Democrat: Artur Davis

One look at Davis’s plans for addressing the state’s problems should put all questions to rest. While other candidates say Alabama needs to create jobs, Davis gives a detailed plan for doing it — it’s too detailed to print here, but highlights include a new job tax credit, expanded small-business lending, initiatives to entice high-tech development in the state, expanding broadband internet to rural areas, a tuition tax incentive for working adult students, and creation of a “demand-driven system that trains workers for the jobs that employers need.”

He has similarly detailed plans to improve education in Alabama by drastically reducing the dropout rate, providing before- and after-school programs to help children stay in school and encouraging parents — through a child tax credit — to hold their children accountable for their behavior.

To minimize corruption in government and restore public trust, Davis proposes to institute a total ban on gifts from lobbyists; ban the transfer of campaign contributions from one political action committee to another, a practice that effectively hides the source of the money a politician receives; place a limit on the amount of money any individual or group can contribute to a candidate; and require any public official who is indicted on ethics charges to give up his job.

Davis supports statewide referendums on two issues, constitutional reform and legalized gambling.

He has pledged to work to end the state sales tax on groceries and to increase the property tax on out-of-state companies that own huge timber tracts.

In a large field of candidates, Davis brings the most detailed, sensible and workable plan for the state. He should be our next governor.

Republican: Bill Johnson

In the Republican primary horserace, Bill Johnson has run in the middle of the pack and not received much attention. That has been an undeserved slight. Johnson is a brilliant thinker, a polished diplomat, an experienced businessman, and a compassionate family man.

He was most recently the director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the state agency that distributes grants to cities and towns for development projects. He has traveled to nearly 50 countries and speaks three languages, attributes which give him a broad perspective on the problems facing Alabama and an unmatched comfort level in approaching foreign industrialists for development in the state.

He does not worship at the altar of foreign investment, however. To promote job growth, he proposes to offer the same incentives to expanding small businesses that the state makes available to new industries. He also proposes creating a program to promote exports of Alabama-made products to foreign countries. And, like Artur Davis, he proposes workforce training that will prepare young people for available jobs rather than for glamorous-sounding but nonexistent jobs.

He relates the exorbitant high school dropout rate in part to the emphasis on college preparation. “We need to recognize that not every child has a goal of obtaining a college degree,” he said. He proposes identifying those kids early and providing other training opportunities.

Johnson suggests that faith-based initiatives can provide services that state and local governments cannot afford, and in many cases can do a better job. One example he offered is after-school care for children and teen-agers. He did not propose that any child be required to attend a church-run program, but rather that churches team up with schools to provide safe places and wholesome after-school activities for children whose parents allow them to attend.

He also supports drug-treatment programs with faith-based aspects as a means of reducing the prison population, lowering the recidivism rate, and returning drug addicts to useful, productive lives.

It’s time for Johnson to emerge from the pack and take the lead in the race for the Republican nomination. He is a capable leader and an honorable man.