Alabama Democratic Party Issues Statement On 2010 Elections

Alabama Democrats faced a once-in-a-generation national political hurricane on November 2nd. The mood of the electorate around our country was one of anger, change and frustration. The worst economy since the Great Depression and Alabama's 10% unemployment rate made this cycle almost insurmountable for our statewide, legislative and congressional candidates.

This mood was intensified in Alabama due to the unpopularity of our President and Congress among many Alabama voters. We thank the hundreds of thousands of voters for giving us a chance yesterday.

We offered the voters many great candidates who worked extremely hard and ran awesome campaigns, often exceeding expectations. However, the generic headwind was simply too great for our candidates to overcome. We thank them all for offering themselves for public service in a very difficult environment.

Democrats did set records for volunteerism in this election. Volunteers made tens of thousands of live canvasses and made tens of thousands of phone calls on behalf of candidates and the party. We are forever grateful to every one of you.

We congratulate the Alabama GOP for their historic victories. We want to work together with Republicans of goodwill to move Alabama forward wherever possible. We also declare this day that Alabama Democrats are not going to run or hide. Starting today, we will hold the Alabama Republican Party and each elected Republican official accountable for every vote they take and for every appointment or statement they make.

The political sands shift quickly, especially in this economy. The budget deficits and cuts facing Alabama are gargantuan. Governing will be tough. You cannot govern with conservative rhetoric, nasty campaign attack ads or with benefit of out-of-state campaign dollars. You have to make hard choices, and those hard choices will always have political consequences. Alabama Democrats love Alabama as much as anyone and will be an integral part of the debate.