October 25, 2023 - University Philanthropists
In the past two to three years we have had some very generous benefactors make some very magnanimous contributions to their university alma maters in Alabama.
One of those philanthropist is Alabama businessman Jim Kennemer. Thanks to a $2 million gift from Kennemer, the University of Alabama funded the James C. Kennemer Center for Innovation and Social Impact.
Jim and I were in school together at the University of Alabama in the 1970s, where we became friends and we have remained friends. Many of his close friends call him “Robo,” a nickname he picked up while a fraternity pledge at the University. Why? Because he was so proficient and efficient at washing the older active members cars.
I remember, quite vividly, that Jim was involved in an unheard of secret university endeavor called “computers.” As students, most of us vaguely knew that these strange new machines existed, but that is about all we knew.
Jim would disappear and show up for breakfast. When asked about these nocturnal activities, he would curiously respond that he had been at the computer center where he had been “programming.” Now, understand that this was in the early 1970s and these computers were very new. Little did we know what an impact these machines would ultimately have in our daily lives.
Jim Kennemer is from Tuscumbia. His wife Nancy Pettus is from Birmingham. They met and bonded at the University. They have been married 50 years and have built an empire together and have given back to their alma mater, the University of Alabama.
The University of Alabama recently hosted a reception to announce the gift and the naming of the Kennemer Center. The Center will be housed within the UA Honors College.
After leaving UA with a BS and MBA degrees, Jim settled into the back of a warehouse in Birmingham and designed the first fully programmable payment processing workstations. The first customer was the largest bank in the country. Within a few years, systems were installed at major banks, utilities and other large processors throughout the United States. At one point roughly 12% of the U.S. GDP flowed through these systems that Jim designed.
When that company was acquired, Jim and a partner pursued an opportunity in England that ultimately grew into a company he took public on the London Stock Exchange.
Back in Alabama, Jim continued with a series of successful companies. After one of these companies had been acquired, Jim came across a revolutionary NASA developed technology for early detection of eye problems in children. Thus, Vision Research Corporation was launched.
Vision research became Jim’s real love. Jim originally had an entrepreneur’s interest and intent with the company. However, after seeing thousands of children’s lives made so much better after correction of their vision problems, he was hooked for life with his project. Hundreds of thousands of kids are screened each year and over the years, almost one million children have been helped.
Jim Kennemer grew up about a mile from Helen Keller’s birthplace. I have always thought that she was an impetus towards Jim Kennemer’s Vision Research Center.
Recently, Crowne Health founder and CEO, Billy Jones, and his wife Frances, gave $2 million to Troy University, his alma mater. Troy University will use the gift for a new building on the Troy campus. The building will be named in honor of Billy Jones of Monroeville. It will be a center for research in the area of polymers and polymer recycling. The building named in Jones’s honor will also primarily and appropriately be a Health Science building.
Dr. Jack Hawkins, Chancellor of Troy University, has been known for his prowess at fundraising during his 35 year reign as Chancellor of Troy University. He made an elegant presentation in his remarks honoring Jones at the ceremony bestowing the Jones name upon the building. He said succinctly, “Billy Jones is a cornerstone in the quality of healthcare in Alabama. As President and CEO of Crowne Health Systems, he has been a legend in Alabama, and he is a Troy product. With 18 nursing homes and 2000 employees, he has made a remarkable difference in the quality of care given to many thousands of people. It is appropriate that his name will be reflected on a building that is dedicated to the development and education of healthcare workers. He has been a great supporter of this university and we are very proud of the relationship we share with him.”
The saying that Alabama is one big front porch continues. Dr. Jack Hawkins and Billy Jones grew up together in Mobile. They have known each other since their days together at Murphy High in Mobile.
See you next week.
October 18, 2023 - The Shorty Price Story
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 2% of the votes in any campaign.
Most people remember Shorty as one of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s most ardent cheerleaders. Like a lot of old-time Alabama fans, Shorty hated Tennessee, which is why I am highlighting Shorty this week since Alabama hosts Tennessee in Bryant Denny Stadium this Saturday.
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 and a black hat with a round top, plus 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 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 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 aisle 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, smashing his head straight down on the pavement on each dive. I thought 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 the 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 seemed 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 teams, as were the ABC cameras. Somehow, Shorty had journeyed to New Orleans, had gotten on the field and was poised 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 11, 2023 - Alabama Community College Marks 60 Years
The year 1963 was an historic and turbulent year for Alabama. The race issue was the prevalent and commanding issue in southern politics. White southerners were determined to hold onto segregation and Jim Crow laws as was the entire South.
Black southerners were prohibited from voting by these laws and practices. Therefore, every governor’s race in the Deep South was won by whichever candidate could be the most pro-segregationist, and yes, most rhetorical and vociferous towards blacks and integration. The king of the racist anti-integration governors became our own George C. Wallace, although Georgia’s Lester Maddox and Mississippi’s Ross Barrett ran him a close second.
George Wallace was obsessed with being the Governor of Alabama. He thought he would be elected in his first bid in 1958. He lost that race to John Patterson primarily because Patterson was perceived as being the most pronounced racist and segregationist. Wallace took the defeat hard. He actually went into a depression mode for about a week. He hardly got out of his bed in a Montgomery hotel room. His closest friends and allies consoled him and finally coaxed him out of bed and assured him that he had just run his “Get Acquainted Race,” an historic pattern whereby the man who ran second would run for governor again in four years later and win because the sitting governor could not run again. The Alabama Constitution prohibited reelection, so one four year term and you were out.
After a week, Wallace got out of bed, shaved, showered, called his comrades together and declared, “Boys, I am going to be elected governor in 1962, come hell or high water. I got out-segged and I ain’t going to be out-segged again.” He grabbed hold of the race issue, and he did not let go. He worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week for four years, and he rode the race issue like a rented mule and won the 1962 governor’s race.
He became Governor in January of 1963 and made his famous inaugural speech spouting, “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.” He and every legislator passed laws and resolutions espousing segregation.
Wallace was sincere in his racist rhetoric. He believed in segregation, but deep down he was more of a progressive than a racist. Wallace was born and raised from humble roots in rural Barbour County. He saw what FDR’s New Deal Democratic Progressive Plan had done for Alabama. Wallace had put together enough money to journey to Tuscaloosa with a cardboard suitcase and get into the University of Alabama as a boy. At that time, most promising students could not afford to go to college. Wallace was determined to provide an opportunity for Alabama students to be able to stay home and get a college education.
In the midst of all the racist discord in 1963, Wallace and the legislature created the Alabama Junior College and Trade School System. It is his greatest legacy. The system was created 60 years ago in 1963. This is the systems “Diamond Jubilee.” The system has long transitioned from the junior college system for providing an easier way to get the first two years of college before transferring to a four year college.
Today, 60 years later, the Alabama Community College System is the most important and significant segment of higher education in Alabama. The Community College System is made up of Alabama students and they are prepared to take Alabama’s highest paying and most needed jobs. The Alabama Community College System is the new capstone of higher education in Alabama.
The Alabama Community College System is made up of 24 colleges and more than 130 locations. They are the primary vehicle for providing workers and managers for Alabama businesses large and small.
There are 155,000 students attending Alabama Community Colleges. Enrollment has been up almost 10% in the last two years. Ninety-six percent of the systems students live in Alabama and 72% of these students stay in Alabama after completing their studies. These students and alumni add an amazing $6.6 billion to Alabama economy each year. Nearly 100,000 jobs in Alabama are generated or supported by Alabama’s Community Colleges, their students and alumni. This accounts for one of every 27 jobs in our state.
Wallace could never have dreamed of what he was doing for Alabama’s future 60 years ago.
See you next week.
October 4, 2023 - It’s Official – Alabama will have new Congressional Districts.
It’s official and final, Alabama will elect our seven member congressional delegation under new lines next year. The federal court has spoken. The special master drawing the lines has acted and the final omnipotent power, the U.S. Supreme Court, has concurred and confirmed the decision. It is over.
The result that the plaintiffs desired has been decreed by the courts. There will be a new second majority Black Congressional district. This accomplishment has been sought for decades.
Now the question becomes, can the Democrats succeed in electing a Black Democrat to this new opportunity district. It is not a slam dunk. The new district is 50% Black and 50% White. It favors a Montgomery candidate. The bulk of the population and the geographic center of the new district is Montgomery county. Montgomerians are like the rest of the state, they adhere to the well-known predilection known as “friends and neighbors” politics. That means they prefer to vote for someone from their neck of the words, especially their county.
My early prediction is that Montgomery mayor, Steven Reed, will be the Democratic nominee and will be the favorite to win the new Seat.
The special master that drew the new lines attached an index to his maps that revealed that if there were a congressional race within this new district that this district would have voted for the Democrat in 15 out of 17 of the last 17 elections. Therefore, the court’s desire to make a second minority Democratic district where a Democrat has a good opportunity to win has been accomplished.
The entire basis of this high profile federal case has been centered around the fact that Alabama has one Black Democratic Congressperson, Terri Sewell, and six White Republicans. One Black Democrat constitutes 14% of the state’s population. The plaintiff’s argument that the state’s Black population is 27%. Therefore, there should be two Black Democratic congressional seats in the Heart of Dixie. The courts bought that argument and hung their hat on the 1965 Voting Rights Act and having one seat rather than two violates and dilutes Black voters in Alabama’s voting rights.
The question now becomes, what are the down home political implications and results of these court mandated new congressional lines. All of you who live in middle and north Alabama, which is most of you, are unaffected. The majority of the people in Alabama, who live in Birmingham north are not affected. In fact, everyone north of Montgomery is unaffected. All of the commotion and redrawing has occurred in Montgomery, the Black Belt, the Wiregrass, and Mobile.
Our three powerful Republican congressmen are left with basically their same districts. Republicans Robert Aderholt, Mike Rogers and Gary Palmer, who are our centers of power in the House, have their same if not enhanced GOP districts. Huntsville’s freshman congressman, Dale Strong’s district is unchanged.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell’s Democratic district has been favored in the drawings. She has a perfectly drawn district that pretty much mirrors her current Birmingham based seat. She will probably be spared a Republican challenge. However, State Senator Bobby Singleton, who hails from the Black Belt, may challenge her in a Democratic primary out of spite. He wanted a district that favored him but lost to Sewell in the legislative battles over the drawing of the new Black district.
The real rubber meets the road within the Republican ranks in the Wiregrass, and Mobile and Baldwin counties. The five Wiregrass counties of Covington, Dale, Geneva, Houston, and Coffee are sent to Baldwin and Mobile. Therefore, new Congressmen Jerry Carl from Mobile and Barry Moore from Enterprise/Coffee are in the same district. Moore is the odd man out in this dilemma. The majority of votes in this new district are in Baldwin and Mobile counties. Carl will be the prohibitive favorite against Moore, or any other Republican. It will be a very conservative Republican district. Therefore, six of our seven seats will be in safe reelection journeys for our incumbent congressmen. Jerry Carl in the first, Mike Rogers in the third, Robert Aderholt in the fourth, Dale Strong in the fifth, Gary Palmer in the sixth, and Terri Sewell in the seventh are very safe bets for reelection in 2024. Therefore, all of the turmoil and court intervention only affects one area of the state.
All the brouhaha and action will be in the newly drawn second district. It is Montgomery Democratic Mayor Steven Reed’s race to lose. He will be the favorite to win and change Alabama’s delegation in Washington from six Republicans and one Democrat to five Republicans and two Democrats. However, I would handicap that race as a 50/50 toss-up. There will be a lot of Republican dollars from Washington showered upon the Republican nominee. It will be interesting.
See you next week.
September 27, 2023 - Roads Vital and Political for Alabama
Roads and bridges have been vital to Alabama since its creation. This is probably true of most states; however, it has been especially true for Alabama for several reasons. First of all, we are a large state, geographically. Most metropolitan areas are a good many miles from the State Capitol in Montgomery. It is a long journey for folks from Huntsville, Mobile, and even Birmingham metro, and, if you go from one end of the state from Scottsboro to Dothan or Huntsville to Mobile you have been on a really long journey. We also have a lot of water in Alabama including lakes and creeks besides the major rivers that traverse our state. Therefore, that is why I included bridges in my opening sentence. Bridges are a necessity in our state more so than in other states. We also have a major Port in Mobile that needs to be sustained along with roads and bridges.
It is an acknowledged fact that having adequate roads is a major factor when it comes to economic growth and development in a state. Every economic developer will attest to this road factor. Roads and education are the primary components to economic growth for a state. Therefore, roads have been a primary campaign theme and criteria of accomplishment for every governor as long as I can remember.
It is and has been the most important factor in determining whether a governor has a legacy. It is something they can point to and hang their hat on. Going back the last 60 to 70 years there have been only three or four governors, who have what I call a real legacy, and one of the primary benchmarks for creating a legacy is roads.
John Patterson had a road legacy by virtue of the fact that he was governor during the Dwight Eisenhower Federal Interstate Act. This Interstate Act created by President Eisenhower is one of the most important presidential acts in history. In fact, most of the growth in the state and most of the population lives along I-65, which traverses the state and includes Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile.
George Wallace has numerous legacies but, if you knew him, roads were his number one priority. Wallace was also the most brilliant, accomplished, successful political governor in state history, and I stress the word political, so Wallace played politics when it came to roads. As the ultimate political animal in Alabama’s political history, you would expect nothing less.
Wallace lived by the political adage you reward your friends and punish your enemies. One slow news day, Wallace held a press conference and a young, liberal, muckraking, Birmingham news reporter asked the Governor, “Why do you give all the road projects in the state to your contributors, friends and cronies?” Wallace looked at the young boy incredulously and said, “Who do you think I ought to give them to, my enemies?”
The two political legends of my lifetime were George Wallace and Big Jim Folsom. They were elected governor by the rural and smaller, midsize cities and counties in the state. They neither ever carried the metropolitan counties of Jefferson, Madison and Montgomery. Therefore, these metro areas never received their rightful share of road dollars, especially under Wallace.
I have been asked over the years is it true the Birmingham area was the last metro area to get interstates completed because Wallace refused to appropriate any state funds to Birmingham to match the federal dollars needed for completion because they voted against him. My answer is short. The answer is yes. Wallace would acknowledge that to close friends and political allies.
The Governor who has the greatest legacy for roads in my lifetime and maybe history is the legendary Big Jim Folsom. Most of the rural roads in the state were built by Big Jim Folsom’s “Farm to Market” road program.
In Big Jim’s era, the state was agriculturally oriented. Almost everybody farmed and had crops they needed to get to the market. Most of the roads in the rural areas were dirt roads. If the rain came early, the roads would turn to mud and would be impassable. Therefore, the poor Alabama farmer who had toiled all year to make a crop could not get his produce to market. His year’s work was ruined by poor roads. Big Jim, who was the little man’s big friend, knew this and he fixed it by paving most of the rural roads. Big Jim has one of the most endearing legacies of any Alabama governor because of his “Farm to Market” road program.
See you next week.
September 20, 2023 - Democrats Indictment Plan Has Made Trump GOP Nominee and maybe next President
In early April, I wrote that “Democrats give Trump a lifeline.” It was at that time that a Democratic district attorney in an overwhelmingly Democratic New York venue had indicted Trump in a political ploy to disarm in some way, politically.
There is an old saying that you can indict a potato or a ham sandwich. The legal threshold for getting a grand jury to offer a writ of indictment only requires that there is a scintilla of evidence that there may be a crime or misdemeanor. Therefore, a prosecutor can orchestrate an indictment.
It looks like the Democrats plan is to replay the 2020 election in the courts, which is destroying Americans’ trust in their judicial system. They are making the courts a theatrical comedy political show. It used to be off limits to use the courts to indict a person for political reasons. Make no mistake about it, all of these trumped up indictments are just that, orchestrated political ploys.
The Democrats have politically used the judicial system to indict Donald Trump – unbelievably four times in four different Democratic venues with Democratic judges and Democratic juries. The last two plays are in slam dunk Democratic clubhouses. The third indictment is in Washington D.C., which is 96% Democratic. The fourth is in Fulton County, Atlanta, Georgia, which is 80% Democratic.
There will never be a conviction upheld by a superior unbiased appeals court. It would also take six years of appeals to get resolved and by that time Trump and Biden might not be here and if they are here, may not know they are here. The 2024 race will long be over and forgotten. These political indictments are designed and orchestrated to derail Trump in 2024.
Make no mistake about it, these charades are politically motivated but not for the reason you think. Most would assume that the Democrats wanted to bloody Trump in order to beat him in the General Election next November against Biden. Not so, they want him to be the Republican nominee because he will be easy to beat, and they know that. This courtroom ploy is playing out with the Republican base with such anger and outrage that it is making Trump a martyr.
Indeed, as late as March, polls showed that Trump could not be elected president under any circumstances. He was probably not going to be the Republican nominee. He had dropped to 25% among Republicans with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 40% without DeSantis even being in the race.
After every indictment the sensationalism was met with glee by the liberal media. However, it was met by more glee by one, Donald Trump. It not only gave him a political lifeline, it essentially assured him the Republican nomination. The latest polls reveal Trump has a demanding lead in the GOP horserace. He is sitting on 54% vote to DeSantis’s 15% and the rest of the dwarfs are at 5% or less.
Trump will more than likely carry Alabama, overwhelmingly in our March 5 GOP Primary. All six of our current Republican Congressmen have endorsed him as well as our Senior Senator Tommy Tuberville who by the way is probably Trump’s closest and most loyal ally in the U.S. Senate. Trump was met by enthusiastic, energetic enthusiasm when he spoke to a record breaking crowd of Alabama Republicans at their summer dinner in Montgomery on August 4.
Folks, the Democratic plan to make Donald Trump the Republican nominee has been successful. They have used Democratic courts to orchestrate his nomination. However, they may have overplayed their hand. There is such a thing as “piling on” to use a football analogy. Every time one of these indictments comes down, it makes it look more and more frivolous and political. It has become viewed by Republicans as over the top and hitting below the waist politics. They may be making some Independent voters reconsider their distaste for Donald Trump. In addition, every time one of these ploys comes down, Trump raises tons of money. The Democrats may have succeeded in making Trump the nominee they wanted. However, they may have gone too far. They may elect him President.
During Trump’s visit to Montgomery when he spoke the GOP faithful following the third indictment out of Washington D.C,, you could tell he was delighted with the latest pile on. He gleefully told the audience, “one more indictment and they will make me President.” He may be right.
Then the fourth indictment came down, and his polls and fundraising took off again. He would like nothing better than to hold a rally outside each courtroom next year. If political prosecution is the Democrats gameplan, they may have overplayed their hand. We will see.
See you next week.
September 13, 2023 - Of Course the Space Command Decision was Political
In my July 19, 2023 column my prediction was that Democratic President Joe Biden would keep the heralded space command headquarters in Colorado, rather than allow it to be moved to Alabama. Biden made the Colorado decision 10 days later. Why? It is very simple. Biden is a Democrat running for reelection for President as a Democrat. Colorado is a blue Democratic state. Alabama is a ruby red Republican state. Of course, the decision to keep the facility in Colorado was political.
The only reason that the federal military officials even considered moving the Space Command from Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama over two years ago was because of our omnipotent senior senator, Richard Shelby. When Shelby spoke generals and presidents listened. Senator Richard Shelby was Chairman of the United States Senate Appropriations Committee. He wrote the federal budget. There is an old adage that those who control the gold make the rules. In this regard, Shelby was more powerful than the President, whether it be Trump or Biden. Shelby told the Generals that he wanted the Space Facility in Huntsville, therefore, they made the announcement that it would be moving to Alabama.
The bottom line is the only reason there was any consideration towards moving the facility from Colorado to Alabama was Richard Shelby, and the only reason that it will not be moving is because Shelby is gone. I knew at the time of announcement that the Space Command headquarters might move to Alabama, that if Shelby did not get it actually moved before he retired that it would probably never happen. Folks, you are just beginning to see the impact Senator Shelby’s retirement means to the state of Alabama.
Our two freshman senators, Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, fought valiantly and commendably for Huntsville, but they are essentially irrelevant in the process. It is all about seniority in Washington. Tuberville’s two and a half years in the Senate places him 93 out of 100 in seniority. Young Katie Britt has the makings of being one of our greatest U.S. Senators, along with giants Richard Shelby, Lister Hill and John Sparkman. However, currently, Katie’s eight months in the Senate places her 99 out of 100 in seniority. Furthermore, Tuberville and Britt are in the minority party in the U.S. Senate. Democrats have a majority in the Senate along with a Democratic President.
Some liberals have implied that Tommy Tuberville was the reason for the decision because of his feud with the Biden Administration over the abortion policy in the military. That is not the reason. They are actually flattering Tuberville. With his lack of seniority he is not that relevant in the decision making process. However, his being a rabid right wing Trump Republican surrogate certainly did not help the matter.
Huntsville should not feel so badly about the Biden Administration leaving Space Command in Colorado. It was crumbs compared to what Shelby loaded Huntsville up with in the last decade anyway. This Space Command deal is more for prestige than it is for jobs and dollars. Shelby brought most of the high tech and aerospace dollars in the country to Huntsville which is what matters. Much more importantly, he moved most of Washington to Huntsville, including the FBI Headquarters. Folks, that is real power. It is unlikely that Alabama or any other state in the nation will ever see the power wielded by Richard Shelby in the nation’s history.
Yes, Colorado got to keep the Space Command name because of politics. However, lest people forget, Huntsville has grown into one of the premier high tech defense places in America because of politics.
In the post-Depression era of the 1930s, Huntsville was a sleepy cotton town of 20,000. Our two U.S. Senators during the 1940s through 1960s were icons, Lister Hill and John Sparkman. They were giants of the Senate, who were New Deal, FDR allies, with seniority, prowess and class. John Sparkman brought the Redstone Arsenal and Wernher von Braun to Huntsville and the rest is history.
Over the years I have told Huntsville’s brilliant Mayor, Tommy Battle, who has been an integral part of Huntsville’s explosive growth, they should name their city Sparkmanville. Given Shelby’s powerful sustaining of what Senator Sparkman began 70 years ago, maybe Sparkman/Shelbyville should be the Rocket City’s new name.
It’s all about politics, folks.
See you next week.
September 6, 2023 - Alabama is in for a Congressional Shakeup
Being elected to Congress is like having a guaranteed job for as long as you want. They serve two year terms and the reelection rate is 96%. All you have to do is vote the party line and not commit murder and you are there for life. The path to reelection to most political offices is to have money and name identification and this is especially true in Congressional races.
All seven of our congressmen are considered in safe seats. We have six Republicans and one lone Democrat in our Alabama delegation to the Potomac. The districts as currently drawn are designed for six Republicans and one Democrat.
A three judge federal panel made up of two Republicans appointed judges and one Democrat appointee judge made the decision over two years ago that Alabama should have a second Black Democratic seat. They hung their hat and robe on the fact that one Black Democratic seat is not sufficient in Alabama given that one seat comprises only 14% of the black population and Alabama has a 27% Black population. Thus, Black Democrats should have two rather than one Democratic seat in the Heart of Dixie. This decision has been upheld by none other than the United States Supreme Court. Therefore, folks, it is about to happen.
My prediction over a year ago was that the Courts or their appointed cartographer will draw a second minority district. I further continue with my prognosis that the Court will act very soon, probably within the next few weeks, to ignore the legislature’s partisan plan in favor of the Milligan/Plaintiffs Plan. The result will be the new Congressional lines for the next decade.
The Milligan/Plaintiffs Plan is perfectly drawn and expertly designed to comply with the Court’s decree. This Plan creates a second minority district centered around all of Montgomery, the Black Belt, and the Black voters in Mobile. The new second minority district will appropriately be Alabama District 2.
The old Second District that Republican Barry Moore sits in will be dissolved. The Whites in the five Wiregrass counties will be sent to the Mobile/Baldwin Republican district held by Jerry Carl.
Under the Milligan/Plaintiffs Plan, Congresswoman Terri Sewell’s district is beautifully drawn for her. It is essentially the same as her current district. It will be 55% Black.
The new Second District will be 50% Black. The Republicans will contest this new district and may prevail. However, the odds favor a Black Democrat. My guess is when the dust settles in November 2024, Alabama’s Congressional makeup will be five Republicans and two Democrats.
This change has been brewing for over a decade. Black voters have argued that having a Black population of 27% calls for two seats under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Finally, after the 2020 census, Black plaintiffs sought relief from our federal courts. It was clear that the growth in the Black population in the Montgomery area would allow for a congruent, clearly defined second minority district. When you include Montgomery with the 12 rural overwhelmingly Black and Black Belt counties and draw in most of the Black voters in Mobile, it became possible.
The three judge panel agreed and gave the state a two year reprieve because the 2022 elections based on the 2020 census were already ongoing. You could tell from the original decision to stay the case due to the timing of the 2022 elections that the Supreme Court was interested in revisiting this Alabama scenario. They did and they ruled and sent it back to the three Alabama judges to uphold. The three judge panel is going to rule on the final district lines any day now.
The lines that the Judges deliver to Alabama soon will favor a second minority district for our state. This Supreme Court case is far reaching. It will also change the partisan makeup of other Southern states like Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina. The Supreme Court knew what they were doing. They knew they were using Alabama as a guinea pig and plowing new ground in the South under the Voting Rights Act.
Our Alabama Congressional delegation is looking at a shakeup in 2024. However, it will not affect our power and influence in the U.S. House. Our three Republican powers in Congress, Robert Aderholt, Mike Rogers, and Gary Palmer, will be unaffected, and our two Republican newcomers, Jerry Carl and Dale Strong, will have enhanced Republican districts. Terri Sewell will be entrenched as a Democratic leader in the House.
See You next week.
August 30, 2023 - Summer Political Happenings
As the long hot summer ends and Labor Day approaches, let’s take a look back at what occurred over the last three summer months, politically.
First of all, it was one of the hottest summers on record. Temperatures soared into the hundreds as early as late June. On one of those late June days, one of the hottest political events of the year occurred. The annual Tomato Sandwich Lunch event hosted by Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate was the biggest, yet. The twentieth annual Tomato Sandwich Lunch held at the Ed Teague Arena near the Garrett Coliseum was a must be at event for Alabama political elite.
The Tomato Sandwich Lunch promotes produce from local farmers and encourages people to eat Alabama grown products. Alabama based vendors donate all of the food for the event. Commissioner Rick Pate was a master host to over 500 attendees.
In attendance were U.S. Senator Katie Britt, State Treasurer Young Boozer and Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth. PSC member Jeremy Oden came from Cullman and State Board of Education President Wayne Reynolds came from Athens.
State Judges in attendance were Supreme Court Judge Greg Cook, Criminal Appeals Court Judge Bill Cole, and Civil Appeals Court Judges Matt Friday and Bill Thompson.
Legislators spotted were State Senators Josh Carnley and Will Barfoot, as well as Representatives Jerry Starnes, Margie Wilcox, Van Smith and Ed Oliver.
There were dozens of local County Commissioners from all over the state.
Many of the state’s most prominent lobbyists were there along with many of the Governor’s Cabinet members.
Alabama Power Government Affairs guru Houston Smith, as well as Alfa Executive Director Paul Pinyan were prominent. In fact, most of Alfa’s governmental affairs folks were at this very fun and political event.
During the summer everybody and their brother or at least everyone whoever won a 4-H speaking contest entered the race for the Republican nomination for President. There must be 20 people running against Donald Trump for the GOP nomination. This is just what Trump was hoping for. It splinters the anti-Trump vote to such a degree that it virtually assures him the nomination.
During the summer, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Alabama’s Congressional districts were gerrymandered to keep Black voters from being able to elect a second Black Democrat to Congress. Alabama currently has six white Republican Congressmen and one Black Democratic Congresswoman, Terri Sewell.
In July, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Mike Bolin won a special election to fill a seat on the five member Jefferson County Commission. His election was like manna from Heaven for the Jefferson County Republican Party. The commissioner, who departed this important seat, was a Republican. The commission had a three to two Republican majority. Therefore, it was an important election for the state’s largest and most important county.
Mike Bolin had just retired from the Alabama Supreme Court after 18 years on the state’s high tribunal. He had been Probate Judge of Jefferson County for 16 years prior to his service on the Supreme Court. He only retired from the Supreme Court due to a state law that prevents judges from running for reelection after age 70.
Bolin is Jefferson County through and through and one of the most respected gentleman and public servants in Jefferson County and Alabama. The imperial county of Jefferson is fortunate that Judge Mike Bolin was available and ready to serve.
His swearing in ceremony occurred on a sweltering hot July 31. The large Jefferson County Courthouse commission chambers was overflowing. It was a congregation of who’s who of Jefferson County politics.
Hope you had a good summer. Happy football season and happy Labor Day!
See you next week.
Aug. 23, 2023 - Big Jim, “Just spell my name right!”
Alabama has never had a more colorful governor than Big Jim Folsom. He also was a brilliant politician who understood the importance of name identification.
My ninth-grade civics teacher was Miss Mary Lamb. She had taught school for many years and in fact had taught both my mama and daddy in high school. Besides our civics lesson she would impart wisdom upon us in the way of old sayings. One she particularly liked was, “Fools’ names, fools’ faces, always found in public places.”
This one kind of bothered me because I was a budding politician and was already class president. I had learned that one of the first courses of action was to plaster your name all over school. Later in life, I ran for and won election to the Alabama legislature. Every time we would go out to put up campaign signs, I would cringe when I thought about Miss Lamb’s admonition. However, as a student of politics, I knew that name identification was essential. You cannot expect a voter to vote for you if they have not even heard of you.
One of the best stories I know on Big Jim Folsom focused on his belief in the importance of name identification. Big Jim’s first term had broken the moneyed interests’ stronghold on the governor’s office. But the big city dailies and the legislators were still controlled by the Big Mules of Birmingham and the Big Planters of the Black Belt. They hated Big Jim’s folksiness. The big dailies like the Birmingham News, Montgomery Advertiser, and Mobile Press Register would poke fun at Big Jim and try to discover a scandal on a daily basis. The legislature constantly tried to impeach him.
One of the papers, after days of digging, felt they had another patented scandal to reveal on Folsom. They called to tell him that they had an expose on his administration and out of courtesy wanted to get his side of the story. Now Big Jim could not care less what the big city press said about him. They had written the harshest things about Folsom that could ever be written. It had not affected him one bit with his loyal rural friends and constituents, so it is not surprising that Big Jim treated the big city press with contempt and disdain. When they called, he said, “Boys, come on down and see Big Jim and tell me what you got on me today. I haven’t seen y’all in a week or two. Come on down right now.”
When they got down to the office, he greeted them with his shoes off and his bare feet resting on his desk, reared back in his chair, with a grin on his face. He said, “Boys, hit me with your best shot. What y’all got on ole Jim?” They said, “Governor, this is no laughing matter. We have a list here of 37 people who you hired over in the Highway Department and circumvented the merit system to put them on the state payroll.” Big Jim laughed and glanced at their list and said, “You lying daily newspapers, you lying about Big Jim again, lying, lying, lying. I got a new list right here and I haven’t hired 37 people, I’ve hired 72, and the only merit they got is that they’re Big Jim’s friends.”
The reporters were incredulous. They said, “Governor, we are going to put that in the paper tomorrow.” Big Jim smiled and said, “Boys, I don’t care what you write about me, just spell my name right!”
Big Jim knew the cardinal rule of name identification. The saying is now famous among Alabama politicians, “just spell my name right.” Big Jim coined it.
Even though Big Jim was fully vetted by the big city dailies on an almost daily basis, he was governor in an era where there was no ethics law and no overt political prosecution unlike today. Big Jim was known as the “little man’s big friend.” His campaign song was “Y’all Come.”
I hope you have enjoyed this five-part series on Big Jim Folsom.
See you next week.