October 19, 2005
Albert Brewer began the writing of George Wallace’s political obituary by beating him in the first primary in 1970. However, George Wallace arose from the grave by playing his ever present race card. He trumped Brewer with the race issue in the primary runoff, and came from behind to win and resurrected his political career. Wallace would be Governor again for a third time.
October 12, 2005
Upon Lurleen Wallace’s death in May of 1968, Lt. Governor Albert Brewer moved up to Governor. Brewer was no novice to state government. He came to the Legislature from Morgan County at a very early age and rose quickly to become Speaker of the House during his second term. He won the 1966 Lt. Governor’s race against two State Senators, Neil Metcalf and John Tyson, without a runoff. Brewer was smart and articulate with a charming smile and winning personality. He had lots of friends in the Legislature and seemed to have very few enemies. Brewer also had a good grasp of state government. He smoothly took the reigns of state government and began to make improvements. His popularity and relationships with his fellow legislators gave his programs easy sailing. Brewer became a working Governor.
October 05, 2005
After Ryan de Graffenreid’s plane crash and death in February of 1966 the Governor’s race was wide open. De Graffenreid would have been Governor in a cakewalk but it was now a new ballgame with less than 10 weeks until the May election. George Wallace mulled it over for a few weeks then the amazing story of his wife Lurleen Wallace running for Governor came to fruition. George would be her number one advisor.
September 28, 2005
If race was a major issue in 1958, being the racist candidate in 1962 was the only way to be elected Governor. With this issue in hand and Wallace’s love for campaigning and remembering names, he would have beaten anybody that year. Big Jim was really no match for Wallace because Big Jim had always been soft on the race issue. He was a true progressive liberal who would not succumb to racial demagoging, but Big Jim had succumbed to alcohol. Leading up to the Governor’s race in 1962 while Wallace had been campaigning 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week for four years, Big Jim sat home. Wallace would have won even if Big Jim had not embarrassed himself on live TV the night before the election.
September 21, 2005
The 1962 Governor’s Race really began in 1958. The Governor’s chair and the race for it was the big show in Alabama politics in that era. Being a U.S. Senator was secondary in Alabama politics. Governor is still probably the most important and glamorous political position, but it certainly was at that time. Television had not come into its own. Most Alabamians did not own a TV. There were no southern major league baseball teams to follow, such as the Atlanta Braves who were still in Milwaukee at that time. The closest team was the St. Louis Cardinals and they were miles away and not really in the south. The Grand Ole Opry was only on the radio on Saturday night. So southerners had to include politics as a prime source of entertainment. That is why we had such colorful political characters. They were really our entertainers and in some cases real clowns. Thus we had more entertaining politicians than the rest of the country. We had a legacy of Jimmy Davis and Huey Long in Louisiana, Bilbo in Mississippi, Talmadge in Georgia, and the most colorful of all time was our very own 6 feet 10 inches Big Jim Folsom.
September 14, 2005
When talk turns to politics in Alabama it usually leads to the Governor’s race. It does not matter if the Governor’s race is four years away, political gossip starts early as to who will run for Governor. In Alabama politics the Governor’s race is the race. As each new race approaches it is talked about more than ever around coffee clubs and kitchen tables from Sand Mountain to the Wiregrass. It is comparable to college football being the king of all sports in Alabama.
September 07, 2005
As a young boy I would go down to the county courthouse and talk politics with my Probate Judge. He was a crusty old fellow and a veteran politician. He had been Sheriff and served one term in the State Senate prior to being elected Probate Judge. The Probate Judge position in Alabama in the 1960s was the brass ring. You were the titular head of county politics and basically the king of the county. The Probate Judges were also paid a kingly salary because they were on the fee system. As a result they received a cut off of every car tag and fishing license sold in the county. It was not unusual for the Probate Judge in a rural county to make $100,000.00 per year in 1965.
August 31, 2005
With Labor Day approaching it signifies that the long hot summer will soon be coming to an end. It seems that the summers are getting hotter and hotter. I was born and raised in south Alabama so I was accustomed to long hot summers. I remember when there was no air conditioning in houses or cars. It was hot, but seems hotter today. I think we have gotten softer, but I also believe in global warming. It is not just a theory. The average temperature has increased several degrees in the past decade. It also seems that we do not seem to have the spring or fall seasons anymore. All of a sudden one day in mid May it is 86 degrees and it never goes below that through mid September, or maybe even October. We have about 5 months out of the year where the temperature is mostly in the 90s.
August 25, 2005
The recently completed Special Session of the Legislature saw the swift passage of the General Fund Budget which was a necessity due to the State’s fiscal year beginning on October 1.
August 17, 2005
A good many studies, policy institutes, and editorialists lament the fact that not many women hold political office, especially statewide office. This has been furthest from the truth in Alabama, especially when it comes to the secondary statewide offices of Treasurer, Auditor, and Secretary of State.