Morning shock

By Jennifer J. Foster

I’ve already received some calls and e-mails about my picture in the Opelika-Auburn News this morning.

I have only two things to say about it: One, I had no idea it was coming; two, the feeling I got when I saw it is why I went into print instead of broadcast journalism.

Jeepers.

Roll call

By Jennifer J. Foster

Lee County Republican Party Chairman Rod Herring told me the dinner attracted more than 425 people, and it was apparent as I tried to find a seat. People were tightly packed around tables that were crammed into every corner of the room. Servers sometimes had a difficult time getting between tables with their plates.

Events like these are one-stop shopping for anyone interested in meeting candidates for office. Since the people who come to these functions are highly active party leaders, candidates never miss an opportunity to gladhand them. That was true Thursday, as hundreds of signs from at least 10 different candidates peppered the road leading into the Marriott Grand National in Opelika.

Elected officials and candidates in attendance included State Auditor Samantha Shaw; State Treasurer Kay Ivey; Public Service Commission presidential hopeful Jack Hornady; PSC candidate and former Alabama Republican Party chair Twinkle Cavanaugh; state representatives Mike Hubbard and DuWayne Bridges; Court of Criminal Appeals hopefuls Duncan Crow, Peggy Givhan, Beth Kellum, Chris Mixon, Judge Teresa Bearden Petelos and Mary Windom; Court of Civil Appeals Judge Bill Thompson; Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones; Lee County Probate Judge Bill English; Lee County Revenue Commissioner Oline Price; Lee County commissioners Mathan Holt and Johnny Lawrence; Lee County School Board candidate Milford Burkhalter; Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller; Opelika city councilmen Jerry Teel, Bill Lazenby and Eddie Smith; Phenix City Mayor Jeff Hardin; Phenix City Councilman Ray Bush; Smiths Station Mayor LaFaye Dellinger and Valley City Councilman Ray Edwards.

Gov. Riley in Lee County

By Jennifer J. Foster

For those of you who logged on at 7 p.m. for live blogging from the Lee County Republican Party’s annual dinner, I have just one question for you:

You know that guy Murphy? I’ve kind of had it with him today.

Actually, I don’t have anything against Murphy. It’s his law that’s been the trouble. You know, that whole if-anything-can-go-wrong-it-will mantra? Well, that’s been the theme of the day for me.

I won’t go into all the details, but suffice it to say that I was 35 minutes leaving my previous commitment and heading over toward Opelika and the Marriott for the event, which started at 7 p.m. I headed that way at 7:35. Not a great start. I knew it would take 20 minutes to get there, and that wasn’t considering getting inside, getting set up, etc. I honestly considerd ditching the entire thing because I just knew that by the time I got there and got set up, the governor would be finished.

I arrived just before 8, and I thought I had caught a break when a man headed back to the ballroom told me that Riley hadn’t spoken yet. I hurried to the ballroom, scoped out a seat in the back against the wall (it was actually the only unoccupied seat I saw) and opened up the computer. I’m all set, I thought.

But then, there was Murphy.

Ten seconds in, I realized I didn’t have an open internet connection. Two minutes later, I had talked with a hote employee who had good news—the room was wired for access—and bad news—no wireless capability. More bad news: Although the room has jacks, they were covered up by the tables. More bad news still: It would take 20 minutes to set up. The bad news kicker: They would charge me for it once they did set it up.

It was a non-starter for me.

Obviously, I was disappointed. I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way we had hoped. But I figured I would stay, because I thought Riley would offer some good nuggets for us political junkies (he did—more on that in a minute). I hope you find them as interesting as I did.