I walked into Café 615 that evening with a little thrill of anticipation. Being so involved in the political process was still new to me and I hadn’t been face-to-face with many “real live” political leaders, at least not those who had a voice on the national stage. The room began to buzz quietly as the Congressman entered the room, a handsome African American man who’d begun to make a name for himself and our state. In recent months I’d seen him speak before a packed house at the Democratic National Convention, watched him handle himself ably with national reporters. And now I was about to shake his hand.
If his eyes continued to scan the room as he spoke to me, looking for who else he should speak to rather than focusing for a moment on the lowly volunteer smiling at him, I shrugged it off. He was a busy man with a lot of people to greet. The whispers and excitement continued to grow as he worked the room. “He may be offered a job in Obama’s cabinet if he wins the election.” “I hear he may be running for Governor in a few years.” “He’s going to do so much for Alabama.”
As he began to speak, I picked up my phone to video tape his words. I could be listening to the next governor of Alabama. I wanted to be able to look back and say I knew him when.
A few days ago, I dug out that old piece of video, but not in happy remembrance. Congressman Artur Davis did not become a member of President Obama's cabinet, nor did he become Alabama's first black governor. And the best thing he ever did for Alabama was leave it.
Next week, if his speech isn't cut from the hurricane-shortened program, Artur Davis will step on stage at the Republican National Convention and endorse Mitt Romney for President. I went looking for the video I took because I remembered vaguely that he'd spent time that night discussing the philosophical difference between Democrats and Republicans and I was intensely curious to revisit what he'd said then in light of what he was saying now.
Follow me below the fancy waffle to see for yourself...
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