May 28, 2010
As we enter the last few days of campaigning leading up to next Tuesday’s Democratic and Republican primaries the candidate’s messages may get muffled by the Memorial Day weekend. Voters may be more interested in vacationing, picnicking or barbequing than political television ads. However, we will wake up from the revelry of the first summer holiday weekend to face a full slate of candidates from governor to coroner.
We will begin the process by picking the successor to two-term Republican Governor Bob Riley. The Democrats will pick their nominee for governor on Tuesday. Because there only two aspirants, there will be no need for a runoff. Four-term Democratic Congressman Artur Davis has forfeited his safe congressional seat to seek to become the first African American governor of the Heart of Dixie. His opponent is two-term Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks. They have waged a spirited battle.Read more
May 21, 2010
The Governor's race is always the marquee event in Alabama politics. That will be especially true this year because the race is wide open. This is the first time that an incumbent governor has not been on the ballot in 20 years.
However, the Republican primary for attorney general may very well be as interesting and competitive as any contest on the ballot this year. The winner of this battle royale between incumbent Troy King and challenger Luther Strange will be the odds on favorite to take home all the marbles in the fall. Alabama voters have tended to favor a Republican in the Attorney General's office for two decades now.Read more
May 12, 2010
When compared to the other three years of the quadrennium the 2010 Legislative Session should be considered a success. First of all, anytime the legislature passes the budgets on time it should be considered an accomplishment. This year they passed the Education and General Fund Budgets with days to spare but very little time or effort was expended in crafting and drafting these budgets. The documents have no rhyme of reason when compared to the actual fiscal needs. The legislature simply passed something knowing full well that the wheels are going to come off about the same time that the budgets go into effect in October.
However, you cannot blame legislators for passing the buck. Governor Bob Riley takes the cake for kicking the can down the road. He wins the Pollyanna award for proposing a budget based on federal stimulus money that might or might not come down the road. Whoever inherits this ship of state is walking onto the deck of the Titanic. The gubernatorial aspirants should be required to undergo extensive mental examinations to evaluate their sanity for wanting the job of governor.
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May 05, 2010
Last week we examined the probability of Republicans picking up seats in Congress in this year’s midterm elections. These seats were won because of the economy and they may be lost because of the economy. The economy was bad in 2008. It is still bad in 2010. If you live by the sword you die by the sword. If you win because of the economy you will lose because of the economy.
What about our seven member Alabama delegation? For two decades we had 5 Republicans and 2 Democrats. That changed in 2008 when Bobby Bright captured the 2nd District, which had been in Republican hands for 44 years. That made us 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats. However, that only lasted for one year as Freshman Democrat Parker Griffith turned coats and became a Republican after one year in Congress. This was somewhat of a surprise. The more likely switch would have been Bright, who was sitting in a proven Republican seat.
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April 28, 2010
Politics is like a pendulum it swings back and forth. It is much like the economy, which is either up or down. In fact, political fortunes are intertwined with the ups and downs of the economy. Indeed they often run concurrently.
A political novice could take a look at the 2008 Presidential race and easily conclude that Barack Obama was elected president because of the economy. Our country is in the worst economic throes since the Great Depression. It began under George W. Bush’s watch. Therefore, only a Democrat could have won the White House.
Obama adroitly outmaneuvered Hillary Clinton in the obscure caucuses and wrestled the Democratic nomination from her. After garnering the mantle of Democratic nominee, he was destined to beat whoever the Republicans nominated. As the Republican nominee McCain was saddled with the Bush legacy and economy.
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April 21, 2010
Last week I handicapped the Republican gubernatorial primary. This week we will examine the Democratic race for governor. These two party primaries are very different.
First of all you will not see the prolonged six week runoff period in the Democratic primary. With only two candidates vying for the nomination a winner will emerge on June 1. Secondly, this primary contest has not been a benign Sunday school picnic like the GOP primary.
The two combatants, Artur Davis and Ron Sparks, have taken off the gloves. Sparks has ignited and initiated the sparks in this free for all. He has openly insulted and lambasted Davis at every available opportunity and without impunity at every open candidate’s forum. The Republican field has observed these overt barbs being hurled by these two Democrats with dignified amusement.
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April 14, 2010
It may not seem like it but we are heading down the home stretch in the governor’s race. The Republican and Democratic primaries are only six weeks away. On June 1 we will separate the wheat from the chaff in the Republican field of candidates. With four viable candidates on the stage it will be hard for any one candidate to get the over 50% needed to be the nominee. Therefore, the challenge is to make the runoff.
The two frontrunners will face-off six weeks later on July 13 to determine the final GOP nominee for the November 2 General Election. This six-week runoff span is a new twist. Historically we have had a three week runoff contest. However, the time has been expanded this year to accommodate our soldiers stationed overseas and allow them to fully participate in the electoral process. This will make the primary even more expensive for the final two participants in the GOP fray.
April 07, 2010
As many of you are preparing to file your tax returns do not feel too badly because the U.S. Census Bureau has revealed that we Alabamians pay the least amount in taxes of any other state in America. Yes, we in Alabama continue to have the lowest taxes in the nation. The primary stimulus for our low tax rate stems from our having the lowest property tax in America. In fact, we could double our state property tax and still be the lowest in the nation.
The Census Bureau took tax collection figures from all sources to determine the ranking. Taxes tallied by the bureau included personal and corporate income taxes, sales taxes, fuel taxes and property taxes. Alabama’s average state and local tax collection per person was also the lowest among the 50 states for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. In the latest report two of our neighboring states were fast on our track to be #50. Mississippi ranked 49th and Tennessee 48th when it came to paying taxes. Our other two neighbors’ tallies revealed that Georgia ranked 34th and Florida was in the middle of the pack in 26th place.
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March 31, 2010
In 1986 I was a young 34 year old politician. I was running unopposed for my second four-year term in the state legislature from my hometown of Troy. My best lifetime friend Keith Watkins was also 34 and was a young practicing attorney in Troy. We had been close friends since childhood. Richard Shelby did not know of our closeness but ironically Keith and I were the only two people that Shelby knew in Pike County. He asked us to meet him for breakfast and then asked us to be his county campaign managers for his race for the U.S. Senate against Jeremiah Denton.
Denton had been elected as the first Republican senator from Alabama since Reconstruction six years earlier. He had ridden Ronald Reagan’s coattails to victory but then proceeded to spend the next six years writing a book on how to get beat for a U.S. Senate seat. Denton was a great soldier and patriot but a horrible politician and senator. He was vulnerable to say the least. So Shelby’s decision to roll the dice and run against Denton was not as much of a gamble as it appeared.
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March 24, 2010
No other ethnic group in American history has immersed themselves into American politics any more than the Irish. The Irish politician that best exemplifies this devotion to politics was the famous Boston pol Tip O’Neill.
O’Neill was one of the most colorful politicians of the 20th Century. His extraordinary career spanned 50 years, including a decade as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. There is a great book entitled “Man of the House,” penned by William Novak, that chronicles O’Neill’s life and career.
The last true bipartisan friendship seen in Washington was the union of House Speaker Tip O’Neill, a devout liberal Democrat, and Ronald Reagan, the quintessential conservative Republican president. These two men of diverse political thought genuinely liked each other. They were both proud of their Scotch Irish ancestry and met frequently over libations like good Irishmen.
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