This has been batted around for years.  My state-level contacts tell me that Petelos has no chance....and these are from folks in the Republican party at the state level.  They claim that the Hoover Board of Education situation has made it all but impossible for him to get on the ticket.  
 
Also, I think it would be a pretty tough sell to the state-level "schoolies"....remember how he led the school funding cut of 2005?  And....the Mayor and the Council are getting ready to cut the schools again.
 
Artur Davis will eat that up.  He will ram that so far down Petelos' throat it will be painful to watch.
 
But then again.....could that be the ultimate justice?  I have to smile when I think about it.....

Political differences aside, I believe the school funding cut will ultimately be Petelos' undoing at the state level.  Politicians are always looking for the Achilles heel to take their opponent down.  I believe the school funding cut is Petelos' Achilles heel.  
 
Oddly poetic.  
 
And please don't refer to Obama as "my" president.  He is "the" president.  Word is still out on whether I'll claim him.  Most folks don't know this, but I'm actually a conservative.  Always have been.  
 
Conservative fiscal policy.  Moderate social policy.  I haven't seen anybody who fits "my" bill yet.

Quote from HSCIN on 05/02/09 at 8:56am:

 
You're making the assumption that most people vote with their brain and vote on the issues.  I would beg to differ with you on that.  Most people vote on emotion and on the candidate's charisma - is he likeable.
 
Take a look at the last five presidents:
 
Reagan vs. Carter:  Reagan was clearly the more charismatic of the two.  
Bush vs. Dukakis: Dukakis was too much of a stoic individual, had zero personality.  People were turned off by this.
Clinton vs. Bush: Say what you want about Bubba, when it came to charisma, he had it.  He made people forget about the issues.
Bush vs. Gore: A tree has a better personality than Al Gore, but it was a close one.
Obama vs. McCain: "I have a gift..."
 
We don't know what's going to happen next year and who is going to run.  We know Davis is.  We know Petelos is thinking about it.  We know Barkley is a drunk who would never make it.  But we don't know who else is going to run.
 
Tony Petelos runs circles around Artur Davis when it comes to charisma.  He is well liked by most of his constituents and issues like school funding are secondary - those are "brain issues" not "emotion issues".  Obama is a prime example that most people don't vote with their brain, they vote with their heart.  (Exception:  when you are disappointed about who you voted for because he/she didn't come through as you thought they would.  This is where charisma takes a back seat.  Obama will find this out next election as he becomes another 1-Termer, like Carter and Bush 41.)
 
But it's early and so much more is to come.  But an interesting discussion, nonetheless.
 
 

Quote from hibousage on 05/02/09 at 2:11pm:

 
I won't disagree with you on the "look", however, if charisma were measured in points, with the max being 100 and the minimum being 0, Mr. Davis is in the single digits (being generous) and Mr. Petelos is in the high 30s.  Now, throw Clinton into the mix and then you have a different story.  Now, if we were talking intelligence, then Mr. Davis would probably give Mr. Petelos a good run for his money.  But we're not.  And when voters go to the polls, they don't count brains either.  They vote for who they like, not for who's smartest.  
 
 

http://blog.al.com/hoover/2009/05/hoover_mayor_tony_petelos_says.html
 
Aw.  I was really looking forward to Artur Davis and Mayor Petelos duking it out.  Maybe 2014?

Radio news this morning stated that Petelos has stepped out of the race for family reasons.
 
That was wonderful news to me.