Former State Senator Roger Bedford has died
Former State Senator Roger Bedford Jr. has died. Bedford was 67. He was diagnosed with cancer in September. At one time, Bedford was one of the four or five most powerful people in the state Legislature for a number of years. Bedford was first elected to the State Senate in 1982 when he was only 25. He was re-elected in 1986. He did not seek re-election in 1990 due to a cancer diagnosis. After defeating cancer, he ran again for the Senate and was elected in 1994. He would go on to serve eight terms in the Alabama State Senate. Bedford, a White rural Democrat – back when White rural Democrats aligned with Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert and the Alabama Education Association (AEA) dominated the Legislature – quickly rose in prominence statewide. In 1996, he ran for the Democratic nomination for the open U.S. Senate seat when Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Alabama) retired. Bedford, mainly due to his AEA support, defeated Congressman Glenn Browder (D-AL04) in the Democratic primary. However, Bedford lost the general election to then-Alabama Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Bedford remained in the State Senate, where he continued to grow in power and influence until 2010, when Republicans gained control of both Houses of the Legislature after 135 years of Democratic Party control. Bedford was one of the few White rural Democrats in the Alabama Senate to survive the 2010 election. He served as Senate Minority Leader from 2011 to 2013. He did not survive the 2014 election when Dr. Larry Stutts unseated him in the 2014 election by just 13 votes. Bedford’s wife died last year after a long illness. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Steve Flowers: Richard Shelby coming home
Our iconic Senior United States Senator, Richard Shelby, will walk out of the Senate chambers in Washington, D.C., next week and come home to retirement in Tuscaloosa. History will reveal Senator Shelby as Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senator, especially when it comes to bringing home the bacon to the Heart of Dixie. To say Shelby is the greatest is saying a mouthful because we have had some great ones. Shelby will rest with the likes of John Bankhead, John Sparkman, Lister Hill, and Howell Heflin. He has served longer in the Senate than any Alabamian in state history – 36 years. He served eight years in Congress before beginning his senate tenure in 1986. Many of you have perceived, and correctly so that I admire and appreciate the accomplishments of Senator Shelby. A good many of you will be glad to see me stop writing such glowing things about him. Over the years, many of you have accused me of actually being his press secretary. My favorite restaurant is the historic Bright Star in Bessemer. A good many Tuscaloosans, especially older ones, Shelby’s contemporaries, and friends and neighbors, drive up to eat at the Bright Star. Invariably, they will ask me to come over to their table to visit. They always say, “you sure do like Richard Shelby.” Many of them are familiar with the fact that we are also friends. We have, indeed, been political friends and confidantes for close to four decades. This does not take away from the fact that, in my humble opinion, he is Alabama’s greatest Senator. The facts speak for themselves. In Washington, Shelby is considered royalty with omnipotent power. He is treated like a king. Shelby has served in the Senate alongside eight different presidents. He has been more powerful than the last three. He has controlled the federal purse strings. Therefore, national political pundits know the political golden rule; ‘those that have the gold make the rules.’ Presidents, congressional leaders, and especially powerful lobbyists treat Shelby with deference akin to royalty. When he enters a room, people stare and stand up. This is especially true when he enters any famous Washington restaurant. The maître de has assigned him the best table. When he enters the fine dining establishment, every head turns to see which million-dollar-a-year lobbyist has been bestowed the honor of dining and visiting with the king, Richard Shelby. Other lobbyists will reserve a table next to him to simply be able to say they sat next to him. However, when Shelby comes home to Tuscaloosa next month to the home he and his wife Annette have shared in the Druid City for over 50 years, his peers and neighbors will just call him Dick Shelby. “A setting sun sets off very little heat,” a “prophet is not recognized in his own country,” “familiarity breeds contempt,” and “Alabama is just a big front porch,” all of these admonitions will ring true for ole Shelby. However, I do not think he will mind. Even though he has lived his life as a public person – eight years in the state senate, eight years in Congress, and thirty-six years in the U.S. Senate – he is a private person and really enjoys his time with Annette. He will very much enjoy his anonymity. This coming home to rest in obscurity has played out throughout the years with our Washington giants. Old timers in Jackson County say that the legendary, powerful Tennessee Valley Congressman, Bob Jones, in his retirement, would go into a restaurant to eat in Scottsboro by himself, and nobody would hardly know him. I was friends with Senator Howell Heflin, who we all called “Judge.” After 18 years in the Senate, Judge came home to the Quad Cities. He would ask me to come up to visit with him and talk politics, which I gladly did. We would go to breakfast or early lunch at a downtown restaurant, which doubled as a coffee club gathering place in Tuscumbia. We would walk in, and they would nod, and he would speak, but they would not make a fuss over the former, powerful U.S. Senator. In fact, I am not sure some of them even knew who he was. Tuscaloosa is a bigger place than Scottsboro or Tuscumbia, so Shelby will be private. In the meantime, Alabamians will soon begin to realize what immense power Shelby had in Washington. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Special Alabamians
Under the title “Alabama is a Big Front Porch,” made famous by the legendary Alabama storyteller Kathryn Tucker Wyndham, I will continue to share some personal political stories with you this week. As many of you know, I have been friends with our iconic senior U.S. Senator, Richard Shelby, for close to four decades. History will reveal Senator Shelby as Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senator, and folks, that is saying a mouth full because we have had some great ones. We have had a cadre of great Senators, including Lister Hill, John Sparkman, John Bankhead, and Howell Heflin, along with Shelby. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Shelby has brought untold hundreds of millions of dollars home to Alabama. It would take a book or volumes of books to tell the story of Shelby’s prowess at bringing home the bacon to his beloved state. He is completing 36 years in the Senate this year. Two of my favorite Alabamians and loyal friends are former Congressman and now University of South Alabama President, Jo Bonner and one of the finest ladies in the state, Dora James of Opelika. I visit with each of these two friends almost weekly. They graciously read the column and give me feedback. Jo Bonner epitomizes the adage of being a true southern gentleman. He is admired and beloved all over the state, more than he can imagine. Dora James epitomizes a true southern lady. She is admired and revered in Lee County. She is a true philanthropist and modest, kind and genuinely sweet person. About seven years ago, she hosted book signings for me at Auburn University and in Opelika that attracted several hundred folks at each, not because of me but because of her. Speaking of memorable book signing events, the people of Jasper and Walker County hosted a large event at which Congressman Robert Aderholt was gracious enough to travel down from Washington to introduce me. Over the years, I have enjoyed a special closeness and connection to the folks in Jasper/Walker County who read my column in The Daily Mountain Eagle. They have a rich political heritage with the Bankheads, Carl Elliott, Tom Bevill, and others. To show how old I am getting and how long I have been writing this column, it seems that every state senator I know says, “Please do not write something bad about me because my mama reads your column religiously every week and has for decades.” Speaking of books, I had the opportunity to meet and visit with the legendary author of To Kill A Mockingbird, Nelle Harper Lee. Folks in Monroeville, who knew her well from their generation, called her “Nelle.” Even though she had an apartment in New York that she purchased when her book came out in the 1960’s, Nelle Harper Lee lived her entire life in Monroeville. She lived with her sister, Alice, who was a good bit older than Nelle. I am told that Alice was the first female lawyer in Alabama. She was one of the most prominent lawyers in Monroeville and lived to be over 100. Alice and Nelle were neither married. Nelle Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is one of the five most read and purchased books in history. I am told by Monroeville old timers that it is a total allegory. It is simply a story of Harper Lee growing up in Monroeville. All the characters are real, even Boo Radley. One day a few years ago, Harper Lee sent word to me that she enjoyed and read my column weekly, in the Monroe Journal and would like to meet me. I journeyed to Monroeville, and we exchanged greetings, and she gave me a signed copy of her book. I thanked her and told her that it was bought and read by quite a few more people than mine. She was a person of very few words and renowned for her privacy and reclusiveness. The only thing she said to me, substantively, was, “You are taller than you look like in your picture.” I thanked her for her time and the visit and book. When I got back into my car, I called my older daughter, who is a lawyer in Birmingham, and said, “I know when I die you are going to just pile up my books and throw them away, but there is one you might want to save.” We will continue with more stories next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Legendary Alabamians
The longer I continue to write about Alabama politics, the more I realize that Alabama really is a “Big Front Porch” – a saying made famous by our legendary Alabama storyteller, Kathryn Tucker Wyndham. I have been involved in the world of Alabama politics for 60 years. I have been writing this column for over 18 years, and that is longer than I served in the legislature. I am sometimes asked whether I liked being in the Alabama political arena or writing about it better. The answer is easy. Writing is better. It is more fun to be able to throw stones than to have stones thrown at you. I am also asked at social or political events around the state what are some of my favorite political memories. Indeed, I have been blessed to have met and known some of Alabama’s best-known political and literary figures, and some of them well. I began paging in the Alabama Legislature at age 12 and met Governor George Wallace when he was in his first term as governor. Ironically, 20 years later, I was elected to the legislature, and Wallace was again governor for his fourth and final term. My legislative district included Pike, Barbour, and Dale Counties, so I represented Wallace in his home county of Barbour. Wallace loved the fact that I was now his representative. He would have me visit with him often in the governor’s office, and he would tell me political stories and maxims. He told me a lot of inside stories about the Civil Rights era, as well as pre-Civil Rights, some of which I have shared with you and some I will share later. One of my favorite friends in Alabama politics was the late Senator Howell Heflin. Heflin was a very straight-laced gentleman. His daddy was a Methodist minister. He was truly a great man and one of the wittiest and best storytellers I ever knew. He was a real Alabama hero and legend. He was a decorated World War II veteran, one of Alabama’s best lawyers, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and our U.S. Senator for 18 years. Most people who knew him well in Alabama and Washington simply referred to him as “Judge.” I wrote a glowing column about “Judge.” He appreciated the column. It really was like a eulogy. He liked to call me “Tree,” a nickname I acquired in college. After the column came out, he started getting calls from all over the state. He called to thank me. I told him, “Judge, I’m in about 60 papers, and about 30-40 of the papers send me copies of the paper, and why don’t I gather those up and bring them to you and read what title they gave to your column.” He said, “Would you do that, Tree?” I said, “Yes, I would enjoy a visit.” He had retired from the Senate and was back home in Tuscumbia. I drove to Tuscumbia for the day. Got there for breakfast and stayed all day. We perused the papers I had brought him, and I headed home. Ole Judge died a few weeks later, and I traveled back up to the Shoals for his funeral. I was proud when the preacher used some excerpts from my column for Judge’s eulogy. There was a throng of people at Judge’s funeral, including quite a few famous and powerful members of the U.S. Senate. I do not think that the Florence airport had ever seen that many private jets. I had already had my goodbye with Judge, and the line was very long to greet “Mrs. Mikie,” Judge’s wife, and Tom, his son. Judge’s wife was from a prominent North Alabama family, the Carmichaels. Thus he had coined her nickname “Mikie.” As I was leaving, I heard someone shout my name, “Tree, wait.” It was Tom Heflin, the only child of Judge and Mikie. Tom is a lawyer and a fraternity brother of mine from the University of Alabama. He said, “I want to tell you something. When we went into daddy’s bedroom the other morning and found him passed away, beside his bed was a large desk, and on the desk were all the papers you brought him the other day. He had read them just before he went to bed.” It made me feel very good. It is one of the most rewarding memories of my column writing days. I will continue with more stories next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Benefactor or idealogue
Over the years, I have discussed my observations and concepts of the two different roles or routes taken by a U.S. Senator or Congressman during their tenure in Washington. One clearly chooses one of two postures in their representation of you in Washington. Our delegates in D.C. are either benefactors or ideologues. The role of benefactor is much better for any state, especially Alabama. This public figure is not only a benefactor but also a facilitator and a statesman. In other words, this person is interested and diligent in bringing home the bacon to the Heart of Dixie. The perfect example of a benefactor, facilitator, and statesman senator is our current senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby. No senator in Alabama history has brought home more bacon to our state than Senator Shelby. He has helped Alabama more during his 34 years in the Senate than any other Senator. The second role is the ideologue. This politician sees his or her role as a zealot on issues. The ideologue is more interested in advocating for popular social and non-economic issues with no regard for the state’s financial interests. Beginning in the 1930s and extending for 30 years through the 1960s, we had two of the greatest U.S. Senators in history. Lister Hill and John Sparkman were giants in Washington and were erudite diplomats for our state. They can be aptly described as benefactors, facilitators, and statesmen for Alabama. During the 1970s and 1980s, we had two well-respected and effective senators in “Judge” Howell Heflin and Richard Shelby. Upon the arrival of Jeff Sessions in 1996, as the state’s first true blue Republican, we witnessed the portrayal of our first true ideologue. Sessions was the most right-wing, reactionary Republican in the U.S. Senate. However, he was not a demagogue. He was a true believer and one of the most honest and gentlemanly men I have ever observed in the public arena. He was also well-qualified and prepared to be U.S. Senator, having been a U.S. Attorney and Attorney General of Alabama. Nevertheless, during the 20 years that Sessions and Shelby served together, we had two distinctly different prototypes. Shelby was the benefactor, facilitator, and breadwinner, while Sessions was the ultimate ideologue, conservative, Fox News darling. Currently, we have one benefactor, Shelby, and one ideologue, Tommy Tuberville. Senator Shelby recently announced that he will retire after his sixth six-year term at the end of 2022. Alabama is going to be in the proverbial boat without a paddle at that time. We will have negligible power in Washington and, for a state that depends on federal dollars, that is not going to be a good position to be in for Alabama. A large portion of Alabama’s federal largesse dollars goes to the Huntsville area. It is truly ironic that Huntsville is represented by a Congressman named Mo Brooks, who epitomizes the term ideologue and demagogue. Brooks is an embarrassment to Huntsville and the Tennessee Valley. He truly has not accomplished anything of significance to help his district in the few years he has been in Congress. He prefers being a bomb-thrower to being an effective representative. Yet, there is probably not a congressional district in the country that benefits more from federal defense spending than Huntsville and the Redstone Arsenal. The entire growth and prosperity of the Huntsville area can be attributed to Senator Richard Shelby, with local assistance from Mayor Tommy Battle. Shelby has carried all of the weight for Huntsville, despite Brooks and his laisse faire attitude. In fact, Brooks’ total disregard for helping his people or district arguably has been a deterrent and obstacle for Shelby and Battle. While Brooks has had the luxury of being an irrelevant, right-wing gadfly who people just laughed at like a crazy uncle they keep locked in the closet, his latest exploits in Washington have made him a national poster boy for right-wing crazy theatrics and reflects poorly on Huntsville and indeed Alabama. Brooks has become a pariah and now actually hurts the growth and expansion of Alabama. Brooks is now in negative territory when it comes to recruiting industry and federal facilities to Huntsville and North Alabama. When industry or national leaders learn that Mo Brooks represents this area, they will run for the hills. Huntsville and the 5th district would be better off without a congressman than with Mo Brooks. The only savior that the region has is Richard Shelby, and he will be gone as the guardian savior in 20 months. God forbid the ultimate demagogue, Mo Brooks, could run for and win Shelby’s Senate Seat. We would have a plague on our entire state. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Inside the Statehouse: Labor Day
“The most legendary political Labor Day Barbeques have been held in the Northwest corner of the state.”
Inside the Statehouse: Senate and congressional runoffs next week
Steve Flowers provides an overview of important races in this month’s primary run-off.
Inside the Statehouse: Methodists have Dominated High Offices in Alabama History
Alabama’s leading columnists discusses the respective faiths of our state’s leaders.
Steve Flowers: Who will defeat Doug Jones next year?
It is a foregone conclusion that a Republican will take out our anomaly liberal democratic senator, Doug Jones, next year. The question is which Republican will be the nominee and capture the seat. The early favorite is U.S. Congressman Bradley Byrne. There is an old adage that often holds true, the early bird gets the worm. Byrne made the commitment to run over a year ago and he has been dedicated to the race and is running full speed ahead. He is raising good money and crisscrossing the state in a very organized manner. Byrne ran a good race for governor in 2010, so he knows what he is doing. He has served coastal Alabama in the State Senate and now six years in Congress. If he is the only major candidate from the Mobile/Baldwin area in the Primary, he will get a good “Friends and Neighbors” vote in his 1st Congressional District. Republican primaries begin and end in vote rich Baldwin County now. The toughest challenge that Byrne could get may very well be fellow congressman, Mo Brooks from Huntsville. Brooks is from the ultra-right wing of the GOP. National conservative group like and trust Brooks. He is a true believer. These folks are not excited about Byrne who they perceive as a silk stocking, country club Republican. Brooks also has a more recent statewide race under his belt than Byrne. Being a congressman gives him access to Washington and national donors and also like Byrne, Huntsville is a good place to be from in a Republican primary. If Brooks opts not to run, the right wing groups in Washington, D.C. may pursue Birmingham Congressman Gary Palmer. Brooks and Palmer are cut from the same cloth. They are ultra true blue conservatives. Brooks is the better candidate of the two. He is more charismatic and flamboyant. The person to watch may be Secretary of State John Merrill. If he enters, he will be a player. He is the hardest working person in Alabama politics. He is not only the best retail politician currently on the Alabama political stage, he may be one of the best in Alabama political history. His organization is like something put together in a bygone era. He will outwork everybody in the GOP Primary, as well as Jones, put together. The aforementioned probable candidates need to not underestimate the hardest working man in Alabama political show business, John Merrill. The legendary Roy Moore may make the race. His name identification and base allows him the luxury of not having much money. He should not be underestimated or dismissed as a “has been”. However, I do think his base has diminished to about 15 percent of the primary vote, which is not enough to make the run-off unless there is a crowded field. In fact, a large crowd of GOP candidates could be attracted to the GOP race. They may come from strange corners. Former Auburn football coach, Tommy Tuberville, who was the Tigers football coach from 1999-2008 and who has more recently been the head football coach at Ole Miss, Texas Tech and Cincinnati has officially announced that he is a candidate for the GOP nomination. He is originally from Arkansas. This scenarios reminds me of a story our ole Senator, the late Howell Heflin, use to tell while he was our U.S. Senator for 18 years. Heflin was a true World War II military hero. He won the Bronze star as a Marine officer. Heflin hailed from Colbert County, Tuscumbia. After undergraduate school at Birmingham Southern and Law School at the University of Alabama, he went back home to Tuscumbia and became one of the most prominent lawyer in Colbert County. At 50 he ran for and was elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. After six-years there he went to the U.S. Senate for three year six-year terms. Heflin was the son of a Methodist minister. The Methodists at that time moved ministers around. It just so happened that at the time of Howell’s birth his daddy was doing a stint at a church in Georgia. Heflin being a true Alabamian and an Alabama political leader was a little embarrassed about the place of his birth. He would often say, “Yea, well my daddy was over in Georgia doing missionary work among the heathen.” See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
Nancy Worley to face challenge for Democratic Party chair
As Alabama Democrats head into what they hope will be a period of rebuilding, some are seeking new party leadership. The Alabama Democratic Party executive committee meets Saturday in Montgomery to elect a chairperson. Longtime chairwoman Nancy Worley will face a challenge from Montgomery attorney Peck Fox. Once dominant throughout the Deep South, Democrats had been obliterated from statewide office in Alabama until last year’s election of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones. Buoyed by Jones’ victory, Democrats are looking to the 2018 elections with newfound optimism. “I think it’s important that we have a party that has a functional infrastructure, the ability to raise funds, the ability to organize field operations to provide help and support to our candidates and county committees,” Fox said. “If we miss this window of opportunity, I don’t know when the next one will be.” Worley has served as the party’s chairwoman since 2013 and is seeking another term at the helm. “During the time I have served as chair of the Democratic Party, we have substantially reduced the party’s debt, fielded more candidates than we have had in decades, elected a Democratic U.S. Senator, held regular board meetings with financial reports at each, and reorganized some county parties,” Worley said in a statement. Both Worley and Fox are political veterans. Fox worked for the late Sen. Howell Heflin in Washington and for Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom. Worley is a former Alabama secretary of state and served as the party’s vice-chairwoman. Fox likely faces an uphill battle. Worley has been supported by Joe Reed, the longtime leader of the influential Alabama Democratic Conference. Reed also controls a substantial number of committee votes. Reed did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. However, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels said Friday that, “now is the perfect time for a transition.” “On the heels of Doug Jones’ election and with the number of candidates running for office, more than any time before these candidates need a strong party, a stronger party,” Daniels said. The Democratic Party has been roiled by tension and criticism about its direction and finances in recent years. A reform group has sought to strengthen and diversify the party. In 2016, then-House Minority Leader Craig Ford penned a letter saying the party was on” life support” and urged Worley and Reed to step down. The party’s previous party chairman resigned in 2013 to create a new group to assist Democratic candidates. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Doug Jones says he is keeping ‘open mind’ on Brett Kavanaugh
U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama said he is keeping an “open mind” on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and is not worried about a flurry of advertising pressuring him to confirm or reject the nominee. The Democratic senator told reporters Friday evening that he wants to do his “due diligence” on Kavanaugh’s work. “I want to keep an open mind on every aspect of it and look at a number of different things,” Jones said. Jones said the one concern he has is getting documents out of the White House. Democrats have asked to see records from Kavanaugh’s time there as White House staff secretary to President George W. Bush. With past nominees, everything was “turned over” unless there was a technical reason that it should be privileged, Jones said. “We need the information out of the White House,” Jones said. “We didn’t nominate him. The President did. He nominated him with a full knowing of his background. I would like to see them just say, ‘Look, OK, we will get this to you.’” The conservative Judicial Crisis Network has launched advertising in Alabama pressuring Jones, a Democrat in a red-leaning state, to confirm Kavanaugh, saying the vote “will show who Doug Jones really is.” Jones said he was not concerned about the advertising. “I’m not worried about the ads. I tell folks, ‘Ads on both sides, they are really wasting their money.’ I have a process I’m going through to do what I think is my job and ads from interest groups really don’t mean that much to me at all,” Jones said. After graduating law school in 1979, Jones worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee during his time as a staffer to the late Sen. Howell Heflin. He said the process today is “much, much, much, much more political” and partisan. “That’s very unfortunate. The framers of the Constitution wrote in an independent judiciary. And it’s hard to see how a Supreme Court is considered independent when you see so much money spent on advertising to get 51 votes,” Jones said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
