Articles written by steve flowers


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  • Love 'ole time' capitol reporters

    Steve Flowers, Guest Columnist|Feb 15, 2018

    I have written about the legendary capitol reporters who use to cover Goat Hill. There was Bob Ingram of the Montgomery Advertiser, Al Fox of the Birmingham News, Hugh Sparrow of the Birmingham News, Rex Thomas of the Associated Press, Don Martin of UPI and Clarke Stallworth of the Birmingham Post Herald. A young cub reporter named Jim Bennett joined the Post Herald in 1961 and later had a distinguished career in Public Service. None of these legends is any longer with us. Today’s capitol press corps also works hard, they stick with “just the...

  • 2018: Political 'year of the woman'

    Steve Flowers|Feb 1, 2018

    This political year of 2018 may very well be the year of the woman in Alabama politics. In Alabama’s 200 year history, only one woman has been elected governor. Lurleen Wallace won in 1966. Only two women have served as governor, Governor Lurleen and our current governor, Kay Ivey. It may be a historic year. Sue Bell Cobb, the former Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice, and the first woman to hold that position, is hoping to be able to be the Democratic standard-bearer. She was elected Chief Justice in 2006, in a very expensive, high p...

  • State is better off without Moore

    Steve Flowers|Jan 25, 2018

    As the 2018 state elections begin, let’s take one last look at the 2017 Special Election to fill the remaining three years of Jeff Sessions’ six-year term which, by the way, comes up in two years in 2020. It is assumed by most astute political observers that the winner, Democrat Doug Jones, cannot win election to a full term in 2020, simply because he is a Democrat. I am not ready to write Doug Jones off so quickly. I would contend that Jones would not be a cupcake to take on after two to three years on the job. Doug Jones knows what he is doin...

  • Tuscaloosa a hub for politics

    Steve Flowers, Guest Columnist|Jan 18, 2018

    Awhile back, during Dr. Robert Bentley’s tenure as governor, I wrote a column entitled, “They May as Well Move the Capitol to Tuscaloosa.” Never before in Alabama history has a city had a sitting governor and the state’s senior U.S. Senator hail from that particular place. Even with the departure of Bentley as governor, the Druid City has an inordinate amount of presence in the state’s political sphere of influence. Senator Richard Shelby is in his 32nd year as our U.S. Senator. With that kind of seniority, comes immense power in Washingto...

  • Shelby brings bacon to the state

    Steve Flowers, Guest Columnist|Jan 11, 2018

    A few months back the Jefferson County Republican Party honored our Senior U.S. Senator, Richard Shelby. It was held at The Club in Birmingham. The view from atop Red Mountain from this elegant club is spectacular, especially at night from the ballroom. The glass enclosure allows you to see the grandeur of the Birmingham skyline. As you glimpse at the scene you can see many of the buildings that are the heart of the University of Alabama/Birmingham. As the tribute to Shelby began, I looked out over the night sky and caught a glimpse of the $70...

  • Moore is reason a Democrat won

    Steve Flowers, Guest Columnist|Jan 4, 2018

    As we enter the 2018 campaign season, many of you have asked me to look back and analyze the 2017 Special Election Senate race and explain in depth what happened and why. The most asked question is how could a Democrat win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama and does this mean that we are now possibly a two party state? I will give you numerous answers, however, the simple answer to why a Democrat won is that Roy Moore was the Republican nominee. Are we a state that can go either way in an open U.S. Senate seat? As we have just seen, it is possible...

  • Political icons lost during 2017

    Steve Flowers, Guest Columnist|Dec 28, 2017

    At the close of each year, my tradition is to acknowledge the passing away of significant political leaders from the political stage in our beloved state. We lost some icons this year. As I sit in my office writing this yearend column, pictures of two of my favorite friends and legends adorn my walls. The photos of Governor Albert Brewer and Congressman Jim Martin look down at me. Both were Christian gentlemen. Governor Brewer passed away last January in Birmingham. He was 88. We had visited over lunch only a few months earlier. Brewer grew up...

  • Exciting year in Alabama politics

    Steve Flowers, Guest Columnist|Dec 21, 2017

    Well, folks, we have had a more exciting and fun filled political year than we expected. Usually, most of the fun is reserved for even numbered years when presidential or gubernatorial elections are held. However, it’s been a good ride. Obviously, the Special Election for the remaining three years of Jeff Sessions’ senate term monopolized the year. Although you will have to remember, that election was preceded by two events that set up the senate race. Donald Trump selected Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General. Sessions had been our junior sen...

  • All leaders can't lead the horses

    Steve Flowers|Dec 14, 2017

    The legendary Speaker of the U.S. House, Sam Rayburn, coined a famous phrase he used often and imparted to young congressmen when they would arrive on Capitol Hill full of vim and vigor. He would sit down with them and invite them to have a bourbon and branch water with him. The old gentleman, who had spent nearly half a century in the Congress, after hearing their ambitions of how they were going to change the world, would look them in the eye and say, “You know here in Congress there are 435 prima donnas and they all can’t be lead hor...