December 5, 2018 - Further Analysis of General Election – Winners and Losers
Now that the dust has settled on this year’s elections, let’s look back at who are the big winners and losers of the year.
The obvious winner in the Heart of Dixie is the Republican Party. The GOP retained the reins of the state’s highest office and every other statewide Constitutional position. Kay Ivey was elected governor, overwhelmingly, as was Will Ainsworth as Lt. Governor, John Merrill as Secretary of State, John McMillan as State Treasurer, Rick Pate as Agriculture Commissioner, Jim Ziegler as State Auditor, Jeremy Oden and Chip Beeker as PSC members. Our entire judiciary is Republican, all members of the Supreme Court, and Courts of Criminal and Civil Appeals.
There are 29 statewide office holders and all 29 are Republican. However, more importantly the Legislature is overwhelmingly Republican. More than two-thirds of both the House and the Senate are Republicans. That’s what you call a super majority. Our Republican legislature can pass anything they want without a Democratic vote or letting Democrats speak.
Our Congressional delegation is made up of six Republicans and one lone Democrat. Folks, that makes us a pretty red state.
Several years ago, I had the honor of being a keynote speaker at the Boys State 75th Anniversary. I had attended Boys State 45 years earlier as a high school leader and aspiring young politico. I shared with these future political leaders this advice, “If you plan to run for statewide office in Alabama even if you believe you are a Democrat, you will need to run as a Republican.” This year’s election reaffirmed and confirmed that truth. Winning the GOP Primary in Alabama is tantamount to election.
Therefore, to pick the biggest individual winner of the year, you have to look back to the GOP Primary. Young Will Ainsworth, a 37-year old Sand Mountain Legislator/businessman emerges as the Gold Star award winner of the year in Alabama politics. His victory as Lt. Governor has propelled him onto the state political scene as the most prominent rising star. He was the top vote getter in the state on November 6th. He is a clean-cut, successful, family man who has been vetted by a high profile, statewide race.
The second biggest winner of the year was the loser of the GOP Primary for Lt. Governor, Twinkle Cavanaugh. In all my years of following Alabama politics, I have never seen a more graceful and gracious second place finisher. She only lost by an eyelash. She genuinely smiled on election night and said she had not gotten the most votes, even though she could have contested such a closely defined outcome. She had entered the race as the favorite having been elected three times statewide. During October, she held a fundraiser for Will Ainsworth in her Montgomery home. She will never be seriously challenged in her post as President of the PSC.
Speaking of rising stars, the third runner up is a young 18-year old fellow from Geneva County. Weston Spivey became the youngest elected official in the state by winning a County Commission seat in his home county. He won the GOP Primary before he was graduated from high school at Ridgecrest Christian School in Dothan. Young Spivey is also a volunteer firefighter with the Slocomb Fire Department. You should keep your eye on young Weston Spivey. He may become Governor of Alabama before he is 30.
Besides Will Ainsworth, there were two other Republicans who were top vote getters. Governor Kay Ivey and Secretary of State, John Merrill.
The biggest loser has to be the Democratic Party and our current anomaly, junior Democratic U.S. Senator Doug Jones. Mr. Jones won this seat until 2020. Because he was on the other side of the ballot than Roy Moore in the 2017 special election. Every left wing, ultra-liberal group and individual in the country gave to Jones to beat Moore.
Jones has never hidden the fact that he is a liberal, national Democrat. He showed his true colors when he voted against President Trump’s Supreme Court appointee, Brett Kavanaugh. Jones voted against this highly qualified jurist to appease his contributors in San Francisco and his like-minded Democratic buddies, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Diane Feinstein. We essentially have only one U.S. Senator. We have ceded our second seat to California. Jones believes in the old adage, “You dance with the one who brung ya.” Hope he is renting in Washington because Alabamians are the ones that vote in 2020.
By the way, if you have Richard Shelby as your Senior Senator, you really don’t need a second senator.
See you next week.
November 28, 2018 - Analysis of General Election
A few last thoughts and observations on our November 6 General Election in Alabama.
Our new 55th Governor looked and sounded more like the old Kay Ivey, than the one we have seen the past few years and during the campaign. She was vibrant, succinct to the point, had a perfectly timed and unscripted victory speech. Her green jacket was becoming. She will be a good governor. She will tackle the tough issues the state must face in the next four years, especially our infrastructure needs.
She is extremely qualified and ready to be governor. She is a real Republican with a real Republican super majority State Legislature. There are 27 Republicans and eight Democrats in the Senate. The numbers are 77 Republicans and 28 Democrats in the House.
Kay also has a unique and advantageous relationship with all of the Alabama Senate. She was the presiding officer of the Senate the last six years and was considered fair and impartial. She worked with and developed a very good working relationship with the GOP leadership. The three primary leaders of the Senate, Del Marsh, Jabo Waggoner and Greg Reed, have a close knit, trusting bond with Kay.
Kay not only becomes the 55th Governor, she is the first Republican female elected as governor and the second female governor in our state history. Ironically, Kay cut her teeth in politics working in our first female governor, Lurleen Wallace’s campaign for governor. Kay was a student at Auburn University. Little did she know that 52-years later she would be the second female governor of our State.
The more things change, the more they stay the same in Alabama politics. The Alabama that Kay Ivey and I grew up in and knew 50 years ago was totally Democratic. In fact, the word tantamount was used continually to describe the dominance of the Democratic Party. It was an accurate statement. The dictionary describes tantamount as “the same as.” Today I use the word tantamount when explaining winning the Republican Primary in Alabama. We were a one-party state 50 years ago and we are a one-party state in statewide politics, today. The difference is we changed parties. We are now a Republican state, yesteryear we were a Democratic state.
Winning the Republican nomination for statewide office in Alabama is tantamount to election. The proof is in the pudding. We have 29 elected statewide offices in Alabama, all 29 are held by Republicans. I’m not prophetic, but allow me to share a short passage with you from my column the week before the election. “In bygone days the Democratic Primary nomination was tantamount to election. Today, it is just the other way around. Nowadays, winning the Republican Primary is tantamount to election in the good ol’ Heart of Dixie. The more things change the more they stay the same in Alabama politics. Boy, when we change, we really change. We were a one-party state then and we are a one-party state now. When Kay Ivey won the GOP mantle back in June, she essentially won the Governor’s race.” That was my statement Wednesday before the election. My belief was overwhelmingly confirmed on Tuesday, November 6th. We are a Republican state and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. That was my foremost takeaway from the election.
My second observation is akin to my first, we are so Republican that folks are just voting a straight ticket. We have joined the rest of the Nation in that we simply vote straight Republican or straight Democratic. Our voting has become nationalized. Over 65 percent of Alabamians voted a straight lever ticket. It is primarily along racial lines. Alabamians are essentially African American Democrats or Caucasian Republicans. Therefore, Alabama is a red Republican state for statewide politics. However, just the opposite is true for the metropolitan counties of Jefferson and Montgomery. If you are going to win a countywide office in these locales, you must run as a Democrat.
The third takeaway was the tremendous turnout at the polls. A record-breaking 50 percent of Alabamians voted on November 6th. Again, this was driven by national politics. Folks are either hardcore, conservative Republicans or hardcore liberal Democrats. There are few in between. Alabamians voted the national party brand. It is apparent that more Alabamians like and agree with Donald Trump than they do with Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama.
See you next week.
November 21, 2018 - Alabama vs. Auburn Game
The only sport that Alabamians enjoy more than Alabama politics is college football. We especially love the Alabama vs. Auburn football game. Folks, this is Alabama/Auburn week in Alabama. The Alabama vs. Auburn annual event is one of the fiercest of college football rivalries. It is the game of the year. It is a state civil war that divides friends and even families. It is bragging rights for the entire year. The loser has to live with his boasting next door neighbor for 364 days. It seems that one must choose a side no matter if you despise college football and could care less who wins. Newcomers to our state are bewildered on this fall day each year. They cannot comprehend the madness that surrounds this epic war. It is truly that, a war. It is the game of the year.
Young boys all over Alabama grow up playing football in their front yards and dream of playing in this big game. It is said that when these two rivals meet one can throw out the record books. However, that is not necessarily true. In fact, in 90 percent of the games the favorite has won. A lot of SEC championships and bowl games have been decided in the game. It has made many Alabamians’ Thanksgiving holiday either joyous or sad. I liked the rivalry better when it was played at Legion Field, but I am an old-timer in heart and age.
The game was not played for 40-years between 1908 and 1948. Myth has it that the game was halted because of the intense rivalry. That is not the case. The true history of the ceasing and renewal is that after the 1907 games, the schools could not agree on the terms of the contract. The dispute involved meal money, lodging, officials and how many players each side could bring. Football was not the passion it is today so the two schools let the matter rest and the fans did not seem to care.
That began to change as college football grew to a major sport in the 1940s. When the series resumed, a popular myth was that the Alabama Legislature called a special meeting and forced the teams to play. This never happened, but the Alabama House of Representatives did pass a resolution in 1947 to encourage, not force, the schools to meet in football, and the officials at Alabama and Auburn agreed. The Presidents of Auburn and Alabama simply talked with each other and decided it would be in the best interest of the schools to start playing again on an annual basis.
The contract was drawn up, the papers signed and the rivals literally buried the hatchet. On the morning of December 4, 1948, the president of each school’s student bodies dug a hole at Birmingham’s Woodrow Wilson Park, tossed a hatchet in and buried it. The series began again in 1948 with a 55-0 Alabama victory and the teams have squared off every season since.
Alabama leads the series 45-36-1. This record reveals that Alabama has not dominated the series, like it has against other SEC rivals and other national powerhouse programs.
In the political arena, the University of Alabama alumni have dominated the Alabama political scene. During the 60-year period from 1910 through the 1970s, almost every Alabama Governor, U. S. Senator, and Congressman was a graduate of the University of Alabama, either undergraduate, Law school, or both.
Currently, our state’s most prominent and powerful political figure, Richard Shelby, is a graduate as an undergraduate and the Law School at the University.
A couple of Auburn men broke through the ice to grab the brass ring of Alabama politics, the Governor’s office, Gordon Persons won in 1950 and Fob James, a former Auburn halfback won in 1978 as a Democrat and came back and won a second term as a Republican in 1994. In recent years, since 1982, Governors George Wallace, Don Siegelman, Bob Riley and Robert Bentley have all been Alabama Alumni.
However, our current Governor, Kay Ivey, is an Auburn girl through and through. She and her best friend, Jimmy Rane, became political allies at Auburn. They both have turned out fairly well.
Newly elected State Representative, Wes Allen of Pike County, was a walk-on wideout on one of Alabama’s National Championship teams. He was coached by Gene Stallings and Dabo Swinney. Wes’s father is State Senator Gearld West of Tuscaloosa. This is a first in Alabama political history, a father and a son tandem serving in the Alabama Legislature together.
See you next week.
November 14, 2018 - Kay Ivey, Our 55th Governor
The legendary Alabama storyteller, Kathryn Tucker Windham, used to say, “Alabama is like a big front porch.” She was right, I have found that to be the case my entire life. Even recently, as I’ve traversed the state, I am always amazed at how you can visit with someone in one part of the state who is kin to or were college roommates with someone in another corner of Alabama.
The Alabama that Kay Ivey and I grew up in was even more like a front porch. Kay grew up in Wilcox County where her family had been for generations. Therefore, she knew most everybody in the county and Camden. There were and still are less than 12,000 people in Wilcox County. There have always been more pine trees than people in the county.
She grew up with and has always been best friends with a trio of very accomplished people. As I sometimes say when I see someone who I’ve known all my life, I’ve never not known them. Kay has never not known Jeff Sessions, Jo Bonner, and Judy Bonner. She was like a big sister to them growing up in Camden.
It’s truly amazing that a small South Alabama County just north of Mobile would spawn our U.S. Senator for 20 years, Jeff Sessions, Mobile Congressman, Jo Bonner who served Mobile, Baldwin and southwest Alabama for more than a decade, and former University of Alabama President, Judy Bonner, and now a Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey. Even more amazing is that they grew up together and are contemporaries.
They all have impeccable southern manners, and are all quick to say yes m’am, no m’am and thank you religiously. Some of you might think that Kay’s Black Belt accent is accentuated. It is real and unique and indicative of someone who has roots in that area of the state. You might notice that Jeff Sessions diction and accent is similar.
The most important thing that can be said about Governor Kay Ivey, Senator Jeff Sessions, Congressman Jo Bonner and President Judy Bonner is that you have never ever heard one comment or even one inkling of anything unethical or improper or taint of scandal about their public or personal lives. Folks, they were brought up right in Wilcox County.
Kay Ivey was born to be a leader. She was president of everything in her high school. She went to Girl’s State and was a leader there. By the way, she continues to go back to Girl’s State every year to counsel and help lead the organization. She spent a short stint as a teacher, then banker in Mobile. Then politics beckoned and another Black Belt, Speaker of the House, Joe McCorquodale, made Kay the Reading Clerk in the House of Representatives. She parlayed that job into a job as Legislative Liaison for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. I really got to know Kay at this point. I was a legislator with a major university in my district. She was plain spoken, straight forward, and very honest. Kay has always been known for her integrity and upfront frankness and honesty. To use an old saying, her word is her bond. She will not lie and she will not cheat or steal. She was raised right.
Kay then got into the arena. She was elected State Treasurer twice where she served for eight years. Then she was elected Lt. Governor twice. She ascended to Governor 20 months ago and has done an excellent job of steadying the Ship of State. She seems keenly interested and driven by economic and industrial development. That will be her hallmark legacy. The state is poised to grow economically and industrially over the next four years.
In the closing days of her very successful race to be Alabama’s 55th Governor, she revealed in an ad a letter from her days as a young girl visiting Governor Lurleen Wallace in the Governor’s Office, a letter she had written about the Governor’s desk. “This is the closest I’ll get.” However, deep down, I believe she dreamed that one day she would sit in that chair and now she does.
Kay Ivey is the second female elected Governor of Alabama. However, she is the first elected Republican female and the only female elected in her own right.
She will be a good Governor. Probably the best we have had in a while.
See you next week.
November 7, 2018 - “More Than Election Going on In Alabama Politics”
Our gubernatorial election year politics ended yesterday. However, there have been other political maneuverings and developments going on behind the scenes, which may ultimately have more long-term ramifications in the Heart of Dixie’s political future.
The selection of a new Business Council of Alabama leader is imminent and will probably occur in the next few days. In addition, the jockeying and wrangling for the U.S. Senate Seat in 2020 has begun.
Alabama Power President, Mark Crosswhite, prudently cleaned house at the BCA earlier this year. He organized a team of Cardinals to interview and select a new leader. Much like the vetting process for a new Pope, the Cardinals meet in total secrecy and send out smoke signals from the Vatican that they have not yet reached a decision. However, there are smoke signals that a new leader of the BCA is about to be named. The process has been very private with no leaks.
This entire year long process of removing Billy Canary, who had reigned for 12 years, and selecting a new CEO has been a battle of business titans in the state. It has been a battle waged behind an iron curtain.
The role of Mark Crosswhite in this change has been clear. Mr. Crosswhite has emerged as the clear leader of the Alabama Business Community.
The original BCA was forged under the leadership of former Alabama Power President, Elmer Harris, several decades ago. It had become a toothless tiger in recent years through poor leadership.
Mr. Crosswhite has picked the organization out of the junk pile and given it new life. Chances for a new beginning happen very few times. Like in politics, after the election, you must govern. My belief is that with a new leader and a fresh start the Business Council of Alabama will emerge bigger and better than ever.
You can rest assured that the business community of Alabama, and indeed the nation, will be looking forward to defeating Doug Jones in 2020. It is a glaring anomaly that one of the most conservative Republican states in America would have an ultra-liberal, leftwinger in one of our senate seats. In last year’s Special Election against Roy Moore, Jones received $22 million from the most liberal zip codes and enclaves in America, especially from the left coast of California and San Francisco. It was the only show bill in town, and Roy Moore energized liberal money from throughout the country. Thus, the two truisms, “more people vote against someone than for someone,” and “money is the mother’s milk of politics,” combined to create Alabama’s accidental anomaly, Senator Doug Jones.
Our anomaly senator has done nothing to remedy the uncertainty about who he is since taking office. He has done no campaigning or visiting around the state. He has shown a disregard and disinterest in basic political practices, like getting out among the rank and file Alabamians. Jones seems to just go to Washington to vote, then back to Mountain Brook. The book on Jones is that he will not be elected to a full term in 2020. It is a presidential election year and Alabama will vote for the Republican nominee, probably Donald Trump, overwhelmingly. This is a Republican senate seat and it will be won by a Republican. Jones seems to know this, therefore, he appears content to represent California during his tenure.
As soon as Jones was sworn in, the race to be the Republican nominee began. The obvious candidates are one, if not all, of our six Republican members of Congress. Speculation abounded that the three best potential congressional horses would be Robert Aderholt, Bradley Byrne and Mo Brooks.
The horse that has emerged as the favorite is Bradley Byrne. He has started early and has staked out the inside track. He has crisscrossed the state building an organization and is collecting and tying up the Washington establishment money.
Aderholt will probably defer to staying in the House. He has over 20 years of seniority and is in line to chair the Appropriations Committee. Congressman Mike Rogers is moving up in seniority and is on Armed Services. Mo Brooks is expected to defer to Byrne in 2020 and look to run for Senator Shelby’s seat in 2022 if he retires.
This stealth campaign for the 2020 Senate race has been going on this entire gubernatorial year. Byrne is indeed laying his stakes. There is a maxim in life and politics, “the early bird gets the worm.”
See you next week.
October 31, 2018 - “General Election Next Week”
This time two years ago, I was bubbling over with anticipation with expectations that I would have two years of fun following an exciting governor’s race. Well, Ole Robert Bentley spoiled my parade.
Back in the old days, governors could not succeed themselves. They were governor for one four-year term and then you were out. That means we had a governor’s race every four years and man would they be doozies. We would have 10 candidates, about half of them would be “run for the fun of it” candidates. The most colorful would be Shorty Price.
However, there would be 3 to 4 viable candidates. These handful of bigtime candidates would fight it out for a place in the runoff. It would be for a place in the Democratic runoff. In bygone days the Democratic Primary nomination was tantamount to election.
Today, it is just the other way around. Nowadays winning the Republican Primary is tantamount to election in the good ole Heart of Dixie. The more things change the more they stay the same in Alabama politics. Boy, when we change, we really change. We were a one-party state then and we are a one-party state now.
When Kay Ivey won the GOP mantle back in June, she essentially won the governor’s race. By the way, she won her Republican Primary impressively, 56 to 44. Ironically, she is poised to win the General Election by about the same margin. She will win next Tuesday because she is the Republican nominee.
When Bentley left office early in disgrace that allowed Kay to ascend from Lt. Governor to Governor. She was wise and politically savvy enough to not rock the boat. She has surrounded herself with good people and has run an excellent campaign. As the quasi incumbent she has been able to look very gubernatorial. Her mature, grandmotherly appearance and demeanor have actually been an asset rather than a deterrent. Most folks who vote are older and look a lot like Kay.
She has done an exemplary job of not saying anything about pertinent issues or debating. Her handlers knew how to take advantage of incumbency and show her cutting ribbons and kissing babies. Kay has been around awhile. She cut her political teeth campaigning for the Wallace’s, George and Lurleen. Her subtle message was, I’m the conservative female Republican candidate. In the primary, she ran on a platform of saving the Confederate monuments. In the fall, she ran an ad with school children and of course, contrary to the demographics of today’s Alabama classroom, all the school children were little white girls. The Wallace’s would have been proud of Kay.
Walt Maddox, the dynamic Democratic nominee for governor, is the best candidate that the Democrats have fielded in more than two decades. He is bright, articulate, energetic, and well qualified having served as Mayor of Tuscaloosa for more than 10 years. He has run an excellent campaign. He has raised good money, primarily from grassroot Alabamians. However, he is a real card-carrying Democrat. If the polls had shown he was closing in, Kay’s folks would have played the ace of all race cards. Walt supported and voted for Barack Obama. Kay will beat Walt because she is the Republican nominee and he is the Democratic nominee.
The two rising political stars in the state, John Merrill and Will Ainsworth will win their races for Secretary of State and Lt. Governor, overwhelmingly. They will be vying to see which one is the top vote getter on the ballot.
These two may also be vying to be the Republican to take out Doug Jones in 2020. Whoever is the Republican nominee will beat our anomaly Democratic Senator. Mr. Jones sealed his fate by gleefully voting against Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. We have essentially ceded our second seat in the Senate to California. Doug Jones and Dianne Feinstein are in the same boat philosophically and with their voting.
There may be one Democratic surprise next week. Longtime conservative Democratic lawmaker, Johnny Mack Morrow, may pull off an upset victory over a Republican incumbent in a Northwest Alabama State Senate race.
Y’all vote Tuesday.
See you next week.
October 24, 2018 – Frank Johnson the Legend and the Free State of Winston
Those of us who are Baby Boomers remember the tumultuous times of the 1960’s. We lived through the Civil Rights revolution. Those of us who grew up here in the Heart of Dixie witnessed the transpiring of racial integration first hand. Most of the crusades and struggles occurred here in Alabama, especially Montgomery.
A good many of the landmark Civil Rights court decisions were handed down in the Federal Court in Montgomery. The author and renderer of these epic rulings was one, Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Johnson served as Federal Judge in the Middle District of Alabama for 24 years from 1955 through 1979.
Johnson’s judicial decisions brought death threats to him and his family from whites opposed to integration. He was vilified by most white Alabamians at that time and became George Wallace’s favorite whipping boy. Wallace referred to him as a “lying, scalawagging, carpetbagging integrationist.”
Frank Johnson, Jr. was born in Winston County in October, 1918. Winston County attempted to stay neutral during the Civil War. It was a Republican stronghold in an overwhelmingly Democratic Alabama.
In contrast to the Black Belt planters in South Alabama, the people who settled North Alabama were small farmers. The land they settled on was hilly and not as conducive to growing cotton. Rather than large plantations and slaves, the fiercely independent hill country farmers had 40 acres and a mule.
Therefore, when the winds of division between North and South began to blow in the 1850’s, an obvious political difference between North and South Alabamians arose. In 1860 there were only 14 slave owners in Winston County. With the election of Abraham Lincoln, the crucial decision of secession arose. Contrary to what most present-day Alabamians think, it was not an easy unified decision that we should leave the Union.
A secession convention was held in January, 1861, in Montgomery. The vote was extremely close. The delegates split 54-46 for secession. The Black Belters from South Alabama were for creating a confederacy of southern states to protect their slave ownership and way of life. The hill farmers from North Alabama preferred to not secede. These North Alabamians voted against secession from the Union at that time.
Shortly after the secession convention, citizens of Winston County met at a local establishment, Looney’s Tavern. These yeoman farmers of the hills were obviously reluctant to leave the Union for the cause of the planter and his slaves.
Legend has it that on July 4, 1861, the good people of Winston County decided to secede from Alabama and remain in the Union. That is why they are known in Alabama political history and folklore as, “The Free State of Winston.”
That same sort of independent streak was a hallmark of the Johnson family who were some of the earliest settlers of Winston County. Judge Johnson’s father served as one of the few Republicans in the Alabama Legislature in the first half of the 20th century.
Frank Johnson, Jr studied law at the University of Alabama and graduated at the top of his law school class in 1943. He then distinguished himself as a U.S. Army officer in World War II. He was wounded at Normandy and received the Purple Heart. After the war, he settled in Winston County and began practicing law in Jasper.
Although the Democratic Party dominated southern politics, Johnson was a lifelong, Winston County Republican. Therefore, he led the 1952 Dwight Eisenhower campaign for President in the state. After Eisenhower became president, he rewarded Johnson with a federal judgeship.
In 1955-1956, shortly after taking his seat on the bench, Johnson became involved in a formative event of the Civil Rights movement. Rosa Parks was arrested for violating a Montgomery ordinance requiring racial segregation on the city buses. In response, the African American community organized a boycott of the bus system and nominated Reverend Martin Luther King as its leader. Johnson ruled that the Montgomery ordinance violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
The ruling was the first of many by Johnson which eliminated racial segregation in public accommodations such as parks, libraries, bus stations, and airports during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Johnson’s decisions were legendary and groundbreaking. He became the central defender of Civil Rights in America from his Federal Bench in Montgomery. The Federal Courthouse in Montgomery is now named in his honor. Judge Johnson died in 1999.
See you next week.
October 17, 2018 - The Shorty Price Story
Since this is Alabama vs. Tennessee week and we have a Governor’s Race in three weeks, allow me to share the Story of Shorty Price.
Alabama has had its share of what I call “run for the fun of it” candidates. The most colorful of all these perennial “also ran” candidates was Ralph “Shorty” Price. He ran for Governor every time. His slogan was “Smoke Tampa Nugget cigars, drink Budweiser beer and vote for Shorty Price.”
In one of Shorty’s campaigns for governor his campaign speech contained this line, “If elected governor I will reduce the governor’s tenure from four to two years. If you can’t steal enough to last you the rest of your life in two years, you ain’t got enough sense to have the office in the first place.” He would use recycled campaign signs to save money but he rarely garnered two percent of the votes in any campaign.
Shorty loved Alabama football. Following the Crimson Tide was Shorty’s prime passion in life. You could spot Shorty, even though he was only 5 ft tall, at every Crimson tide football game always sporting a black suit, a black hat with a round top, his Alabama tie and flag.
I do not know if Shorty actually had a seat because he would parade around Denny Stadium or Legion Field posing as Alabama’s head cheerleader. In fact he would intersperse himself among the real Alabama cheerleaders and help them with their cheers. There was no question that Shorty was totally inebriated in fact, I never saw Shorty when he was not drunk.
Shorty worshiped Paul “Bear” Bryant. Indeed Bryant, Wallace and Shorty were of the same era. Like Bryant, Shorty hated Tennessee.
Speaking of the Tennessee rivalry, I will share with you a personal Shorty story. I had become acquainted with Shorty early on in life. Therefore, on a clear, beautiful, third Saturday, fall afternoon in October Alabama was playing Tennessee in Legion Field. As always, Shorty was prancing up and down the field. I was a freshman at the University on that fall Saturday. Shorty even in his drunken daze recognized me. I had a beautiful date that I was trying to impress and meeting Shorty did not impress her. Shorty pranced up the isle and proceeded to sit by me. His daily black suit had not been changed in probably over a year. He reeked of alcohol and body odor and my date had to hold her nose.
After about 20 minutes of offending my date, Shorty then proceeded to try to impress the crowd by doing somersaults off the six-foot walls of Legion field. He did at least three, mashing his head straight down on the pavement on each dive, I though Shorty had killed himself with his somersaults. His face and his head were bleeding profusely and he was developing a black eye. Fortunately, Shorty left my domain and proceeded to dance with Alabama cheerleaders that day as bloody as he may have been.
Shorty was beloved by the fans and I guess that is why the police in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa seem to ignore Shorty’s antics. However, that was not the case in a classic Alabama game four years later. By this time I was a senior at the University and we were facing Notre Dame in an epic championship battle in the old New Orleans Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Eve. It was for the 1973 national championship. Bear Bryant and Ara Parseghian were pitted against each other. We were ranked #1 and 2.
One of the largest television audiences in history was focused on the 7:30 p.m. kickoff. It was electrifying. Those of us in the stands were awaiting the entrance of the football team, as were the ABC cameras. Somehow or other, Shorty had journeyed to New Orleans, had gotten on the field and was posed to lead the Alabama team out on the field.
As was customary, Shorty was drunk as Cooter Brown. He started off by beating an Irish puppet with a club and the next thing I knew two burly New Orleans policemen, two of the biggest I had ever seen, picked up Shorty by his arms and escorted him off the field. They did not know who Shorty was and did not appreciate him. Sadly, Shorty, one of Alabama’s greatest fans, missed one of Alabama’s classic games sitting in a New Orleans jail.
I have always believed that Shorty’s removal from the field was a bad omen for us that night. We lost 24-23 and Notre Dame won the National Championship.
See you next week.
October 10, 2018 - Democrats have three viable candidates, but Republicans will prevail
In politics, perception is reality. It is perceived and therefore factual that a Democrat cannot win a statewide race in Alabama.
The proof is in the pudding. We have 29 elected statewide officeholders in the Heart of Dixie. All 29 are Republicans.
In addition, 6 out of 7 of our members in Congress are Republican. We have one lone Democratic member of Congress. Terri Sewell occupies the seat in Congress designed to be held by an African American.
We do have a temporary accidental anomaly U.S. Senator in Doug Jones. However, as any nominal political observer knows, he is only there until the next election. He is the epitome of the political adage that more people vote against someone than for someone. People were simply voting against Roy Moore and more liberal money poured into Alabama to beat Moore than has ever been sent into Alabama in history and probably ever will be. It was the only race in the country and every socialist liberal group or individual in the nation jumped on board to beat Moore. That anomaly will never happen again.
To his credit, Jones is not a demagogue. He is and has always been a liberal national Democrat. He has been a card carrying, bonafide liberal his entire adult life. He is ideologically more at home and comfortable buddying around with Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Nancy Pelosi than with Richard Shelby, Robert Aderholt or Bradley Bryne. He has campaigned for, contributed to and been a Democratic delegate for Walter Mondale, Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He is a true believer.
He has felt his oats a bit and gotten involved in trying to change the state Democratic Party organization, which by the way is not very organized. He endorsed his candidate Peck Fox against Nancy Worley for the chairmanship of the defunct Alabama Democratic Party. Worley prevailed because Joe Reed still controls the reigns of the Democratic Party brand in the state.
Make no doubt about it, the Democratic Party is the party of African Americans in Alabama. There are a few liberal white Democrats in the state that Reed parades out as face cards. However, he wants it to remain his party, and essentially that is the case.
Make no mistake about it, Alabama politics is still driven by race. Whites are primarily Republicans. Blacks are totally Democratic. Politics is nothing more than simply counting. Basic math if you will. There are simply more white folks that vote than black folks who vote. That is why 29 out of 29 state officeholders are Republican.
The Democrats have fielded three viable candidates for statewide office in the upcoming November General Election. They will run good races, but they are not going to win. It will be 29 out of 29 come January.
Walt Maddox is the best candidate that the Democrats have had in several decades for Governor. Maddox is 45 and has been Mayor of Tuscaloosa, one of Alabama’s premier and most prosperous cities for 10 years. He is better qualified and much more able to serve as Governor than Kay Ivey.
However, Kay is a Republican quasi incumbent, running in a very good economic time. Her handlers are doing an excellent job of running out the clock and keeping quiet. All they have to do is show pictures of Kay cutting ribbons, claiming credit for economic expansion, aligning herself with Trump and clinging to Confederate monuments. The bottom line is she will win because she is the Republican candidate.
Joseph Siegelman, the son of former Governor Don Siegelman, is a viable candidate for Attorney General. He not only is viable but is vibrant and attractive. He is 30-years old with movie star good looks and he also has a good-looking dog. He exudes integrity and ethics. However, Marshall will prevail over Siegelman because he is the GOP candidate. Although it may be surprising how many votes young Siegelman gets. A lot of folks, including a good many moderate Republicans, believe Siegelman’s dad, Don, was done wrong. He will reap a good many sympathy votes.
The third viable Democratic candidate is Robert Vance, Jr., in the race for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He will run a good race. However, Tom Parker will prevail because he is the Republican candidate.
See you next week.
October 3, 2018 - Some Politicos Learn Lesson the Hard Way
For some untold reason or some would say ungodly reason, I have always been enthralled and involved in politics. As a boy growing up in Troy, I was tutored and trained in the rules and rituals of Alabama politics by two masters of my county’s political history.
The Probate Judge and State Representative were my mentors. They both had been in politics for decades. Both mentors had taught me a lot of political tidbits over the years. However, when it finally got time for me to make my first foray into the arena, they both sat me down. I could tell that I was going to get some sage advice since both were present. They gave me one of the cardinal rules of politics – you run your own campaign and never ever get involved in other people’s races. They said you should be thankful that they elected you to your office. It made sense that it would be arrogant and presumptuous even if you had been in your post for a while that you should not offer your opinion on other races. In addition, the old adage applies – you make one ingrate and hundreds of enemies.
Young Martha Roby learned this old political rule the hard way. As a girl growing up in privilege in Montgomery, she didn’t have the advantage of learning the Rules of Politics. She was probably more interested in planning for debutante balls and learning to play the piano. She went on to college at New York University and majored in music.
Bill Dickinson served in that same second district seat for 28 years. He became the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. He never got involved in other races. In fact, his campaign slogan in his early years was “Vote first for Bill and then as you will.”
Another politician that learned a lesson the hard way this year is powerful State Senate President, Del Marsh. There is an old saying and political truism that home folks know you best. Marsh has made no bones about the fact that he was interested in running for U.S. Senator or Governor. His calling card to claiming one of these brass rings was that he had made a lot of money in the private sector and could afford to self-finance a state campaign, if he were inclined to spend some of his money. That remained to be seen.
However, in his reelection bid for his Anniston State Senate District, Marsh did use his large state campaign war chest to buy media spots in the Montgomery and Birmingham media market, probably in order to build name identification for a possible 2020 U.S. Senate run. In fact, Marsh spent $482,674 to his unknown opponents $15,435. Marsh got 52 percent and won by an 8,215 to 7,366 difference. Less than 900 votes.
Marsh may as well have lost as far as future statewide aspirations are concerned. No PAC’s in Washington are going to take him seriously with that blemish.
In 1974, Jere Beasley was running for reelection as Lt. Governor. He had gotten upstartish and antsy to take the reigns as Governor after Governor George Wallace had been shot and was recovering. Perennial candidate, Charles Woods, led Beasley in the first primary and was poised to take him out. Beasley adroitly did his homework. He discovered that Woods had failed to carry his home voting precinct in Dothan. Beasley came back to beat him with a brilliant ad that showed the results of Beasley beating Woods in his own Home Box. The ad simply said, “Home Folks know you best.” The more things change the more they stay the same in good old Alabama politics.
Speaking of statewide aspirations, Rebekah Mason and Robert Bentley recently launched a website touting ole Bentley’s history as Governor with a hint that the old boy might get back into politics. Ms. Mason tweeted that she liked my comments about them getting back into politics that I made on Birmingham television. They seem immune to anything they did in the Governor’s office. My thoughts were that I wish they would reenter the political arena. It would be good fodder for me. As you know I like to write about the lighter side of politics and they were colorful and a great soap opera. However, they were no the most colorful in Alabama political history. They are not even close to Big Jim Folsom and Shorty Price.
See you next week.