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Byrne appointment good start for two-year college cleanup The speculation on Goat Hill about Sen. Bradley Byrne's motives began 30 seconds after Gov. Bob Riley announced Byrne had agreed to become chancellor of the state's twoyear college system. One of his law school classmates opined that the appointment would be a great opportunity for the Fairhope Republican to seek the GOP nomination for governor in 2010. State Rep. Alvin Holmes, a Montgomery Democrat chimed in that the appointment would just put more "politics" in the system and that the real reason for Byrne's appointment was that the "Republicans are grooming him to run for governor." Byrne was the newsmaker guest last Friday on Alabama Public Television's For The Record and I happened to be one of the media panelists questioning him. The first question I asked was this: "Sen. Byrne, since one of things you are going to be confronted with as chancellor is the conflict over the hiring of legislators and the hiring of relatives of school board members and previous chancellors, I think it would be appropriate for you to answer this question: During your eight years as a member of the state school board and during your tenure as a legislator, have you or any of your relatives ever worked as a regular employee or a contract employee for the two-year system?" His answer was short and to the point. "No." My second question was: "There are those who think taking this job will give you a great opportunity to run for governor. Do you plan to be a candidate for governor?' His answer to that question was neither direct nor short. My analysis of the answer was it was rather equivocating in nature, but I got the distinct impression he will run if his fortune in cleaning up the two-year system is good. But as The Birmingham News pointed out…he will need a lot of help for the story to have a happy ending…because "the powerful people who have been gorging themselves in this pasture aren't going to just walk away because the ranch has a new foreman. Byrne is a man of considerable political experience and skill but he is no match for and motive to keep the twoyear college system open for the wrong type of business." I'm not so sure I agree because I think that Byrne sees it as a challenge and that he can have an impact on making the system better. He may not make it perfect, but the cleanup has to start sometime, somewhere. * * * The results of two polls of Alabama attitudes have been published in the past 10 days. The most recent is a University of South Alabama/Mobile Press-Register poll that finds the state is divided on whether or not there should be an official state apology for slavery. Overall 45 percent would apologize and 44 percent would not. However, along racial lines, 56 percent of whites would not favor an apology while 84 percent of blacks said there should be an apology. The poll has a +/- 5 percent margin of error. The results really should not surprise anyone and perhaps a lot of whites are reluctant to support an apology because they fear it will lead to attempts by blacks to seek reparations and entangle the state in costly lawsuits. The other poll, conducted by the Capital Survey Research Center, an arm of the Alabama Education Association, dealt with the pulse of state voters on the war in Iraq. The poll, surveyed 563 registered voters, found that 56 percent thought the war was "not worth it" while 38 percent thought it was "worth it." By 53 percent to 33 percent Alabamians think the U.S. is "on the wrong track," and only 12 percent think the war outcome will produce economic stability and a democracy in Iraq. * * * One bit of news Sen. Byrne did make last Friday was that he predicted the State Senate would break out of its quagmire this week and pass the budgets and a limited number of other bills. We shall see.
Note: Columnist Bob Ingram is taking a leave because of a fall that has caused him problems. Bob Martin, a friend of Ingram, is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. He will fill in for Ingram until his column returns.
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