February 28, 2018
The Alabama Legislature usually gets very little done during an election year session except passage of the budgets.
However, the Legislature may have to address issues pertaining to prison health care. A Federal judge has ruled that our prison mental health care is “horrendously inadequate.” This year the solution will probably be to simply add $30 to 50 million to the prison budget and kick the can down the road to the next quadrennium.
Our Medicaid agency funding is always a key issue. Medicaid now consumes more than a third of the General Fund budget. Using part of the BP Oil spill money will allow legislators to wait until next year to tackle this money eating monster.
Mental health or drug addiction issues will probably be pushed back until next year after elections, as will the gasoline tax issue. The gas tax was not been raised since 1992. The state’s gas tax is earmarked for roads and bridges. Business groups, county governments and legislative leaders, especially Speaker Mac McCutcheon and Legislators from Huntsville and other growth areas, are emphasizing the need for adequate transportation infrastructure.
The Trump administration is advocating for a national infrastructure initiative. If this comes to fruition in Washington, the state will have to act in order to match federal dollars.
The two budgets will not be difficult since both the General Fund and Education budgets are in better shape than normal, especially the Special Education Trust Fund budget. It is dependent on sales and income growth taxes and the economy is growing.
Teachers and state employees may receive a cost of living raise. Alabama state employees have not received a cost of living raise since 2009.
Speaking of the economy, Alabama has been blessed with two gigantic coups in the past few months. The landing of the new Toyota-Mazda plant near Huntsville was huge. In addition, the decision by the U.S. Defense Department to locate the F-35 lightning aircraft deployment to Maxwell/Gunter in Montgomery will translate into a significant boom to the River Region for years to come.
The January announcement that Alabama won the coveted Toyota-Mazda plant was tremendous. We beat out North Carolina for the $1.6 billion facility, which will be located at a Limestone County mega site adjacent to Huntsville.
Alabama currently has 57,000 residents employed in the automotive industry. Exports of Alabama made vehicles and parts total over $9 billion. We are now the number two state in America for automotive production. Community College Chancellor Jimmy Baker is moving in the right direction to prepare our young people for these opportunities in the state’s industrial expansion.
Huntsville mayor, Tommy Battle, battled mightily for the new automotive facility. He deserves kudos for the victory as does Montgomery mayor, Todd Strange, for landing the F-35 to Maxwell/Gunter. Our senior senator, Richard Shelby, was instrumental in both of these bonanzas behind the scenes.
Speaking of the legislature and their adjourning early for an election year, there will be 10 open Senate seats and 22 House seats with no incumbents. One of the most hotly contested state senate races will be in the Huntsville area. It will be an intra-party battle between Sam Givhan and Mary Scott Hunter. It is for the seat currently held by State Senator Bill Holtzclaw, who is not seeking reelection.
Ms. Hunter is a State School Board member, who is close to the BCA. Givhan is a lawyer and heads the Huntsville/Madison GOP. He has been endorsed by ALFA. It is fitting and proper that the Alabama Farmers Federation is backing young Sam Givhan. His grandfather was the legendary State Senator, Walter Givhan, who was a Black Belt planter and stalwart ally of the farmers.
State Representative, Mack Butler, is favored to win the Republican Gadsden area seat of retiring Senator Phil Williams.
The Wiregrass will see a battle royale between State Representative Donnie Chesteen and incumbent State Senator Harri Anne Smith.
The open Republican Senate seat of retiring State Senator Dick Brewbaker in Montgomery and Pike Road may be the best senate race in the state.
There are numerous powerful and popular incumbents, who will coast to reelection most with no opposition. That list includes Jabo Waggoner, Jimmy Holley, Jim McClendon, Cam Ward, Greg Reed, Steve Livingston, Clay Scofield, Shay Shelnutt, Clyde Chambliss, Billy Beasley, Bobby Singleton, Gerald Allen, Tom Whatley and Senate President, Del Marsh.
The leadership of the State Senate will return.
See you next week.
February 21, 2017
The 2018 legislative session will be short and sweet. It is an election year. Historically, during the last year of a quadrennium, the legislature convenes early and passes the budgets, then goes home and campaigns for reelection to another four year term.
Our forefathers, who wrote our 1901 Constitution must have been thinking the same thing because they designed for the fourth year of the quadrennium legislative session to start and end early. It is set by law to begin in early January, whereas it begins in February in most years. This year’s session began January 9 and can run through April 23. The consensus is that they will adjourn sine die earlier than the April deadline. Most observers believe that they will pass the budgets and be out of Montgomery by the end of March and home campaigning by April Fools’ Day.
The budgets will not be hard. The economy has picked up and the education budget, which is reliant on sales and income tax, is flush. Even the beleaguered General Fund is not in dire straits.
The House budget chairmen, Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, and Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, walk around with a smile on their face.
The Senate budget chairmen, Trip Pittman, R-Baldwin and Arthur Orr, R-Decatur also seem happy. Pittman is a giant of a man who probably stands 6’8” tall and Orr is somewhat short. When they stand next to each other they look like Mutt and Jeff. It reminds me of a picture made in the 1950’s with Governor Big Jim Folsom and Congressman Frank Boykin standing next to each other. Boykin was extremely short and portly. He was around 5’2”. Big Jim was about 6’9”. It was quite an amazing photo taken at Boykins hunting lodge north of Mobile in Washington County. Both Big Jim and Boykin were inebriated. In defense of Pittman and Orr, they are both sober and serious about their business and do a good job.
Pittman has decided to stick to a campaign pledge he made when he first ran to serve only two terms, so he is not running again.
The other three budget chairmen are running and will be easily reelected if they even have opposition. Arthur Orr, Steve Clouse, and Bill Poole will all return to the legislature and will more than likely chair their chamber’s budget committees for another four years. All four of these budget leaders are smart and articulate. Clouse, Pittman and Poole all went to the University of Alabama for their college education.
These four chairmen write and control the budgets. In fact, most of the major decisions affecting the budgets are dictated by the chairmen. Most legislators do not really know the intricate details in the numbers. After the budgets come out of conference committee late in the session, it is “Katie bar the door.” They are ready to vote yes and go home.
However, there will be significant turnover in both chambers next year. There are about 10 of the 35 state senate seats open due to retirement or seeking other offices. There will be close to 22 of the 105 House of Representatives seats open. That is a significant turnover but it is not record breaking. Furthermore, almost all of the major leaders and decision makers in the legislature will be back for another four years in their same leadership positions.
The best action in senate races this year may be in the Montgomery/River Region area. Popular state Senator, Dick Brewbaker, chose to not seek reelection. There will be a spirited sprint to replace him. Also in Montgomery County, State Senator Quinton Ross was chosen to be President of Alabama State University. Veteran State Representative John Knight is favored to take that seat.
The primaries are June 5. I will keep you posted.
See you next week.
February 14, 2018
I have written about the legendary capitol reporters who use to cover Goat Hill. There was Bob Ingram of the Montgomery Advertiser, Al Fox of the Birmingham News, Hugh Sparrow of the Birmingham News, Rex Thomas of the Associated Press, Don Martin of UPI and Clarke Stallworth of the Birmingham Post Herald. A young cub reporter named Jim Bennett joined the Post Herald in 1961 and later had a distinguished career in Public Service. None of these legends is any longer with us.
Today’s capitol press corps also works hard, they stick with “just the facts” by conscientious research of their stories and leave out the speculations, “what-ifs”, opinion and political slants.
The men and women I knew in the Montgomery press corps then and today, may have personal views, but they all were and are vigilant in their work as professional journalists. They defended the freedom of the press and the right of the public to know the facts and events of public officials, their decisions and actions that will impact education, taxes and the economy.
Over the last few years, an ongoing debate has emerged as to whether reporting on political news is still just the responsibility of professional journalists and whether online bloggers can be a trusted source of news reporting.
The contemporary capitol press corps, like their colleagues of a bygone era, work hard to meet their deadlines. These professional reporters put in long hours by getting evenhanded quotes, verify pertinent facts and simply report an issue, controversy, or an event in an evenhanded way.
Online bloggers will do the same but add twists of innuendo, supposed behind the scenes reasons, and anonymous inferences. Often the online ‘journalists’ story will present a story but give contorted extraneous, often incendiary, perspectives which have no basis in reality.
Some suggest this is done to enhance the number of online “clicks”, make the story more salacious, attack someone’s reputation either directly or indirectly, make it cynical and infer insider deals and corruption – and you will get your clicks!
In many cases, stories are published by journalists only to be later “reinterpreted” by online bloggers with an editorial or political agenda.
Because of the cynicism and negativity that this new 24/7 online blogging creates, I have heard of many good men and women who would otherwise wish to give back to their communities by serving in public office essentially say – no thanks! They have spent a lifetime building up a good reputation in their communities and businesses. They cannot imagine where a pseudo-journalist, who is trying to build their reputation by the number of online clicks they get, can get away with attacking someone’s reputation in such a careless way.
We must make sure that individuals get the news and information they need to be informed, responsible citizens. Those sources can be from journalists, bloggers, and other digital platforms.
Let’s be vigilant about the freedom of press whether it is old fashion, hard-nosed journalism or 24/7 blogging. However, let’s also clearly delineate whether it is political opinion and gotcha stories whose sole purpose is to tarnish reputations and add to further public alienation from politics and cynicism. Opinions are great and important to public discourse but see them for what they are – opinions of one – do not try to mask those as ‘facts’.
Recently, the Alabama Political Reporter brought the documentary, “Atticus and the Architect”, to the Davis Theatre in Montgomery. A packed house watched the story of former governor, Don Siegelman’s persecution. The film left no doubt that Siegelman was prosecuted for political reasons.
Siegelman spent close to ten years in prison, unduly. It is one of the saddest stories I have witnessed in my lifetime of following Alabama politics. The travesty has not gone unnoticed by young potential leaders in the state.
I have the opportunity to get to know some brilliant, young Alabamians in my University classes on Alabama and Southern politics. Many of them are political science and prelaw majors. I will inquire as to whether they are interested in pursuing a political career. Most will tell me that they would never seek political office, not even a judgeship. Invariably, they will point to the Siegelman prosecution as one of their reasons for not being a part of the political process. They realize that their lives could be ruined by political persecution.
See you next week.
February 7, 2018
A few weeks back my column illuminated the career and influence attained by our senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby. In the column and in my book, “Six Decades of Alabama Political Stories,” I reference the fact that our current senior senator will be regarded as one of Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senators. I consider Lister Hill, John Sparkman, and Richard Shelby in that triumvirate. However, history more than likely will reveal that Shelby is eclipsing Hill and Sparkman in the annals of senatorial lore.
Shelby is chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. In his illustrious 31-year tenure in the Senate he has chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Banking Committee, which in itself parallels the achievements of Hill and Sparkman. However, Richard Shelby is next in line to take over the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.
Therefore, it is almost comical that a few right-wing fringe members of the state Republican Party along with some kook from Texas are promising some resolution to censure Senator Shelby for not voting for Roy Moore in last year’s election. If these folks had even walking around political sense they would be promoting a ticker tape parade for Shelby.
I would suggest that Richard Shelby could care less what some members of the Alabama Republican Party say about his vote in the recent election. Members of political party organizations have an inflated opinion of their influence in politics and public policy. Being a member of a state political party has no more effect on politics than being president of the local Civitan Club. Their primary function is to set the Primary dates.
Therefore, when these political party operatives get together to debate this benign resolution on February 24, they may imagine that it matters what they do. However, you can be assured that nobody cares, much less Shelby. Resolutions passed in political party gatherings have no effect or relevance.
It is very doubtful that this proposed resolution will see the light of day. Most people who are political party operatives are logical folks and would not want to offend or insult Senator Shelby. He is the Republican Party of Alabama in the eyes of the nation. If it were to pass, he would graciously ignore it and hold no grudges.
When Kay Ivey became governor last year, the first thing she did was to reverse the decision of Governor Robert Bentley on the date of the election for Jeff Sessions’ senate seat. Bentley had set it for this year when everything runs anyway. Ivey decided that it should be held forthwith and that a Special Election would be in 2017. However, this Special Election costs the beleaguered State General Fund $11 million. If it were held this year it would have cost the state zero – we were voting anyway.
This $11 million is nothing to sneeze at when it comes to state revenue. This aspect caught the eye of House Ways and Means chairman, Steve Clouse, R-Ozark. Clouse, who is a wise steward of the state’s coffers, and is tasked with balancing the budget, has set out to rectify and clarify when any future election for a Senate Seat shall be held. He has offered a bill to set the dates and clarify “forthwith.” Clouse’s Bill says that the election will be held at the next General election. His legislation has already passed the House and is awaiting action in the State Senate.
Steve Clouse is a popular Wiregrass legislator who epitomizes integrity and espouses fiscal conservatism. While speaking of popularity in the Wiregrass, Governor Kay Ivey did a good day’s work when she picked Dothan Circuit Judge, Brad Mendheim, to fill the vacancy on the State Supreme Court. It is appropriate that she appointed Mendheim, a Wiregrass judge, to fill the seat of Justice Glen Murdock, another Wiregrass native.
I have never seen or heard of anybody more respected in their hometown than 51-year-old Brad Mendheim is in Dothan. He was born and raised in Houston County and has been a Circuit Judge for 10 years. He is a deacon in the First Baptist Church of Dothan. He graduated in a stellar graduating class, which included highly respected Dr. Russ Holman who heads the largest radiology group in the state in Birmingham.
See you next week.
January 31, 2018
This political year of 2018 may very well be the year of the woman in Alabama politics. In Alabama’s 200 year history, only one woman has been elected governor. Lurleen Wallace won in 1966. Only two women have served as governor, Governor Lurleen and our current governor, Kay Ivey. It may be a historic year.
Sue Bell Cobb, the former Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice, and the first woman to hold that position, is hoping to be able to be the Democratic standard-bearer. She was elected Chief Justice in 2006, in a very expensive, high profiled battle with Republican Drayton Nabors. She had been a District Court Judge in her native Conecuh County for a long time before running statewide. She was elected to a six year term as Chief Justice in 2006, but quit after four years, inexplicably.
Cobb, 61, is predicting that it will be an all female gubernatorial showdown. She believes that she will be the Democratic nominee and that Governor Kay Ivey will carry the Republican banner into battle. She says, “That’s never happened and my prediction is that is what it will exactly be.”
However, first things first. Judge Cobb has to win the Democratic nomination. She is not the favorite in that primary. Tuscaloosa mayor, Walt Maddox, is the early favorite to win the Democratic nomination.
Most political insiders suggest that Maddox is expected to get the overwhelming support of African American voters. The black vote makes up the bulk and majority of Democratic Primary voters in the state. This is no longer a monolithic vote. However, it tends to gravitate to one candidate in a primary. The few white voters who participate in the Democratic primary are young and they can more readily identify with Maddox who is 45.
In addition, there is some disillusionment among Democratic voters that Cobb quit her term midway as Chief Justice and allowed Republican Governor Robert Bentley to appoint a replacement. He, of course, appointed a Republican. She was the only Democrat on the Supreme Court. Roy Moore won the seat of Chief Justice in 2012.
Other Democratic partisans were dismayed that Cobb said she supported Donald Trump’s selection of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General. It may be perceived that her day has passed.
Kay Ivey appeared to be headed for the house and her day may have passed when out of the blue Bentley resigns and she is plucked out of the obscurity of the Lt. Governor’s office and thrust into the governorship. She seems like a grandmother who sticks to her knitting and steadies the Ship of State, which has gone through stormy waters the past four years. Kay Ivey may indeed make it to the dance as the Republican nominee in November. She is in the catbird’s seat and favored to win the GOP Primary.
However, she created a couple of stumbling blocks during the 2017 Senate election year that may thwart her reelection. Some GOP establishment stalwarts say that her changing the Senate election from 2018 to 2017 threw Luther Strange, their candidate, under the bus and gave the nomination to Roy Moore, which led to losing the seat to a Democrat. Her move also cost the state’s beleaguered General Fund $10 to $15 million. Some suburban women became disenchanted with her with she said she had no reason to not believe the women who accused Roy Moore of assaulting them as teenagers, yet she was still going to vote for him because he was a Republican. These two actions are only political stumbling blocks, not roadblocks.
Therefore, what I see as a possibility is not an all female race for governor, but a possible triumvirate of females being sworn into the top three constitutional offices next January. You could see Kay Ivey sworn into the Governor’s office, Twinkle Cavanaugh sworn in as Lt. Governor, and Alice Martin sworn in as Attorney General. All three are Republicans.
The Republican nominee goes into the general election with a 60/40 probability of winning. Currently, Kay Ivey is the favorite in the governor’s race. Twinkle is the favorite in the Lt. Governor’s race. Alice Martin or Troy King is favored in the Attorney General’s race.
If you made me bet right now, I would bet that Alabama would at least have a governor and Lt. Governor that are women. That may be the story of the year in Alabama politics in 2018.
See you next week.
January 24, 2017
As the 2018 state elections begin, let’s take one last look at the 2017 Special Election to fill the remaining three years of Jeff Sessions’ six-year term which, by the way, comes up in two years in 2020.
It is assumed by most astute political observers that the winner, Democrat Doug Jones, cannot win election to a full term in 2020, simply because he is a Democrat. I am not ready to write Doug Jones off so quickly. I would contend that Jones would not be a cupcake to take on after two to three years on the job. Doug Jones knows what he is doing. He is a seasoned political veteran that will hit the ground running in Washington. I submit that he will be a far superior senator for Alabama than Roy Moore.
The Ten Commandments Judge’s mission in the Senate would be as an obstructionist and the voice of the ultra right wing zealots of not only Alabama but of the nation. This would not do Alabama any good as far as having a senator who is helpful to the state. In addition, his extreme views and statements, along with the allegations thrown at him during the campaign, made him a horrendous caricature nationwide. We would have been the brunt of ridicule on all late night and daytime news shows for three years.
Moore had become not only a joke but also a bad image for the state. We would have actually been better off not to have had a second senate seat if Moore was in it. We would have been better served to have only one senator, Richard Shelby. On the other hand, Senator Doug Jones, will strive to be an effective senator in the mold of Sen. Shelby. He will work with Shelby to bring home the bacon. Sen. Shelby knew this and that is why he refused to vote for Moore.
However, Sen. Jones will still have very little wiggle room in preparation for 2020. He will organize with Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and all of the very liberal East and West coast senators. He is in the same boat with them on social issues like abortion, immigration, and gay/lesbian and transgender issues. If these issues come to the forefront in the form of Supreme Court nominees, Jones may be caught between a rock and a hard place. If he can avoid these litmus test issues that illuminate the fact that he is a national Democrat from a ruby red Republican state, he could possibly survive, especially if there is a contentious GOP Primary with six or more Republican thoroughbreds wrangling for the opportunity to take Jones out in a 2020 battle royale.
This field of proven conservative Republican stalwarts could beat each other up in the primary. Therefore, they arrive at the dance beat up and broke facing Jones who probably has not faced a primary opponent, and is well financed with national Democratic senatorial money, running as an incumbent.
The Doug Jones victory was a perfect storm that cannot be perfectly replicated by Democratic gubernatorial aspirants Walt Maddox or Sue Bell Cobb.
First of all, the national money will not be available in an Alabama governor’s race, in a year where 33 U.S. Senate races are in play, as it was in last year’s race. We were the only show in the country and you had a polarizing figure to energize the national liberal base. There was also an overwhelming 6-to-1 financial advantage that provided resources to turn out the Democratic base. In addition, probably never again will any party have the opportunity to run against a candidate with a 70 percent negative approval rating, who has no money and runs a modern day 2017 campaign similar to one run in 1954 out of the back of a pickup truck.
On the other hand, the Democratic campaign was state of the art. Due to Moore and this being the only senate race in the country, Doug Jones’ campaign was run by the brightest Democratic pollsters and media consultants in the world. They energized millennials and the LGBTQ community to vote in record numbers, along with the amazing unparalleled turnout of African American voters.
It was an anomaly and a razor thin victory. However, it shows that it can be done in the “Heart of Dixie.”
A Democrat won a statewide race, and a U.S. Senate race at that. It gives credence to a Democratic gubernatorial campaign this year.
See you next week.
January 17, 2018
Awhile back, during Dr. Robert Bentley’s tenure as govern0or, I wrote a column entitled They May as Well Move the Capitol to Tuscaloosa.
Never before in Alabama history has a city had a sitting governor and the state’s senior U.S. Senator hale from that particular place.
Even with the departure of Bentley as governor, the Druid City has an inordinate amount of presence in the state’s political sphere of influence.
Senator Richard Shelby is in his 32nd year as our U.S. Senator. With that kind of seniority, comes immense power in Washington. Shelby is Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and is easily one of the three most powerful U.S. Senators. History will record him as Alabama’s greatest and most effective U.S. Senator in Alabama political lore.
Secretary of State, John Merrill, is from Tuscaloosa. He served in the Legislature prior to winning statewide office.
Scott Donaldson serves on the State Court of Appeals. He was a Circuit Judge in Tuscaloosa prior to his move to the state court.
Judge John England currently sits on the Bench as a Tuscaloosa Circuit Judge. He has previously served on the State Supreme Court. He is one of the most respected men in the state.
Judge England’s son, Chris England, has represented Tuscaloosa in the House of Representatives very effectively for 11-years. Chris is not only a stellar legislator; he is a practicing lawyer and an expert on Alabama football, which he grew up watching.
Hardy McCollum has been in his office for over 4-years. He is nearing the end of an unprecedented seventh six-year term. That means that Hardy was first elected in 1976. Over the years, he has generally been considered the most popular political figure in Tuscaloosa County.
State senator, Gerald Allen, has been representing his native Tuscaloosa County in the state Legislature for 24-years. He served 16-years in the State House prior to his election to the State Senate eight years ago in 2010. He is considered one of the most conservative members of the State Senate.
Some folks believe that this time next year, Tuscaloosa may regain the Governor’s office. Their very popular, 45-year old mayor, Walt Maddox, will likely be the Democratic standard-bearer in the 2018 Governor’s race. Young Mr. Maddox is very popular in his hometown. He has been the historic city’s 36th mayor since 2005, which means he was first elected at the ripe old age of 32.
Although not Tuscaloosa’s, there are some influential powers that live nearby and represent them in the Halls of Congress and the State Senate.
Congressman Robert Aderholt from Haleyville represents Tuscaloosa as well as outstanding State Senators Greg Reed of Jasper and Bobby Singleton of Greensboro.
Lastly but certainly not least, Tuscaloosa lays claim to a most popular and consensus brightest rising star in the Alabama Legislature. State Representative Bill Poole is a crown jewel that Tuscaloosa can be very proud to call their own.
Bill Poole is a lawyer by profession. His utmost priority is his devotion to his wife, Nicole, and his three children, Sally, William, and Whitman. The Poole’s are active members of the First Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa.
Bill earned his B.S. and Law degrees from the University of Alabama and began his law practice in Tuscaloosa, in 2004. This Republican District 63 encompasses primarily the City and suburbs of Tuscaloosa. Dr. Bentley was the Representative from this District prior to Poole. Tim Parker represented the district prior to Bentley.
Poole came to the House with a large group of Republicans in 2010. He immediately became a leader of that group. The entire Legislature quickly recognized his potential.
By the end of his first year in 2011, it was evident that Poole was clearly the star of that 34-member class. When you asked every veteran observer of Goat Hill about the class, the first name on the list was Bill Poole. He is liked and respected by members on both sides of the aisle.
In only his second term, he became Chairman of the Ways and Means Education Budget Committee. When Mike Hubbard was removed as Speaker, it was a foregone conclusion that Poole was going to be Speaker. He turned down the post because he wanted to be able to spend time with his young family.
At 38 the sky is the limit for Poole. However, folks in Tuscaloosa hope he stays put. For a city that is home to the University of Alabama, having the Chairman of the Education Budget Committee is a pretty good coup.
Tuscaloosa was once the Capital. Some would say it essentially is again. In fact preliminary census estimations project that Tuscaloosa will exceed Montgomery in population by 2030.
See you next week
January 10, 2018
A few months back the Jefferson County Republican Party honored our Senior U.S. Senator, Richard Shelby. It was held at The Club in Birmingham. The view from atop Red Mountain from this elegant club is spectacular, especially at night from the ballroom. The glass enclosure allows you to see the grandeur of the Birmingham skyline. As you glimpse at the scene you can see many of the buildings that are the heart of the University of Alabama/Birmingham.
As the tribute to Shelby began, I looked out over the night sky and caught a glimpse of the $70 million Shelby Biomedical Research building. I thought how appropriate that they were honoring a living legend in Alabama political history. Senator Shelby has been an integral part of the growth and expansion of UAB. The UAB Medical Complex and Research Center is now Jefferson County’s premier economic engine and employer.
In fact, UAB and the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville are Alabama’s crown jewels now and for the future. It could be said that UAB and the Redstone Arsenal have flourished because of Richard Shelby and his prowess at bringing home the bacon to Alabama over the past 30 years.
In my book, “Six Decades of Colorful Alabama Political Stories,” which was published several years ago, I have a chapter devoted to and entitled “Alabama’s Three Greatest Senators.” Two of those Senators served as a tandem in Washington during the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. Lister Hill and John Sparkman were powerful and revered statesmen.
Hill, a Montgomerian, served in the U.S. Senate for 30 years from 1938 to 1968. He was a congressman from the second district for 12 years prior to going to the U.S. Senate during the FDR New Deal.
Prior to becoming a U.S. Senator, John Sparkman was a congressman for eight years from his native Tennessee Valley. When he retired in 1970, he had been in the Senate for 32 years – the record for an Alabama U.S. Senator.
Sparkman is the father of the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. In fact they ought to name Huntsville Sparkmanville. Lister Hill whose legacy was in health care was the Father of UAB.
Senator Shelby has sustained these two giant legacies. He has used his power and influence to fuel the continued growth of these two pivotal cogs in Alabama’s economic engine. They are both reliant on Federal dollars which Shelby has supplied.
Hill and Sparkman were University of Alabama graduates, Law school and undergraduate. They both were Student Government Presidents. Shelby was also a product of the University of Alabama. He was a Tuscaloosa lawyer prior to going to Congress in 1978. He had served eight years in the State Senate prior to his departure for Washington. He served eight years in Congress prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986.
He was reelected to his sixth six-year term last year. This time next year, he will surpass John Sparkman’s 32 years in the Senate and will have the record for longevity in the U.S. Senate from Alabama. I would contend that Richard Shelby has eclipsed Hill and Sparkman in Alabama political history when it comes to power and influence in Washington.
Many times it is difficult to ascertain or recognize greatness when it is current. However, history will record that Richard Shelby would arguably be considered Alabama’s greatest U. S. Senator.
John Sparkman chaired banking and had a legacy with housing Americans. Lister Hill authored the Hill-Burton Act which built hospitals all over America.
Richard Shelby has been Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. He has been Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He is currently Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee.
Folks, what that means is that nothing becomes law in the United States or no budget or U.S. appropriation is approved without the consent of our Senior U.S. Senator.
Richard Shelby has reached a pinnacle of power never before seen in Alabama political history.
It really does not matter who is our Junior Senator. As long as we have Richard Shelby we do not need a second U.S. Senator.
See you next week.
January 03 ,2018
As we enter the 2018 campaign season, many of you have asked me to look back and analyze the 2017 Special Election Senate race and explain in depth what happened and why. The most asked question is how could a Democrat win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama and does this mean that we are now possibly a two party state? I will give you numerous answers, however, the simple answer to why a Democrat won is that Roy Moore was the Republican nominee. Are we a state that can go either way in an open U.S. Senate seat? As we have just seen, it is possible but not probable.
The Democrat, Doug Jones, won in the perfect storm. We will probably never have this same scenario again. There are two maxims in politics that over my years of following politics never fail and become truer and truer. The more things change, the more they stay the same. One is money is the mother’s milk of politics. The second is that more people vote against someone or something than vote for someone or something.
To the first adage, money is the mother’s milk of politics, nine times out of ten when one candidate out spends the other the one who spends the most usually wins. When one outspends the other 3-to-1, they always win. In this race, the National Democratic Party saw an opening and they seized on it.
The people in blue America are mad as hell that Donald Trump upset Hillary Clinton. Our senate race was the only race in town or should we say the country. Not only do Democrats despise Trump, but when they heard that Alabama had a Republican candidate that is a pro-God, pro-gun, gun toting, antiabortion, horse riding, religious zealot that said that he was not only against gay marriage but said that gays were legally committing bestiality, the nation saw Roy Moore as a little extreme in today’s America. In addition, a good many people around the country believe he is a pedophile.
The liberal and gay money flowed into here by the barrel. It came from New York and San Francisco and all liberal pockets in America. The bottom line is the Democrat, Doug Jones, outspent the Republican, Roy Moore, 6-to-1; 18 million to 3 million and that does not count the soft money spent by the National Democratic Party that was spent on getting out the vote.
The book was written on Moore from the get go. The first poll and the last poll revealed that 30 percent of Alabamians would vote for Roy Moore come hell or high water. However, he is so polarizing that a whopping 70 percent said that they would not vote for him under any circumstance.
The reason that he won the Republican nomination was that his 30 percent became accentuated due to turnout. His voters are more ardent, fervent and frankly older. Moore’s 30 percent did indeed vote on December 12. The problem for Moore was that the 70 percent that detest him voted more than was expected.
The biggest part of that 70 percent was African American voters who voted in epic, unparalleled proportions. It was statewide. It was not only in the urban counties of Jefferson, Montgomery, and Mobile and the Black Belt. This tidal wave occurred in all 67 counties. African American voters came together in a crescendo and sent Roy Moore to a watery grave. Doug Jones owes his election to the Black voters and he knows it.
A significant number of urbane, upscale, more educated business establishment Republicans voted against Moore, pragmatically. The image that Moore portrayed to the nation was bad for business and economic development. The best example of this was the results in Madison County. Huntsville is Alabama’s crown jewel and economic engine. They generally vote Republican. Moore lost Madison County by 20,000 votes.
Senator Richard Shelby contributed to Moore’s defeat. His refusing to vote for Moore and his open acknowledgement that he cast a write-in vote for an unknown Republican gave credence and impetus for other Republicans to follow suit. There were about 22,000 write-in votes. Moore lost by 21,000.
How does this play into 2018. It gives Walt Maddox and Sue Bell Cobb hope and credence that under the right and perfect circumstances a Democrat can win. However, it probably does not change the fact that a Republican gubernatorial or senatorial candidate will be favored to win 60/40. Luther Strange or Mo Brooks would have won the Senate race 60/40.
See you next week.
December 27, 2017
At the close of each year, my tradition is to acknowledge the passing away of significant political leaders from the political stage in our beloved state.
We lost some icons this year. As I sit in my office writing this yearend column, pictures of two of my favorite friends and legends adorn my walls. The photos of Governor Albert Brewer and Congressman Jim Martin look down at me. Both were Christian gentlemen.
Governor Brewer passed away last January in Birmingham. He was 88. We had visited over lunch only a few months earlier.
Brewer grew up in Decatur, went to public schools and graduated from the University of Alabama and Alabama Law School. He came back home to Morgan County to practice law. He was quickly elected to the House of Representatives in 1954 at the age of 25. Eight years later in 1962, he was elected Speaker of the House. He was only 33-years old, the youngest Speaker in history.
Four years later, he beat two state senators without a runoff to win the Lt. Governor’s office. He had been Lt. Governor for less than two years when in May 1968, Governor Lurleen Wallace succumbed to cancer and he became governor.
Brewer had a low-key business-like style to the governor’s office that was dramatically different from George Wallace.
He was governor for only 33 months, but he left an indelible mark in public policy, primarily in Education and Ethics.
He and Wallace clashed in the 1970 governor’s race, which was one of the classic gubernatorial battles in state history. He led Wallace in the first primary, but Wallace overtly played the race card and pulled out a narrow victory in the runoff.
Many scholars and historians sadly reflect that Brewer briefly was our “New South” governor.
He spent the last three decades of his life teaching law at Samford’s Cumberland Law School. He molded generations of young lawyers in Alabama. My daughter, Ginny, was one of them. He was her mentor and friend up until he passed away.
I first met Governor Brewer when I was a teenager. I became a page for him when he was Speaker and continued as his aide when he became Lt. Governor. We remained friends throughout the years. He was a very special gentleman.
Jim Martin passed away last month. He was 99 years old. He was a lifetime resident of Gadsden. Jim was one of the fathers of the modern Republican Party in the South. He was one of five Republicans swept into Congress in the 1964 Goldwater landslide. In 1987, Martin became Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. As commissioner, Martin helped create the Forever Wild Land preservation program. Jim Martin was a special gentleman.
Cullman County has been home to an inordinate number of legendary Alabama political leaders and icons. One of these was Tom Drake. Tom passed away in his beloved Cullman County in February at age 86. He represented the Cullman area for 36 years in the Alabama Legislature. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives during Wallace’s last term, 1982-1986. That was my first term in the House. I voted for and supported Tom for Speaker. He was one of George Wallace’s closest and most loyal allies. Tom was also one of Bear Bryant’s favorites. He coached for Bryant, was an All American wrestler at Alabama, and later wrestled professionally. He was a lawyer by profession and he came from the old school. If he shook your hand and gave you his word, you could take it to the bank. He was a loyal and trusted friend.
Another legendary Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, Joe McCorquodale, died in April at age 96. Mr. McCorquodale was one of the most powerful and respected men to ever serve in the legislature in Alabama history. He served 24 yeas in the House from 1958-1982. He was Speaker of the House his last eight years, 1974-1982. He was a successful businessman. He was in the timber and insurance business. He lived his entire life in his beloved Clarke County. The Clarke County Democrat publisher, Jim Cox, a lifetime friend of Mr. McCorquodale, said he went to his office every day up until his death. McCorquodale gave current governor, Kay Ivey, her first job in state government. As Speaker, he made Kay the Reading Clerk in the House.
We lost some icons this year.
Happy New Year, see you next week.