In my July 19 column. my prediction was that Democratic President Joe Biden would keep the heralded space command headquarters in Colorado, rather than allow it to be moved to Alabama. Biden made the Colorado decision 10 days later. Why? It is very simple. Biden is a Democrat running for reelection for president as a […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

We will continue this week with the saga of Alabama’s most colorful governor, the legendary Big Jim Folsom. Jim Folsom Jr. shared a story about his father’s early political life. Big Jim always knew that he wanted to go into politics, so he jumped right in. His hometown of Elba in Coffee County was in […]

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, Ol’ Big Jim […]

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 […]

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, but he had to come […]

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 […]

Even though it is not an election year, the Alabama political pot is heating up and beginning to boil as 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 […]

Sometimes overlooked and often unsung, Alabama’s community and technical colleges are on a roll. It is time they get the recognition they deserve as workhorses for the state’s economy. There are 24 community and technical colleges in the state, located on 50 campuses with more than 130 service locations. This means every Alabamian reading these […]

Renowned Alabama historian Dr. Wayne Flynt has chronicled and penned a marvelous book appropriately entitled “Afternoons with Harper Lee.” This gem is published by New South Books with editing by Randall Williams. It is receiving worldwide acclaim. If you are a fan of Harper Lee and her novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” it is a […]

The Alabama Boys State and Girls State programs have been the spawning ground for Alabama political leaders for generations. It is a marvelous civic contribution that the American Legion has sponsored for almost a century in our state. The prominence that Boys State has played is immense. However, Girls State may very well be eclipsing […]

It is hard to imagine that it was only a little over 100 years ago that women were given the right to vote in the United States. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution giving women full suffrage was finally ratified in 1920. In recent decades, many folks have lamented that there are very few women […]

As I stroll down the halls of the Alabama Senate during this current regular session of the Alabama Legislature, I will stop and visit in the offices of my favorite legislative buddies. My favorite and first stop is with my longtime friend Jabo Waggoner. Jabo, being the dean of the Legislature, has the first prime […]

It may appear to you and most casual observers of Alabama politics that our Alabama elected officials are old. That observation is accurate when you observe our current leaders in the highest offices. The governor’s office has been held by mature folks in recent years. Our current Governor, Kay Ivey, is 78 and has been […]

As the first regular session of the quadrennium evolves, there are myriad complex issues arising. I am reminded of three simple truisms regarding the Alabama Legislature and the governing of the state of Alabama. First of all, if anything significant or controversial or any major initiative is to be addressed, then it is dealt with […]

As mentioned last week, the Presidential race has begun. The first bomb or salvo dropped with the political indictment of Donald Trump by a Democratic New York Manhattan borough prosecutor. It used to be off limits to use the courts to indict a person for political reasons. Make no mistake about it, this trumped up […]

Alabama’s original 1901 Constitution had a law whereby the governor could only serve one four-year term and not succeed themselves.  In 1968, the law was changed and since then the governor and all other constitutional offices in the state can now serve two consecutive terms. This one term and you are done, made for a very interesting, […]

Next year is a big year nationally. It is a presidential election year. However, it is a down or off year for Alabama. We, like several other southern states, have our big election year in non-presidential years. We elected our governor and other constitutional offices and our entire Legislature in 2022. However, since we have […]

For the past several decades, Alabama’s power has been centered around the U.S. Senate – primarily because of former Sen. Richard Shelby’s immense power and influence. During Shelby’s 36-year tenure, he chaired the Intelligence, Banking and Rules Committees. However, he became immensely powerful his last six years as chairman of the Appropriations Committee.  Shelby practically […]

If you took a nighttime plane ride across much of the rural South in the early 1900s, you would see nothing but darkness on the ground below because electricity at the time was centered mainly around highly populated areas. But through federal, state and private sector partnerships, electricity was brought to rural America to light […]

This 2022 election year in Alabama has been monumental and memorable. Any gubernatorial year is big in the state. It is the brass ring of Alabama politics to be governor. However, the race to succeed our senior Senator Richard Shelby has been the marquee contest. This year will be the last hurrah for our two […]

Our Alabama Congressional delegation will all be reelected next month, as usual. We are no different than any other state when it comes to the incumbency advantage of being a congressperson. When someone is elected to the U.S. Congress, they are usually there for life unless they run for higher office. They probably would not […]