This is a good trend

The good news: Gov. Bob Riley leads ousted Chief Justice Roy Moore by 19 percentage points among likely voters in Alabama's 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary, according to a recent Mobile Register poll. That's a 27-point turnaround from a similar Register poll earlier this year.

The bad news: Riley's raw support in the survey clocks in at only 44 percent, with 31 percent of respondents still undecided, so his lead is far from bulletproof. Still, it's heartening to see Riley up big on the Granite King right now.