. But of course, bills gotta get paid, so I'm back on my grizzly today. And BTW, salute to all the troops out there putting their lives on the line so I can enjoy a hamburger and Corona without fearing for my life. Thanks!

Anwyays, two primaries today are piquing my interest, both of which might be history making.

The polls are now open in three states - Alabama, Mississippi, and New Mexico - holding primaries Tuesday, and in one of those states voters could make history.

Rep. Artur Davis faces off against Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks in Alabama's Democratic gubernatorial contest. If the four-term congressman wins Tuesday's primary, he would become the state's first African-American Democratic nominee for governor. If Davis is elected in November, he would make history again, becoming Alabama's first black governor.

In Mississippi, Angela McGlowan is trying to become the first black Republican member of the House since JC Watts. The conservative political strategist, who was an analyst on Fox News, has been courting Tea Party activists. She and longtime state Sen. Alan Nunnelee are part of a three-way contest for the GOP nomination in Mississippi's first congressional district. The winner will face off in November against Rep. Travis Childers, a conservative Democrat who's held the seat for two years.

It's hard to tell if either Davis or McGlowan's got a legitimate chance. Davis, as I've noted here in the past, declared his intentions to run for Governor not long after Barack Obama's win, and has run a similarly race-neutral, centrist campaign to this point. Much like Obama he's got an Ivy League education. Much like Obama, he's also attempted to increase his appeal by distancing himself from the Congressional Black Caucus, even going so far as being the only Negro to vote against ObamaCare. Depending on whom you ask, this is either the worst kind of political pandering, or wise strategy given Alabama's not-so-progressive voters. Win or lose today, Davis has an uphill battle against his GOP foe come November.

The same could be said for McGlowan, who is perhaps best known as the shrill sista with the ratty weave who often appears on Fox News to bash Obama.



McGlowan's success or failure today will speak volumes about the very odd confluence of the Tea Party movement (whom she's pandered to repeatedly) and race, since she's the first Negro candidate of her sort to make it to a primary. Her chances probably aren't very good since she's got to overcome both a party-endorsed GOP challenger and a popular Democrat incumbent in November. Either way, I'm just glad she's taken her race-baiting tactics somewhere other than cable TV.

We'll see how both of these candidates fare. I'll run a followup post tomorrow.

Question: Does either Davis or McGlowan have a legitimate shot today?

Voters could make history in Tuesday's primaries [CNN]