Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: We have six living former governors. How are they doing?

  Gov. John Patterson is our oldest living chief executive. Patterson is 99 years old and living on his ancestral family farm in rural Tallapoosa County in an obscure area named Goldville. Patterson is a legend in Alabama politics. He was governor from 1958-1962. He has the distinction of being the only person to beat George Wallace in a governor’s race in the Heart of Dixie. When he was elected in 1958, he was 37-years-old and was dubbed the “Boy Governor”. Patterson was Attorney General of Alabama for a term prior to being governor and served several decades on the Court of Criminal Appeals after his governorship.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Fobbed again

  When Guy Hunt won the governor’s race over Bill Baxley in 1986 it was well publicized that he was a part-time Primitive Baptist preacher. He was also billed as a part-time Amway salesman. These common man vocations appealed to the average Alabama voter. It was Hunt’s calling as a Baptist preacher that resonated warmly with his constituency. Alabamians are very religious and very Baptist.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1407: The power of one vote

  The power of one vote. So many of us think that we have just one vote but we have many votes. However, since this one vote syndrome is so prevalent, I want to share various examples of the power of one vote.

  Did you know that Adolph Hitler became head of the Nazi Party and thereby the leader of Germany by just one vote? If just one person had voted differently or one additional person had voted, we would not have had World War II. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers would not have died on bloody battlefields. Millions would not have died in concentration camps. Just one vote a few years earlier damaged the entire world. That’s the power of one vote.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Who are you?

  A while back I wrote a column entitled "The State Legislature Is A Good Training Ground For Governor, But Not A Good Stepping Stone To Governor." The essence of my hypothesis was being one of the 105 members of the Alabama House of Representatives or even one of the 35 members of the Senate does not lend itself to building name identification, which is essential to being elected to statewide office.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The politics of roads

  It seemed to go under the radar last year, but the Bentley administration quietly inaugurated the largest road-building program seen in the state in over six decades.

  Gov. Bentley launched the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP). The ATRIP program, coupled with another road program, the Rural Assistance Match Program, will bring the total for road and bridge construction in Bentley’s first term to well over $1 billion.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: A final salute

  As the year 2013 comes to an end, as is our custom, we will reminisce and remember some of the great names of Alabama politics that have passed away this year.

  Former Supreme Court Justice, John Tyson, passed away at 86 at his Montgomery home. Tyson was a revered, Montgomerian and a real gentleman. His best friend was Bubba Trotman of Montgomery. If I had to define the term Southern gentleman, Judge Tyson and Bubba Trotman epitomize this demeanor.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The Rural advantage

  Writers and historians have done extensive research over the years seeking to ascertain how our nation’s leaders reached their pinnacle of power. These exhaustive studies have delved into the personas from every angle imaginable. Most of these analyses begin with someone’s childhood.

  Being a student of Alabama politics, allow me to share with you my study of the backgrounds of our governors. My assessment is that in the past six decades small town boys succeed. It may be because Alabama was made up of small towns in the past generations that almost all of our governors have hailed from small towns. My assumption is that growing up in a small town allows someone to develop confidence and leadership abilities that give them an advantage.