By Artemesia Stanberry
December 13th, 2013
Why
Burton LeFlore Should Appear on the Uncle Henry Show
Local talk radio is at its best when it discusses
local issues. The election of President
Obama has been a dominant discussion- not just his election and reelection, but
everything he does- from trying to extend health care coverage to taking a
“selfie” at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service.
To be honest, I don’t recall hearing a conversation about the selfie on the
conservative talk radio show that I listen to daily, but I did hear other
comments about Mandela that weren’t positive, which I expected- you have to be
a regular listener to know the level of support one caller gets when he links
Mugabe, Mandela, and Obama together. One
of Uncle Henry’s callers can’t resist calling- leaving a voice mail- weekly, it
seems, about how awful President Obama is and how “Obama is destroying the
nation.” This caller isn’t known for
sugarcoating his language as he has on several occasions referred to human
beings on welfare as maggots and parasites.
So why should Burton Leflore enter into the proverbial hornet’s
nest?
Burton LeFlore’s appearance on the Uncle Henry Show
would be going into hostile territory, no doubt, but he can do it and win over
a small percentage of the people who listen, but do not call the show (most people who listen to talk radio do not actually call the shows). LeFlore has participated in at least one
debate during the Special Election where he was the sole Democrat surrounded by
Republican candidates and an audience expecting a conservative message (http://lagniappemobile.com/ten-congressional-candidates-debate-a-week-before-primary/).
But this will be different. This will be callers who are anonymous to those who
aren’t regular listeners and they will talk about how they distrust President
Obama and question Leflore’s (and African American’s) loyalty to the Democratic
Party. But LeFlore can handle this. He can prepare the best 1 minute response to
questions about the Affordable Health Care Act, his opinion of President Obama
and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
the national deficit, the recent budget agreement, and maybe a call or two
about Common Core as that is what a couple of regular callers like to call
about regularly. The only caller that
may throw him for a loop is the caller who will ask him about the federal
reserve- just prepare a generic response in advance. Bradley Byrne was asked a
question about sanctuary churches during his last appearance and he feigned
ignorance on the matter (talking about a controversial immigration matter and
whether your religious institution would sanction “law breakers” is not
something a "conservative" politician running for a congressional seat in Mobile, Alabama wants to answer on election day unless it is a definitive
“send them all back to where they came
from illegally” response, but I digress). Oh, and as tempting as it will be to
accurately state the national debt tripled under the Reagan Administration,
avoid saying anything negative about Reagan as you want to stay on the hosts
good side. And if something about Reagan slips out,
follow up immediately with a Roll Tide and, golly, I sure hope Nick Saban
remains in Alabama. Well don’t say golly;).
The
Uncle Henry Show is very popular and given the number of people who called his
show following the Special Election run-off between Bradley Byrne and Dean
Young (the Republican establishment candidate v. the Tea Party candidate as it
was deemed) stating that they were so upset with Byrne that they would be
willing to vote for Burton LeFlore to send a message to the Republican
Establishment, it is worth a try to appeal to these listeners. Dean Young, on a previous appearance on the
Uncle Henry Show, said that if he lost the run-off that he would neither
endorse, nor vote for Bradley Byrne because of what he perceived was Byrne’s
constant misrepresentation of his (Young’s) work. He repeated this on election night after it
was evident that Byrne received the majority of the votes. I listened to every appearance of Dean Young
on the Uncle Henry Show, including the one broadcast from a local business that
supported Dean Young and his last appearance that was actually supposed to be a
debate between Young and Byrne. Byrne
had to cancel his appearance because his brother was in the hospital and only
had a very little time to live. His
brother died soon after (http://blog.al.com/live/2013/10/dale_byrne_brother_of_congress.html). On a quick sidenote, we do have to realize
that these candidates are human beings with real problems and Byrne is to be
commended for taking a break from the campaign to do what is far more
important, spending as much time with a loved one as possible during his final
hours on this earth. Anyway, although the debate was cancelled, Young
continued with his appearance, with a reporter from The Guardian in tow. The interview at the commercial business was
much more productive and endearing than his last interview on the Uncle Henry
Show, which took place on October 24th. At one point, Dean Young
became flustered and told the callers that they need to back off. Uncle Henry plays his saying “y'all need to
back off” frequently. Here is what I tweeted at the time: “Artemesia
Stanberry @artiestan 24 Oct
Y'all
need to back off and stop lying- Young to a caller asking about military
record. Back off was said 6 times in 2 minutes
As mentioned, Young said on this show and on
election night that he would not support Bradley Byrne. After the election, a
well-known caller and figure in the community said he’d actually think about
voting for a Democrat out of frustration over how Byrne and the Republican
establishment treated Young. Here is what I tweeted following that comment:
Dr. Ben George just said
on @unclehenry that he has never voted for a Dem but he
is thinking about voting for @LeFloreCampaign
WOW! #al01
Several
callers called after that and in the days following the run-off election
echoing the same sentiment. And one
person who called the Uncle Henry Show who is not a regular said this:
A good line from call to @unclehenry
show regarding D. Young- "There is a difference between boldness and
belligerence." #AL01
Burton LeFlore has consistently come off and being
calm and willing to listen to the opposition.
And in his last debate between him and Bradley Byrne, he took bold
stances on the issue (http://www.wkrg.com/story/24139880/byrne-and-leflore-square-off-on-issues).
When Bradley Byrne had his rescheduled
debate appearance on the Uncle Henry Show on the day of the Special Election,
many Dean Young supporters cried foul.
They thought this was an unfair advantage for Bradley Byrne and may have
swayed the election. FYI- Young did call
during the show. Now, I did say that Uncle Henry is popular, but the idea that
that one appearance before an audience that had heard both candidates and their
supporters (with Dean Young supporters having the edge) so often swayed an
election is a bit hard to believe. The election was close, 52%- 47% (http://blog.al.com/live/2013/11/final_results_from_tuesdays_al_1.html) Besides, the audience is conservative and it
is liberals, not conservatives, who respond to emotion and gut reactions, wink,
wink. Even with an audience that believes
that Democrats are bad and Democrats who support President Obama are the worst
people in the world, Burton LeFlore can win over listeners by showing that he
is a human being who cares about the 1st District of Alabama and
will work to promote the interests of the 1st District. And if people want to vote for him on
December 17th, 2013 out of spite, out of true support, or out of
belief that he is the person who can bring a middle of the road approach to
dealing with Republicans and Democrats , then so be it, choose your reason to
vote for him. I do not know Burton
LeFlore, but I am familiar with the history of his family in the City of
Mobile. The truth be told, there were
two people that I hoped would run for the seat- this was before LeFlore made
his announcement- one is a state rep who has a leadership role in the Alabama
State Legislative body, has cross-over appeal, can appeal to disinterested
voters, and could have done a pretty good job at raising funds, but I admire
Burton LeFlore for running for a seat that everyone assumes will be a
Republican seat for the foreseeable future.
I think even the most hardened conservatives could appreciate this as
well.
In conclusion, Burton LeFlore could win a few more
votes by going on a conservative talk show where voters are disgruntled and
disappointed by 1) Jo Bonner’s decision to leave his seat to take a job with
the University of Alabama system (almost double the pay, and he gets to work
with his sister, the new President of the University of Alabama (the 1st
female President of the University, by the way), thus causing the state to have
a costly Special Election (http://www.wkrg.com/story/22471895/special-election-will-cost-taxpayers-2-million)
and 2) very disgruntled Dean Young
supporters. One of Bradley Byrne’s
supporters commented on how few voters came out to support LeFlore during the
Special Election. Understand, the
Special Election took place in September and the game in town was the 9
Republican candidates vying to make it on the December 17th ballot
that would determine who will replace former Rep. Jo Bonner. But a lot has happened since then and it is not
a guarantee that the increased turn-out that was seen for the run-off election that took place in November will
be replicated on December 17th. Bradley Bryne has put out a new commercial,
Bradley Byrne is receiving endorsements, campaign cash, and making the rounds-
I just saw his twitter pic of an event in Citronelle, Alabama this week- but
the number of people wanting to even think about another election one week
before a major holiday, let along going to actually vote will be small. What if Burton LeFlore provided the best
candidate appearance on the Uncle Henry Show on election day? And what if he
were to promote it in a way that the local media would cover the show during
their midday and 5 and 6pm news broadcasts?
It may just, just maybe, just perhaps, suppose it could be, dare I say,
a Christmas miracle. Go for it, Burton
LeFlore. Call Uncle Henry and book the
show for Tuesday, December 17th, if you have not done so. Bradley Byrne will be a guest on Monday,
December 16th, do your
appearance on December 17th and show your supporters how you can win
voters and influence listeners. For
Uncle Henry, if Burton LeFlore does appear on your show on election day and
does not win, then whenever a Dean Young supporter accuses you of helping Byrne
to win by having him on on election day, if LeFlore doesn’t win you can tell
them to back off, y’all just need to back off.
My Two Cents.
Peace,
Artemesia Stanberry
Previous blog posts relating to the 1st
congressional district of Alabama: http://freerodneystanberry.com/blog/2013/05/28/best-wishes-and-farewell-congressman-jo-bonner/
http://alabamajustice.blogspot.com/2013/06/better-know-district-alabama-1st.html
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