Raby still rhymes with maybe

Way back in early 2008 in the days following Bud Cramer’s surprise retirement from Congress the Democrats (and Republicans) were left casting about for candidates.  One of the names mentioned on the “D” side was political consultant Steve Raby.  Danny at Doc’s wrote a post entitled “Raby Rhymes with Maybe” addressing the speculation of a Raby run.  Of course he did not run in 2008, but since Griffith’s party switch the Democrats are once again casting about for candidates.  And Raby’s name is once again being mentioned.

I’ve never met Raby (that I’m aware of), but he certainly has great name ID among political observers in north Alabama.  He’s a consultant, PAC money swapper, and former legislative staffer. Outside of that not many people know of him.  His connections would certainly make him a viable candidate from a financial perspective.  In addition to being rumored as a congressional candidate in 2008 he was also mentioned as a possible candidate for the SD-7 special election last year.

My gut tells me Raby will not run. Mid term elections are always tough on the President’s party and this year appears to be holding true to form, so there is that disincentive.  But I get the feeling that Raby likes having his name bandied about for open seats.  He’s a political consultant. Having everyone in the political chatting class excitedly talking about the prospect of him running is good for business.  It shows that he is relevant.  Why would he extinguish such speculation?

It looks like the Democrats may have their first candidate for AL-05 lined up, though.  Tazewell Shepard, the grandson of former Sen. John Sparkman, has candidacy papers “on his desk.”  Left in Alabama has more on him.

He’s an attorney with Sparkman, Shepard and Morris in Huntsville. He has a J.D. from the University of Alabama Law School, a B.A. in history from Dartmouth and an A.A. from Eton.

Taze Shepard’s father, Tazewell Shepard, Jr., was Naval Aide to President John F. Kennedy and Taze himself clerked for the Director of the FDIC, was a U.S. Senate staffer in the 1970’s, was elected to the Alabama State Board of Education in 1990. Dr. Mary Jane Caylor primaried him out of that post in 1994, possibly because he advocated teacher performance evaluations.

I look forward to learning more about Mr. Shepard should he decide to file those papers.  I’m sure some will mock him as an elitist who graduated from a $45,000 per year British boarding school and $53,000 per year Ivy League university.  I personally don’t have a problem with a quality education.  If you have the financial means then take advantage of the opportunities it affords.

Whoever chooses to run under the Democrats’ banner in this district will have some tough questions to answer.  If they run as loyal Democrats will they really stand behind their party’s leader, who is currently trying to kill off manned space flight (among other decisions unpopular in north Alabama)?  Will they run as “moderate” or “conservative” independents, a la Parker Griffith in 2008 (albeit under false pretenses)?  That certainly won’t energize their base.  Just seems like whoever runs will be stuck between a rock and a hard place.