Siegelman was a strong Democratic Governor that barely lost a re-election bid in 2002 to Bob Riley in what may have been a "fixed" and at the least extremely closes election.
That Siegelman has never been given the support of the national Democratic Party has confused me as Siegelman appears to be persecuted for being a Democrat by some of the most devious GOP operatives and shenanigans.
Several of the GOP personalities involved in the prosecution of Siegelman had conflicts and apparent misconduct over and above the questionable "crime" committed by Siegelman that has now kept him in prison for years.
From wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_gubernatorial_election,_2002
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Alabama gubernatorial election, 2002
An Alabama gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. The race pitted incumbent Governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat, against Representative Bob Riley, a Republican, and Libertarian nominee John Sophocleus.
The result was an extremely narrow victory for Riley. The certified results showed Riley with 672,225 votes to Siegelman's 669,105 (a difference of 3,120 votes, or 0.23% of the 1,367,053 votes cast). Sophocleus garnered 23,272 votes, and 2,451 votes were for write-in candidates. Bob Riley defeated incumbent Governor Don Siegelman in a close and controversial election marked by high turnout. Riley was reelected in 2006.
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The closeness of the general election contest was reflected in its intensity and fervor. At one point in the campaign, a clash erupted between the two principal campaigns over disclosure of the identities of large contributors to the Riley campaign. President George W. Bush appeared in Alabama at a July event, and a private reception with a $50,000 admission was held to benefit the Riley campaign. Riley's campaign initially refused to identify the donors attending the event. Later, under pressure from the Siegelman campaign, Riley called on the national Republican Party, which had hosted the event, to release the names of donors.[2] The Riley campaign was subjected to editorial criticism when the voluminous reports released made it difficult to trace the sources of donations from the event to Riley.[3]
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Riley's victory was controversial, and caused many commentators to recall the Florida election recount of 2000.[11][12] Initial returns showed Riley narrowly losing to Siegelman. Siegelman gave a victory speech on election night, and the Associated Press initially declared him the winner.[13] However, officials in Baldwin County conducted a recount and retabulation of that county's votes after midnight, and after Democratic Party observers had gone home for the night.[14] Approximately 6,000 votes initially credited to Siegelman were either removed from the total or reassigned to Riley in the recount, turning the statewide result in Riley's favor.[15] Local Republican officials claimed the earlier returns were the result of a "computer glitch."[16] Democratic requests to repeat the recount with Democratic observers present were rejected by Alabama courts and then-Attorney General William H. Pryor, Jr. Siegelman and his supporters complained that these judges (and Pryor) were either elected as Republicans or appointed by Republican presidents.[17] After over a week of fights in courtrooms and in the media, Siegelman, on November 18, 2002, made a televised address, saying that, "I've decided that a prolonged election controversy would hurt Alabama, would hurt the very people that we worked so hard to help", and abandoned his efforts to secure a recount of the Baldwin County vote, allowing Riley to take office.[18]
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Good for you in presenting this documentary. Bravo. Hopes this improves Siegelman's status and sheds light on those involved in what has always appeared to me a railroad.
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