Johnson: Black politicians face generational divide

One of the most shocking defeats in the recent round of primary elections across the United States was U.S. Rep. Artur Davis' failure to win Alabama's Democratic nomination for governor.

Up until the June 1 Alabama primary, Davis was leading in the polls over his opponent, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks. Yet on election day, Sparks earned a decisive 62 percent of the vote.

Davis' lopsided loss puzzled pundits, who had praised him as Alabama's political model of President Barack Obama. A close friend of the president, Davis has been viewed as a young, upstart politician since he was elected to Congress in 2002. He launched his campaign for governor of Alabama after Obama's historic victory in the 2008 presidential election. In many ways, it seemed as if Davis was also destined to make political history, as a win in the Democratic primary would have put him on course to become Alabama's first African-American governor.

Davis' gubernatorial bid was interesting to political analysts on the left and right for many reasons. He was projected to attract white voters due to his conservatism, and he downplayed the issue of race. He is staunchly pro-business, and he pushed for lower taxes and less government spending.

Davis even voted against the health care reform bill - the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to do so. At the time, he said that "a comprehensive, 2,000 page, near $1-trillion overhaul of the health care system is just too cumbersome and too costly in a time of trillion-dollar deficits." Although Davis continued to emphasize that he was in favor of health care reform that would prevent insurance companies from discriminating against sick people and help small businesses afford the cost of coverage, his "no" vote put him at odds with many of the 66,000 uninsured black Alabamans in his district. It also heightened the tension between him and the older civil rights leaders in the state, with whom Davis has clashed during his three terms in Congress.

Davis has opted not to serve a fourth term in Congress, and in his concession speech in the governor's race, he acknowledged that his campaign was ineffective in its effort to reach African Americans. He also noted that he did not respond well to attacks on his voting record.

Harsh criticism from civil rights elders -

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