To preface, I live in Madison County, and have been voting blue since 2008, and I always prepare myself for disappointment at the polls, but man I don't think I've ever seen such a flaccid Democratic ballot then I did this week. There weren't even democrats running in every empty spot! and when I tried to look up a lot of these candidates, I found little to no information. Contrast that to the Republican candidates where I could research on for days.

I realize this is a solidly red state, but I don't believe it is as red as people think on the ground level. There are plenty of people here that are progressively minded, and I myself have never really been truly persecuted for my beliefs. For every Cullman, there's a Birmingham, every Decatur a Huntsville, every Guntersville a Tuscaloosa, you get the idea.

And yet, from the Democratic party I am seeing an absolute lack of engagement with its constituents, no real attempt to rally its followers, and *certainly* no candidate lineup that makes me excited to vote for them. Do they not want to compete with the Republicans where they can? Do they not want to make their voters feel like they're actually contributing to the race? Can ANYONE educate me on why things are the way they are? Cause I certainly don't get it.

I guess at this point, come next election I'll just vote Republican in the primaries and Democrat in the general. That seems to be the lesson to learn here from this disillusionment. It'd just be nice for the next race to be....well, an actual race, you know? It's disgraceful that the AL Democratic Party doesn't seem to share that sentiment.

Edit: Wow, so many replies! Thanks for the feedback! Looking forward to finding some time later this week and going through it all in detail (as well at the couple link recommends)