Steve Flowers: Democrats indictment plan has made Donald 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 Donald 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 Democrat’s 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 Joe 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 with 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 to 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 Democrat’s gameplan, they may have overplayed their hand. We will see. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column is seen in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. He may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: 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 ten 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 Donald 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 the announcement that the Space Command headquarters might move to Alabama, that if Shelby did not get it actually moved before he retired 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 within 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. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: 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 Republican-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 would 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 becomes 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. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: 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 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 and 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 who ever 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 gentlemen 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. 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: Big Jim Folsom, “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. 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: Friends and lawyers
We continue this week with our series of stories about Alabama’s most colorful governor, the legendary Big Jim Folsom. Big Jim was a true politician, and he was not above straddling the fence, but at least he was honest about it. When asked a tough question about a complex or difficult issue, Ole Big Jim would simply look at the inquisitive reporter with a pensive, thoughtful, and serious look and say with a straight face, “Well, you know some of my friends are for it, and some of my friends are against it, and I’m always on the side of my friends.” Big Jim had a real disdain for lawyers. He called them every name in the book. He especially criticized lawyers serving in the legislature, believing it was unconstitutional for them, as officers of the court, to serve in the legislative branch. He said lawyers belong in the judicial branch, and if they wanted to be in politics, they ought to be judges since judges are elected in Alabama. He would rail against lawyers in the legislature every chance he got. He said they could not serve two masters. They can’t serve the Lord and the Devil. He called them two pocket lawyers. In reality, he did not dislike all lawyers. A good many of his best friends were lawyers. Indeed, some of his best political friends and supporters were lawyers. Former Governor John Patterson, who passed away last year at age 99, shared with me this next story about him and Big Jim. During Big Jim’s second term, 1955-59, John Patterson was attorney general and succeeded Folsom as governor. On the surface, it appeared Folsom and Patterson did not like each other because Patterson was quick to condemn and prosecute some of Big Jim’s cronies. However, they did like each other and remained friends throughout their lives. Both were astute politicians. During this time, the Interstate Highway Act was created by the Eisenhower administration. It was and still is the largest federal project ever undertaken. A good bit of federal money began to flow into the states, including Alabama, for development of the interstate system. There were a good many Alabamians who did not want to give up their land for highways. Some had land that had been in their families for generations, and their forefathers had admonished them never to sell the land. In those cases, the state and federal governments had to condemn the land and take it over by right of eminent domain. The legal maneuvering fell upon the state attorney general’s office, and the work was so overwhelming that the attorney general’s staff had to hire outside lawyers. This is and has always been a lucrative plan for lawyers. Patterson was delighted to get to put a good many of his legal brothers and political supporters on the state’s payroll as assistant attorney generals. These lawyers would make a lot of money on these projects. One of the most expensive acquisitions was the purchase of the area in Jefferson County that today is known as “malfunction junction.” Forty acres of houses, including some very nice homes, were located in the path of the highway in the Norwood section of north Birmingham. The cost and legal fees were substantial. Patterson hired a good many of his Birmingham legal buddies. He sent the contracts over to the governor’s office to be approved. The governor legally had to sign off on the contracts. A good amount of time had elapsed between Patterson sending his list of lawyers over and Big Jim signing off on them. Finally, Patterson went over to see Big Jim about his appointments. He said, “Governor, what’s the problem? We need to sign off on this work. It’s delaying the highway system from moving on in Alabama.” Big Jim looked at Patterson and said, “John, you know that I have a lot of friends that are lawyers, too.” The Governor said, “I’ve got a deal for you. You name half of the lawyers, and I’ll name half of the lawyers.” What could Patterson say? That’s the way it came down! Big Jim believed in helping his friends. 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: Don Siegelman Meets Big Jim Folsom
We are continuing this week with our summer series on Big Jim Folsom – Alabama’s most colorful governor. Those of us who grew up in and around Alabama politics have coined a descriptive term for a person who is obsessed with seeking political office constantly and tirelessly without reservation or concern for their physical, mental, or financial welfare. They will run for high-elected office at all costs. The term we use to describe those people is named for the man who best exemplified that obsession, George Wallace. Therefore, someone who is driven by obsession to win high public office has the “George Wallace Syndrome.” The Alabama baby boomer who was eaten up with George Wallace Syndrome more than any other I know was Don Siegelman. Siegelman ran nonstop beginning from the time he was a student at the University of Alabama in the 1960s. He was successful. He was President of the Student Government at Alabama and went on to become Alabama’s Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and finally, his life’s dream of Governor. There is an old political saying that you don’t ever want to get into a race with someone who wants it more than you and will outwork you. Siegelman was never outworked. He was relentless and focused on the ultimate prize that many a young politician in Alabama aspired to, and that’s the governor’s chair. He captured the brass ring. Siegelman reminded me so much of George Wallace; he truly deserves the award for having the Wallace Syndrome. He and Wallace were so consumed with politics and being governor that neither one of them could tell you what they were eating when you had lunch with them. Eating was a sideline to any political discussion they were having and calling lunch. They ate because they had to eat to survive. Siegelman was always a little more liberal than most Alabamians. Therefore, he grew up admiring the more progressive Alabama political icons. He admired our progressive New Deal Democrats, such as Lister Hill, John Sparkman, and Carl Elliott. However, the utmost idol for young liberal politicians of my era was James E. “Big Jim” Folsom. Big Jim was truly a progressive on fiscal and social issues. Siegelman had a remarkedly similar career and educational background as Bill Clinton. Both were almost the same age, both received undergraduate degrees from their state universities, both left college and went to prestigious law schools – Clinton to Yale and Siegelman to Georgetown. They both went on to do postgraduate work at Oxford in England. Then they both started running for office right away. Clinton ran for Congress, then Governor of Arkansas. Siegelman ran for Secretary of State and then on up the Alabama political ladder to Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor. As Siegelman was beginning his first foray into Alabama politics, I will share with you a funny story that I call the “Don Siegelman meets Big Jim story.” Siegelman was campaigning hard all day for Secretary of State in early 1978 and wound up his day late in Cullman. Big Jim, in his later years, camped out at a truck stop along the interstate in Cullman. Big Jim was drinking coffee, and Siegelman spotted his lifelong hero and liberal idol, Big Jim, and went over to introduce himself. Siegelman gave Big Jim his spiel and what he was doing, and how his campaign for Secretary of State was going. He gave Big Jim the story of his pedigree concerning all of his educational degrees: University of Alabama Student Government President, Georgetown Law School, and Oxford in England. Big Jim listened intently to the young politician and sipped on his coffee. Now, you have to realize that even though Big Jim was a progressive on fiscal and race matters, he was pretty down home when it came to country politics, patronage, and home-spun talking to folks. Big Jim was also pretty pragmatic and plain-spoken. He said, “Boy are you asking my advice about your campaign?” Siegelman said, “Sure I am Governor.” Big Jim said, “Well, first of all, you need to change your name. Ain’t nobody in Opp going to vote for some boy named Siegelman. First of all, you can’t say it. Secondly, it don’t sound like a good regular Alabama Baptist or Methodist name, and you better tell folks you went to school at Oxford High School in Calhoun County and not someplace in England. Thirdly, don’t you know you can’t steal any money in that job?” 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: Big Jim Folsom, Alabama’s most uninhibited governor
This week begins a four-part series of stories surrounding Alabama’s most legendary colorful governor, James E. “Big Jim” Folsom. Big Jim Folsom was the epitome of unbridled candidness. Late in his second term, he had been on a week-long trip to the Port City of Mobile with his buddies. Still, he had to come back to Montgomery to give a speech at the national convention of the American Textile Manufacturers Association. It was a large and distinguished crowd of executives from all over the country, and they were meeting in Alabama, so the governor was to give them his official welcoming speech. While Big Jim was vacationing in Mobile, someone in his office had written him a nice speech. Big Jim had never seen the speech prior to getting up to address the audience. He started reading the speech, and it sounded somewhat dry and full of statistics. Big Jim dutifully continued reading, “We want to welcome y’all to Alabama. Alabama is truly a textile state. We’ve got 200,000 people employed in the textile industry, and it means $40 million to our economy. We produce 4 million articles a week.” At that point, Big Jim looked up from reading and said, “I’ll be doggone, “I didn’t know that.” An all-time favorite Big Jim story happened in the mid-1950s during his second term as governor at the annual Southern Governors Conference. The assembled governors and other dignitaries were scheduled to be guests at a nearby U.S. Naval station to witness an air show. Big Jim had a reputation for enjoying libations. The governors were scheduled to gather at the waterfront at 6:00 a.m., and many doubted Big Jim would make it at that hour since he would have partied most of the night before. That was indeed the case, but nevertheless, he arrived at the pier on time. It was obvious that he had not slept. He was still wearing the same suit and tie, he was unshaven, and his hair was askew, but he was raring to go. The governors, dignitaries, and aides were motored in small boats out to a huge aircraft carrier, which then sailed 125 to 200 miles offshore for a state-of-the-art air show previously seen only by high-ranking naval officers and cabinet members. The sky was perfect. The sea was calm; it was a beautiful day. The crowd gathered on the flight deck. An admiral gave a glowing speech about naval aviation and how important and accident-free it had become. The admiral introduced the pilot, and then some enlisted men went through the crowd handing out earmuff devices to protect the observers’ hearing from the sound of the jet. Big Jim may have looked a little funnier than the rest of the governors in his earmuffs because of his size and dishevelment. He was six feet nine inches tall. The airshow began. The jet got louder and louder as it whined down the airstrip and made a perfect takeoff. Then suddenly, there was total silence. The jet flamed out, the engine quit running, the plane crashed into the water and was lost in the ocean. There was complete bedlam aboard the carrier. Sirens went off, divers prepared to enter the water, and emergency helicopters prepared for takeoff. Then miraculously, word came that the pilot had bailed out of the plane before it sank and was not injured. He was shaken up and wet but alive. The crowd gave a rousing cheer of relief that the pilot’s life had been spared. By this time, everyone had taken off their earmuffs except Big Jim, who was still standing on the deck with his earmuffs on and his mouth wide open in amazement. Folsom had been watching the scene in absolute astonishment. He could not believe his bloodshot eyes. Finally, he could contain himself no longer. Because he was still wearing his earmuffs, he did not realize how loud he was talking, and in a voice you could hear for miles, Big Jim boomed, “Admiral, if that ain’t a show, I’ll kiss your ass.” 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: Annual legislative session successful
The recently completed Regular Session of the Alabama legislature was a success. It began on a high note and ended positively. Why? There was plenty of money to spend. Both the General Fund Budget and the Education Budget had historic amounts of money. Most of the focus of the Session was on budgeting, as it should be, because that is the only constitutional mandate that the legislature is tasked with in the 105-day Regular Session. Gov. Kay Ivey laid out her agenda in her State of the State address, then sent her proposed budget requests over to the legislature. The governor’s speech outlining her legislative agenda was about doing good things for education. However, her desires were vague, and her ask list was long and wishful, like a kid’s Christmas wish list. It called for the state to give away the store. It was as though she was running for reelection, which everyone knows she cannot do. Therefore, the veteran Senate treats her politely but has relegated her to a lame-duck status. The legislature has taken total control of the budgeting process, as they should do under the Constitution. The governor proposes, and the legislature disposes. The days of a strong-armed, powerful, omnipotent governor that controls both the Executive and Legislative Branches are over. The King George Wallace era is gone, probably forever. The surplus in the Education Budget was enormous. How to spend this surplus became the focus of the entire session. There is a very accurate political assessment that it is much more difficult to deal with a surplus budget than a lean or deficit budget. George Wallace told me about this same thing during his last term as governor when I was a freshman legislator. Accolades go out to Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), Chairman of the Senate Education Finance and Taxation Committee, and Representative Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), Chairman of the House Education Ways and Means Committee. These two gentlemen essentially singlehandedly wrote the Education Budget and did a masterful job. They were cognizant that what goes up has to come down. Therefore, they created several savings accounts and rainy day funds for the rainy days ahead because they will come. The Education Budget was an historic $11.5 billion. It gave increases for pre-kindergarten programs, school supplies, school nurses, and a significant 2% cost of living salary increase to teachers and support personnel. All colleges and universities in the state received increased funding. Non-education entities were given money. There was $100 million for prison education. The high-profile aspects of the Education Budget windfall were a one-time rebate going back to taxpayers in November. Governor Ivey had wished for a $400 per person and $800 per couple rebate. However, the final result is $150 per person and $300 per married couple. Most legislators preferred eliminating the grocery tax or long-term tax cuts to this one-time check back in November. The surprise in the Christmas stocking from the Education Budget surplus is the reduction on the state sales tax on groceries. Eliminating or reducing the state tax on groceries has been championed by Democrats for years, as the tax is regressive and hurts the state’s lowest income earners the hardest. However, the measure garnered Republican bipartisan support this year after 20 years and passed with an overwhelming vote in both Chambers. It is, however, a gradual reduction. The grocery tax would decrease 2% in two steps, with the tax being reduced 1% this year and another 1% percent new year, if the funds are available. The State General Fund had a good year as well. The $3 billion General Fund was record-shattering—the largest in history. The Chairmen, Senator Greg Albritton (R-Escambia) and Representative Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville) oversaw a $159 million increase over the current year. The largest increases in the budget were in Medicaid by $69 million and Corrections by $59 million more. State employees will see a 2% increase in pay, which will go into effect as the new fiscal year begins October 1. The legendary head of the Alabama State Employees Association, Mac McArthur, has quietly garnered state employees a cost of living raise five out of the last six years. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political commentator. 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: Political potpourri
Even though it is not an election year, the Alabama political pot is heating up and beginning to boil as we celebrate the 4th of July, and the summer heat settles into the Heart of Dixie. The 2024 candidates for some open state judicial posts have been stirring around all year, and also candidates for next year’s local elections are gearing up all over the state. There has also arisen a surprise election in Alabama’s largest county. Imperial Jefferson County has a Special Election for a very important and pivotal county commission seat. Republican Steve Ammons vacated this seat to take the post as CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance. In every other county in the state, a vacant county commission seat is filled by appointment by the governor. However, Jefferson County has an unusual local amendment that calls for a Special Election. This local act does not only call for a normal special election but renders a weird, wild west open no primary Special Election. It calls for a very quick, nonpartisan election similar to Louisiana. There are no party primaries and no party labels. Everybody and their brother can run, and the Jefferson County electorate has no way of knowing who they are, what they stand for, or their positions on anything. All you have to do is get 100 signatures, and you are on the ballot. I am surprised that there are not 100 people running. This race also has only a short window. People could start getting their 100 signatures around June 1 and get this; the election is on July 18. You are looking at an election in less than two weeks in the middle of the summer that only affects 20% of the population of Jefferson County. Folks, this one could very well break records for low voter turnout. However, it is a very important and pivotal election for a seat that will determine the partisan makeup of the state’s largest county. The current makeup is two Republicans and two Democratic commissioners. Republicans had a 3-2 advantage with Ammons on the Commission. You would assume that the vacant Ammons’ seat would be filled by another Republican because it is made up of the most affluent enclaves in the state, which include Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Homewood, and silk stocking Hoover districts along the 280 corridor. However, as stated, there are no party labels by any candidate, no forums, and no time to campaign – only a list of names. The assumption is a Republican will win. However, the Homewood, Mountain Brook areas are one of the few enclaves of upscale, liberal do-gooder, white Democrats in the state. It is imperative that the Republican Party in Jefferson County identify who their preferred Republican candidate is in this race and get out their vote. It appears that they may have done just that and have chosen Judge Mike Bolin. The election is just around the corner on July 18. Justice Mike Bolin is like manna from Heaven for the Jefferson County Republicans. As the old saying goes, “he was at the right place at the right time.” Judge Bolin recently retired from the Alabama Supreme Court and has time on his hands, and this seat comes open. Mike Bolin is one of the most respected and popular public servants in our state. He is also one of the most accomplished Jefferson County political figures of this era. He is Jefferson County through and through. He was born and raised in Homewood, went to college at Samford University and law school at Cumberland School of Law on Lakeshore Parkway in Homewood. He and his wife, who is also from Jefferson County, currently live in Vestavia. Mike practiced law in Jefferson County for almost two decades, then was elected Probate Judge of Jefferson County, where he served for 16 years. While serving as Probate Judge of Jefferson County, he was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court, where he served for 18 years. He is a man of utmost integrity. Jefferson County is fortunate to have him take on this task. 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: Friends and neighbors politics
Last week I discussed young State Auditor Andrew Sorrell. Recently, when I had him on my Montgomery television show, we discussed his successful race for State Auditor. He understands the golden rule of politics, “money is the mother’s milk of politics.” In his 2022 race, he raised an amazing, record-breaking $714,000 and was able to outspend his opponents 7-to-1. More impressively, he spent the 7-to-1 advantage prudently and wisely. He designed and produced his own television ads, which cut out a 20% distribution and production charge. The most impressive revelation was that he wisely used his personal campaign time in locales where he took advantage of friends and neighbors politics. His opponent, Rusty Glover, had a very strong base of support in Mobile, where he had been a state representative, state senator, and taught school for years. Stan Cooke, his other opponent, was a well-known preacher in Jefferson County. Therefore, he acknowledged that these two urban enclaves would vote for their native sons, which they did. Sorrell realized that this left him as the only North Alabama candidate. He was from the Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, Florence area, and he worked in the Tennessee Valley area as their boy. He carried the vote-rich North Alabama. He also worked and cultivated the Wiregrass, where there was no hometown candidate. He did well there, also, with the help of television. In the runoff with Glover out, Sorrell swooped down to Mobile/Baldwin, garnered Glover’s votes, and trounced Cooke. What surprised me was that in 2022 the old “friends and neighbors premise” still prevailed, and even more surprising that it existed in a low-profile down-ballot race. I have been preaching and telling you about the pervasive friends and neighbors politics in Alabama for the last 20 years in my columns. When folks come to visit with me in anticipation of running a statewide race, I make them aware that it still exists, especially in the governor’s races. Those of us who are students of southern and Alabama politics attribute the highlighting of friends and neighbors theory to the brilliant southern political scientist Dr. V. O. Key Jr. In Dr. Key’s textbook, Southern Politics in State and Nation, written in 1948, he points out that friends and neighbors politics has existed in the South for decades. I am here to tell you that it still exists today. What is friends and neighbors? It is simply a trend whereby folks will vote for someone from their neck of the woods. Alabamians will vote overwhelmingly for a candidate from their county and adjacent counties. When I taught Southern Politics to college classes, I would tell the students this habit of voting for the hometown boy in Alabama politics was so pervasive that if a candidate from their county or neck of the woods was running statewide and were a well-known drunk or crook, they would vote for him. They might say, “I know ole Joe is a drunk or crook, but he’s my drunk or crook.” You can look at every governor’s race in the last 80 years and see our local friends and neighbors voting for the hometown candidate when you dive into the numbers. It is unmistakable. Dr. Key illustrates it well, first in the 1946 races for governor, Congress, and U.S. Senate. There was an open U.S. Senate when Roosevelt appointed our liberal senator, Hugo Black, to the Supreme Court. The congressman from the Tennessee Valley, John Sparkman, won the Senate Seat riding a 75% hometown vote from Madison and Morgan counties. That Tennessee Valley Congressional Seat was won by Scottsboro lawyer Bob Jones because he got an unheard-of 97.8% of the vote in Jackson County. In that same year, Big Jim Folsom won the 1946 governor’s race because he had two hometowns. Big Jim was born and raised near Elba in Coffee County but spent his adult life in Cullman in north Alabama. In that 1946 race, Big Jim garnered 72% in Cullman and 77% in Coffee in the first primary, where his statewide average was 28% in the crowded field. You can point to countless examples in all governor’s races since 1946. There are clear-cut examples of localism and regionalism voting for the candidate from your neck of the woods. Friends and neighbors politics is still alive and well. 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: Andrew Sorrell good start as State Auditor
Young Andrew Sorrell was sworn into office as the 41st State Auditor of Alabama in January. In the early years of Alabama statehood, the State Auditor and State Treasurer were important positions in our 1819 political era. In those wilderness times of Jacksonian Democracy, it was not unusual for the treasurer and auditor to abscond with some of the fruits of the state coffers. There were no ethics laws at that time, and the old political maxim of “to the victor goes the spoils” prevailed. There was a need for an honest man to carefully guard the nest. The posts of State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Secretary of State were your only full-time public servants, who were actually full-time officials who came to the Capitol. The legislature only met every other year for three months, and the governor was usually a Black Belt planter who was more interested in running his plantation and considered his governor’s job part-time. Less some of you are offended by the pronoun “he,” there were only male politicians. It would be 100 years later before women would even have the right to vote in America. Blacks were still slaves and would be given their freedom 45 years later in 1865 and the right to vote in Alabama 100 years after that in 1965. Therefore, in the early years, the Auditor was an important post. In recent decades, the legislature evolved and became the important entity that the new 1901 Constitution intended. The legislature created the position of Examiner of Public Accounts. The legislature rightfully created the office because they appropriated the state funds. They wanted to have their accountant oversee their proper appropriations and accounting of state dollars. Beginning three or four decades ago, there became a rallying to do away with the State Auditor’s position. Some would say it was unnecessary and a waste of money. That balloon would never really get off the ground. The State Auditor’s office costs less than one percent of the State General Fund budget, and it is difficult to do away with a state constitutional office. Besides, someone or some office has to be in charge of keeping up with the state’s cars, desks, chairs, and computers. Andrew Sorrell seems to be the perfect fit for this statewide office. While some have used the post in recent years to demagogue and take positions on state matters that the State Auditor is not involved with to try to build name identification, Sorrell is honest, upright and appears to want to make the State Auditors job an important post as opposed to a demagogic stunt show. Andrew Sorrell is only 37 years old. He has an attractive young family. Hannah, his wife, is a successful realtor in their home area of Muscle Shoals. Their daughter, Liberty, who is only two, became a TV star in Andrew’s campaign commercials last year. Andrew and Hannah currently bring her to political events around the state. She steals the show, as she did during the campaign. Liberty has been joined this month by a baby sister, Glory, born June 1. Andrew Sorrell was 36 years old when he was elected Auditor last year. He served one four-year term in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2018 through 2022. He ran an excellent campaign for Auditor in 2021-2022. He was able to raise $324,000 and loaned his campaign $393,000, which shows he has been successful in the private sector. This amount of money, over $700,000, is unparalleled in this state Auditor’s race. He was able to smother and dwarf the campaigns of former State Senator Rusty Glover of Mobile and Reverend Stan Cooke of Jefferson County in the Republican Primary. Both Cooke and Glover had previously run and started with more name identification than Sorrell. Sorrell ran a perfectly scripted modern campaign using both television and social media. He spent his money wisely and designed his own ads. He also worked the state tirelessly, campaigning one-on-one for two years. Andrew Sorrell is a very capable, bright star on the political scene in the Heart of Dixie. He is part of an interesting trend of a trio of superstars on the political horizon in Alabama – State Auditor Sorrell, Secretary of State Wes Allen, and Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, who all served one four-year term in the Alabama House of Representatives before being elected statewide. The State House of Representatives seems to be the new launching pad for state political office. 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.
