Karl Rove was apparently very much involved in the prosecution of Don Siegelman, who at the time was Alabama's Democratic Governor. Such a move didn't pass the smell test of Congressional investigators. And according to recent polling, it didn't pass the smell test for Alabamans, either.

In a survey of likely Alabama voters 56 percent believe it is somewhat likely or very likely that the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman was politically motivated. The poll was conducted by a respected national polling firm, Rasmussen Reports.

Thirty five percent thought it was not very or not at all likely. Ten percent were not sure. Five hundred likely voters in the state were asked this and other questions. Ten percent said the outcome of the Alabama/Auburn football game was more important that who becomes President. The margin of Sampling Error was +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. The poll was published on Nov. 14.

According to the Survey, Alabamans' sentiments about the Siegelman issue are not bleeding over into their feelings about the upcoming Senate election in the state, with incumbent GOP Senator Jeff Sessions leading his Democratic challenger by better than a 2-to-1 margin.

That said, as this issue continues to play out in the state one could imagine it becoming more of an issue, at least in non-federal campaigns. Although Bob Riley, the Republican who defeated Siegelman in 2002, easily won reelection by about a 15-point margin in 2006, the Democrats do maintain sizable majorities in both chambers of the state legislature (.pdf) -- 61 to 43 in the House, 23 to 11 in the Senate. And the 2008 state legislative elections in Alabama, like other elections in may states around the country, will in fact be quite important given that it will be the last chance to elect that particular Senate class before redistricting. Now it's true that a good portion of the Democrats in the state legislature are conservative and thus not necessarily likely to help in an aggressive mapping effort. Nevertheless, with only one two of the states six seven Congressmen a Democrat and no district in the state less Republican than R+4 (other than the majority African-American seventh district), it's conceivable that even some minor adjustments in a couple of years could make a real difference.

Update [2007-12-5 18:38:19 by Jonathan Singer]: Well, it looks like I was wrong -- the next Alabama Senate elections won't be held until 2010. Nonetheless, the broader point basically stands, and that is that this scandal could have lasting effects in Alabama.