"Riley poised for big win" on Tuesday

Bob Riley leads Lucy Baxley by a whopping 59%-31% in the latest statewide poll of likely voters. Republicans also hold big leads in several down-the-ticket races. According to the AP:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A new statewide poll indicates Gov. Bob Riley is headed to an easy re-election victory over Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley and puts Republican candidates ahead in the races for lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state. ...

Asked for whom they would vote if "the election for governor were held today," 59 percent said the Republican, Riley; 31 percent said the Democrat, Baxley; and the rest were undecided. ...

In polling on other races:

• Lieutenant governor candidate Republican Luther Strange was the choice for 50 percent of likely voters compared to 39 percent for Democrat Jim Folsom Jr. The remaining 11 percent were undecided.

• Republican incumbent Troy King had 51 percent in the attorney general's race while his Democratic challenger John Tyson Jr., the Mobile County district attorney, had 33 percent.

• Republican Beth Chapman was chosen by 42 percent of those surveyed, compared to 32 percent for Democratic incumbent Nancy Worley in the secretary of state's race.

• In the campaign for chief justice, Democratic challenger Cobb was the choice of 44 percent, while Republican Nabers was preferred by 43 percent.

I'm a little surprised (and displeased) about that Nabers/Cobb number. I hate to say it, but I think that Nabers would be well ahead if he didn't look and sound like an undertaker.

Appearances aside, you couldn't ask for a better Chief Justice than Drayton Nabers. 1) He wrote the book on "character"...literally. 2) By all counts, he has been a superb administrator for the Court - one of the Chief Justice's most important roles. 3) He is a mainstream conservative jurist who believes that legislating is best left to legislatures; he rejects judicial extremism - whether it comes from the left or the right. 4) Underscoring point 3, Nabers defeated a tough challenge from Tom Parker in the June Republican primary.

Drayton Nabers is one of the best appointments Governor Riley has made during his four years in office. If anyone deserves to be elected to a full term, he does.