MONTGOMERY, Alabama - Joe Reed knows what will improve the chances of Alabama Democrats doing better at the polls:

No Barack Obama in the White House.

And by Obama Reed just doesn't mean a Democrat. He means a black man.

"There is absolutely not a doubt in my mind that some of what we saw in 2010 and on Tuesday is the result of white voters doing two things," said Reed, the long-time leader of the Alabama Democratic Conference, which makes up most of the black base of the state Democratic Party.

"Too many whites in Alabama are motivated to vote against Obama because he is black. Now they will tell you it's because he's liberal but he's really not liberal in my view. But he sure as hell is black," added Reed, 76.

And the second thing white voters are doing that is hurting democrats?

"I'm disappointed in white voters. Too many of them are voting against their self-interests," said Reed, who along with the late Paul Hubbert founded the Alabama Education Association in 1969 and was AEA's number two man until he retired three years ago.

"White voters, especially the middle class and poor white voters should be the very ones demanding a lottery to help pay their kids college costs and expanding Medicaid to help pay health care costs. And what did they do in the governor's race? They voted against those things by voting for Gov. Bentley who will nothing to get a lottery and who has said he's opposed to expanding Medicaid."

Reed said the state Democratic Party is not blameless in Tuesday's election debacle that saw Gov. Robert Bentley win in a landslide and the GOP increase its majorities in both houses of the Legislature.

"The first thing we have to do is reestablish ourselves at the grassroots level by making sure we have local party chapters in place, chairmen in place, people who do the day-to-day party work you need to compete. We have not done a good job there."

Reed said too many white Alabama Democrats have run away from Obama but they are not alone.

"Nationally, too many Democrats ran away from Obama, pretended he wasn't there," said Reed. "Obama has made mistakes but he really has not gotten the credit he deserves. His policies pulled this country away from a Depression. He's worked like hell to get us out of these wars."

Reed said he knows that Republicans and some whites will dismiss his view that Obama's color has been the reason the GOP has done so well since 2010.

"I know I'm right. All you have to do is look at all those ads the Republicans ran, not against the Alabama Democrat running against them, but against Obama. Hell! They mentioned him so often that I expected to see his name on the ballot Tuesday."