Twenty years from now, when Alabama Democrats look back and ask when, exactly, they became irrelevant in Alabama politics, they will find their answer in Tuesday’s primary results. Given the choice between a Harvard educated lawyer and an uninspiring product of the state’s Democratic machine, Democratic voters chose the transparently self-serving Ron Sparks.

Sparks, who seems to believe all of Alabama’s problems can be solved by legalized gambling, will not be governor. He will, however, become the very public face of the deficiencies within the Alabama Democratic Party and the special interests controlling it.

The defining question for voters in the general election is not whether they should vote for Sparks or not, but why he is even a candidate.

His large margin of victory over congressman Artur Davis indicates astonishingly poor judgment on behalf of Democratic primary voters. The voters, however, were acting at the recommendations of the Democratic leadership.

Davis is detested by Democratic powerbrokers in Montgomery. They feared he would be hard for them to control in the governor’s seat.

Even black political leaders like Joe Reed threw their weight behind Sparks, simply because Davis refused to play their games. That Democratic primary voters played along with the machine bosses is a sad reflection on the state of the party. Having a voter base incapable of making rational choices is the most severe problem confronting any political party.

Of course, the Democratic Party of Alabama faces other challenges. This is a very red state, and 2010 is shaping up to be a very Republican year. The Democratic candidate was likely to lose regardless of the primary outcome.

Yet, with Davis, Democratic voters could have done something bold and historic. They could have given Republicans a reason to at least consider supporting their nominee. Remember, in 1998, Alabama elected Democrat Don Siegelman over the bumbling Republican incumbent Fob James. Siegelman lost reelection in 2002 by only 0.23 percent.

So it is, or was, possible for Alabama to elect a Democrat to the Governor’s Mansion. Indeed, for nearly a century, political races in Alabama were decided almost exclusively in the Democratic primary. Some counties still have no Republican elected officials.

In several counties, however, Republicans have offered themselves up for local officProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0

in an attempt to break the Democratic hold on school boards and county commissions. Increasingly, Alabama is moving in a direction where most races will be decided in the Republican primary. Ron Sparks’ candidacy will acerbate that trend.

The outcome of the Democratic primary is all the more appalling when contrasted with the results of the Republican race. Republicans, like Democrats, had the opportunity to choose an extremely bright candidate with a compelling vision for the state. That candidate, Bradley Byrne, won, although he will have to compete in a runoff election later this summer.

Byrne’s victory was a thankful repudiation of lowest common denominator politics represented by GOP candidate Tim James. James, who received substantial media attention for a campaign ad calling for English-only driver license exams, will now make the runoff only if a recount puts him ahead of Robert Bentley. That is unlikely, however, as James is currently in third place.

Republicans can take pride that James floundered. They also can take pride that former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore finished with only 19 percent of the vote, a distant fourth.

James and Moore represent the most unseemly factions of the GOP, and they were rejected for it. In the end, substance won, which is good for Alabama, because the state needs a substantive conversation about how to address its most pressing challenges.

Too bad the Democratic Party won’t be able to have a proactive role in that debate.

Tray Smith is the Opinions Editor of The Crimson White.