Here’s something especially for the voters of Alabama’s Third Congressional District.

You already know that Republican incumbent congressman Mike Rogers will face off against Democratic newcomer Josh Segall in the fall. The blogs have been abuzz with the potential that exists for this to become a competitive contest: Danny over at Doc’s has opined on reported poll numbers in the race and Segall’s surprising fundraising strength, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently put the contest on its Red2Blue Emerging Races List.

This is one of the contests where observers have wondered how much help Rogers will be able to get from the National Republican Congressional Committee and whether that open question leaves Rogers even more vulnerable than he would be otherwise, given the political climate of the country.

On Wednesday, Segall garnered a mention in the Alabama Republican Party’s daily “Good Morning, Democrats” feature (which we’ve discussed here before), which I’ve posted here in its entirety:

In 2006, one of your most influential and powerful leaders, Nancy Pelosi, gave a tremendous and impactful speech topping off your Party’s achievement of a majority in Congress.  To follow are a couple of excerpts:

“Today the American people voted for change, and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction….from sea to shining sea, the American people voted for change…today we have made history, now let us make progress.”(Pelosi, Nov. 2006)

How quickly we forget that 2008 isn’t the first time that you asked voters to let you lead them towards the promised land of change.  Prior to your Speaker delivering this eloquent speech, gas was at a national average of $2.18/gallon and the approval rating for Congress was 23% (Gallup 10/06).  Fast forward a year and a half, AAA reports the national average price per gallon of gas is $4.11 and your approval rating in Congress after a year and a half of change and new beginnings is 9% (Rassmusen 7/08).  That’s right, under your leadership, after big promises and great speeches: the approval rating of Congress is at the lowest ever in history.  As the majority, you have tried to translate Pelosi’s vision into a new plan for America – the vision was blurred and only 9% of Americans approve of the plan. Speeches and dreams are great, but real progress is when promises of change translates into action that keeps us safe, puts a little more “change” in our pockets, educates our children, etc… The people have spoken, if not yelled, and 91% of voters do not approve of your leadership – your Party promises change, but whether it comes from Pelosi, Bright, Obama, Griffith, Reid or Segall, history proves that you can not deliver.

No surprise that Republicans would hammer Democrats positioning themselves on the conservative side of their party’s spectrum. But what does Segall think of being lumped in with the Pelosi crowd?

I asked and got this back from his campaign manager, Don Weigel:

The idea that Josh cannot deliver is foolish; he already has.  He founded an organization that brought different groups of people together for a common cause.  He’s seen first-hand how important it is that people speak up about what they want and need.  That’s why Josh will be holding town halls meetings across this district - to hear directly from the people what he can do to help them.  And he has pledged to hold two town hall meetings in every county, every year as long as he is in office.

Anyone who is following our race knows that Josh is focused on being an independent voice for East Alabama. So many of our problems are caused because politicians cave to their party and their biggest donors leave the people of their district in the dust.  That is part of the culture of Washington that Josh is campaigning to change.

Josh is running because he believes that a congressman must put his district above everything else - including his party.  Mike Rogers’ lack of independence from his party and his donors is the very thing that is at issue in this campaign.  Rogers voted to send jobs overseas, voted to give our tax dollars to big oil, and voted against health care funding for our troops to name just a few examples.  Alabama wants independence and that’s what Josh is offering.

We will combat the GOP’s attempts to paint us as anything with the truth about Josh’s record of public service and strong desire to represent the people, not Nancy Pelosi or the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.  A congressman’s job is to represent the people of their district, and the people of the 3rd district of Alabama have a strong independent streak - they vote for the person, not the political party that person belongs to.

From the sounds of that, Segall may well be designing the least partisan campaign on the ballot this year.

So, if you live in the Third District, will you vote on the party or the person? What are the issues that will drive your vote this year? I want to hear from you.