Racists on the Ballot: Hard-Right Radicals Run in 2006

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In 1989, notorious white supremacist David Duke ran for a vacant seat in the Louisiana state legislature and won. Despite repeated efforts -- and winning more than 670, 000 votes, a majority of the state's white voters, in a 1991 gubernatorial bid -- Duke would fail to convert this electoral victory into higher office. But the former Klan leader remains convinced that the road to national power for those who share his views runs through local and state assemblies. At last year's European American Conference, a racist pow-wow Duke organizes annually, he implored audience members to enter politics -- and start small.

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One extremist who has gained both exposure and experience in 2006 is Larry Darby. As a candidate in a two-way Democratic primary race for attorney general of Alabama, Darby lived up to his recently earned reputation as an anti-Semite and Holocaust denier. While campaigning, Darby made headlines by stating the Holocaust did not occur, telling an Associated Press reporter that no more than 140,000 Jews died in Europe during World War II, most killed by typhus. His outspoken atheism -- and support for legalizing marijuana -- pushed Darby even further outside the conservative mainstream of Alabama politics.

Yet, despite his views, his (later abandoned) atheism, and his near total lack of resources, Darby managed to poll 44% of the vote -- more than 163,000 votes.

While some of the lessons of Darby's success are particular to the race -- Darby ran against a political unknown, was listed first on the ballot, and was at least a vaguely familiar name to many Alabamians -- one lesson from his race and those of David Duke applies across the country: Dark-horse candidates with extremist views and unsavory allies can make surprisingly strong runs for office and poison public discourse in the process.

What follows are snapshots of 2006 political races featuring candidates that have espoused extremist views or are allied with hate groups.

Ray McBerry (Georgia)
Shawn Stuart (Montana)
Don Goldwater (Arizona)
John Ubele (Florida)
James Hart (Tennessee)
Glenn Miller (Missouri)
Art Jones (Illinois)
Tony Dolz
Randall Terry (Florida)
Austin Farley (Tennessee)
Jimmy D. Giles (Mississippi)

See the sie for deatils on each
http://www.alternet.org/rights/43227/

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1. I reserve my greatest disdain for those who fly false flags and

call themselves democrats yet adhere to none of the democratic values that make up the party.

Their attempts to rise to power does incalculable damage to the cause of responsible government and liberal social policy.

I dislike the word "purge" but, for our own survival, we must demand the removal of these louts who claim to be dems but embody the very worst of the republican meme.