Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer
Former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis has been conducting a world-class whine fest ever since he got spanked in the 2010 Democratic primary for governor. Davis has bolted to Virginia and supposedly started a law practice, but he can't seem to resist taking shots at his home-state liberals, whom he blames for costing him the governorship. Never mind that Davis repeatedly sided with corporate interests and insulted his own party's progressive base in the weeks leading up to the election.
Artur Davis does not seem capable of accepting accountability for his own failings, so he has to blame someone else. And his blame game has taken on outrageous forms in recent days. How did a man who once seemed to hold considerable promise sink to such depths? Our explanation is simple: Artur Davis is a sorry human being, a man who thinks almost totally about himself and no one else. A valued source, however, says it goes deeper than that. Our source says Davis is a product of the dysfunctional political system in Alabama, a place where it's hard to tell a Republican from a Democrat, especially among white elites.
Specifically, our source says, Davis got involved with Jere Beasley, Alabama's most powerful trial lawyer and head of a firm that made national headlines last year for filing a bogus lawsuit against Taco Bell. Beasley paints himself as a Democrat and has raked in enough cash over the years to become a party kingmaker. But he also is a BFF of Homewood lawyer Rob Riley, who just happens to be the hopelessly corrupt son of our former hopelessly corrupt GOP governor, Bob Riley.
What does all of this mean? We will explain in a moment. But for now, Davis is like a cat who got trapped in a washing machine, going round and round, with dirty laundry everywhere. The machine has stopped and spit him out--wet, dizzy, and more than a little bitter. Now he's desperate to blame somebody, and it's not a pretty sight. Davis seems incapable of pointing fingers in the right direction--at himself and the white elites he decided to bed down with. No, he must concoct all sorts of imaginary enemies among Alabama progressives and tie them to his verbal whipping post.
To make matters worse, our source says, Davis' law practice in Virginia has been mostly a flop. He now is serving a four-month fellowship at the Harvard Institute of Politics. It all has left him with loose moorings--a man without a party, without much of a career, and with a powerful need for attention. That has led Davis to say and write one nutty thing after another.
How bizarre have Davis' public utterings become? First, he opined that Republicans should draft former Florida Governor Jeb Bush as their 2012 presidential candidate. He even wrote a piece for National Review titled "Draft Jeb Bush: A Charismatic and Accomplished Governor Can Save the Republican Party." Why is Davis, ostensibly a Democrat, suggesting ways for the Republican Party to save itself? Why does Davis have a man crush on Jeb Bush? Beats me.
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