A lack of publicly available polling on Alabama’s primary races is hindering the coverage of June 5th’s primary races. But Alabama pollster Ray Evans with Status America has been conducting a rolling poll of the races for months. He’s been polling since 1967 and has been right 95 percent of the times. He said he […]

1. No one in Alabama politics is actually paying attention to what Gov. Kay Ivey is doing on school safety, which is … almost nothing — Democrat front-runner Walt Maddox seems to think Ivey wants to arm teachers, which is not true. He “… believes arming teachers and administrators is an insane idea,” a campaign spokesman […]

1. President Donald Trump regrets hiring AG Jeff Sessions, reports say he will fire him after Mueller report  — Even though Sessions was the first senator to support Trump, the president cannot stop blaming him for his problems after he recused himself from the Russia problems. — Even though Sessions is clearly the MVP of the […]

Over 35 years ago during the 1981-82 recession, Billy Joel released “Allentown” about the plight of this Pennsylvania town. The song resonated across the Midwest during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. It also anticipated, I think, an important change in our economy and society. I was in high school in suburban Detroit […]

State and local elections are like the Terms & Conditions of your new app: you know they’re extremely important, but you don’t really have the time to familiarize yourself with them. While the importance of state and local elections has been demonstrated in columns a million times over – “it’s the state and local policies […]

If you followed Congressman Mo Brooks’ campaign for U.S. Senate and his campaign for re-election to the U.S. House, there was one theme his opponents used: Mo Brooks was not pro-Trump in 2016. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Super PAC spent millions pushing that message across the state of Alabama and it seemed to be effective […]

1. President Donald Trump is on the campaign trail again, as if he ever stopped — While Trump was campaigning for Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, she spoke for 45 seconds, and he had no idea who her opponent is. — He continues to hammer national themes including taxes, immigration, the military, McCain, Schumer, and Pelosi. 2. […]

Election season reminds us – as if we had forgotten – of what politics usually is rather than what it ought to be. I’ve often heard Nick Saban and other coaches talk about the ability of their teams to “find a way to win,” meaning it doesn’t matter how the win is secured, as long […]

Stories like Frank Ranelli’s – a Birmingham-area businessman whose more than 130 computers were seized by Homewood police in 2010 on suspicion that some were stolen – were what drove Alabama’s legislators and interest groups to attempt reform of the state’s civil asset forfeiture laws during this year’s legislative session. Significant reform gained early momentum […]

1. Lying about immigration is becoming a full-time beat for the media — There were a series of outrages over the weekend, none of which were true. — 1,500 kids are not missing, Trump isn’t caging children, and Trump doesn’t have a prison bus with baby seats in it. 2. Attack ads out in GOP […]

It is late May and we are talking about the NFL. This normally does not happen but for some reason the NFL wanted to get back into the culture war over entitled NFL brats kneeling about police brutality or something. The NFL’s announcement should be music to the national GOP ears, and more importantly, to […]

Washington, D.C. — one of the most visited cities in the world — oozes a sense of superiority and power. How could it not? Our nation’s Capitol building is truly enormous, the Secret Service and Capitol police carry rifles regularly, and the president of the most powerful country in the world lives within its borders. […]

1. President Donald Trump pulls out of North Korea summit, American media cheers, North Korea wants back in — Trump announced the news in a letter where he both threatened nuclear war and invited North Korea back to the table after North Korea destroyed a nuke site, sat down with South Korea, and released three Americans. […]

Hopefully, the last week and a half of the GOP primary race for governor will be more illuminating than the race up to this point. The candidates hoping to unseat the governor should be directing their energy to job creation and ways to improve the economy. The two front-runners have an argument for being job creators, […]

1. A conclusion that is obvious, but not being drawn: Jared Kushner is probably in the clear — Kushner had his temporary security clearance revoked months ago, leading to speculation that he was dirty. He just got that clearance approved. — If he was under any threat of being compromised this would not have happened, […]

1. Alabama’s Attorney General and Congressman Mo Brooks sue the federal government to stop the counting of illegals in the next census — Democrats demand illegals continue to come into the country; they continue to want them counted for federal dollars and representation allocation. — AG Marshall and Brooks believe that Alabama will lose a Congressional […]

Winning elections requires a strategy, and few strategies garner results like having a famous name. Jim Bonner, a controversial candidate for Alabama Public Service Commission, Place 1, is showing promise as he leads his 6-year incumbent competitor among some Alabama voters, particularly those who used to be represented in Congress by Jo Bonner of Mobile. […]

1. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein agrees with Trump the IG should look in to surveillance abuses — The White House released a statement that reads like a vindication of Trump’s premise and an acquiescence to his request: “Based on the meeting with the President, the Department of Justice has asked the Inspector General to expand its […]

1. Another school shooting leads same old arguments  — Ten were killed and 13 were wounded when a student opened fire on his classmates with a shotgun and a handgun. — In spite of the numerous laws this kid broke, lawmakers continue to push for solutions that have NOTHING to do with this event. 2. Calls […]

Radio talk show host Dale Jackson and Dr. Waymon Burke take you through this week’s biggest political stories including: — Did Scott Dawson know what he was doing when he started criticizing the Governor for grants to a gay orginization? — Should Alabama consider legalizing and taxing sports gaming?

A little known, counter-intuitive communication phenomenon called “the sleeper effect” means that outright lies can become more persuasive over time even when they come from a source who isn’t credible, according to decades of academic research. Under the right conditions, researchers say the effect can make shaky stories even more believable than trustworthy ones, particularly […]

1. It appears there was a spy placed in the Trump campaign in 2016, IG also finds possible criminal conduct in handling of Clinton probe — A New York Times report, lays out that “at least one government informant met several times with Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos, current and former officials,” which confirms the government run […]

According to many lawmakers, recent years have not been kind to the Business Council of Alabama’s lobbying efforts. And based upon financial filings, recent years may not have been kind to the organization’s fiscal health, either. The BCA’s 2016 IRS Form 990 filing, which is required of 501(c)6 nonprofit organizations, does not paint a rosy picture […]

Listen to the 10 min audio Read the transcript: TRUMP FOLLOWS THROUGH ON EMBASSY PROMISE TOM LAMPRECHT:  Harry, this past Monday was a significant day in the nation of Israel as President Donald Trump of the United States made a bold decision that was actually passed by Congress 20 years ago to move the United […]