As long as Roy's still losing

It's old news by now, but it's worth mentioning that former Gov. Don Siegelman had a 30-point lead over Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, according to a SurveyUSA poll from a couple of weeks ago. The poll didn't distinguish between registered and likely voters and apparently relied on self-identification to determine party affiliation, so take it with the appropriate grain of salt. Still, the numbers are a clear indication that Baxley has some work to do with Alabama voters. Elaborating on her platform would be a good start.

The same poll gave Gov. Bob Riley a 6-point lead over his court-order-defying Republican primary opponent, Roy Moore. That's a significantly smaller edge than Riley had in a Mobile Register poll that put him up by 19 points earlier this month, but unfortunately, it's probably closer to the true margin between them right now. A key difference, though, is that whereas SurveyUSA stuck to registered voters, the Register poll focused on likely voters, so the race may not be as tight as the new poll would lead one to believe.