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WAPO - Childers a winner in primary because he didn't switch parties WINNERS * Alabama Democratic Conference/New South Coalition: These two longstanding African-American groups were purposely ignored by Davis during the primary under the theory that their ability to deliver votes was outweighed by the negative attention he would draw in a general election by being viewed as "their candidate". Whoops! Both organizations endorsed state Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, who is white, in the primary. And, while the ADC and New South Coalition shouldn't get all the credit for Sparks performance in predominantly black counties, they clearly played a major role. In Barbour and Bullock -- two African American counties in the eastern reaches of the state -- Sparks took 66 percent and 60 percent, respectively. Machine politics is dead in lots of areas of the country but not in Alabama just yet. * Travis Childers/Bobby Bright: Both Childers, a Democrat who represents northern Mississippi, and Bright, a Democrat from southern Alabama, were much-mentioned as potential party switchers in the wake of Griffith's move last year. (Both men represent strongly Republican districts.) Neither man jumped and while they will both face serious races in the fall, they are in better shape today than Griffith. The Fix 6/2/10