Over the past ten years, the following question has been posed to me, “Flowers, why in the world does Alabama not have a lottery, and why can’t we receive the revenue from gambling that every one of our surrounding states and almost every state in America thrives on?”

Over this past decade, I have spoken to as many as 50 major Civic Clubs and Chamber of Commerce banquets. As Alabama’s primary political columnist and commentator, I am considered mainstream conservative, therefore, most of the clubs are Rotary Clubs. These conservative Rotarians and Chamber of Commerce leaders are primarily mainstream conservative voters, and movers and shakers in their communities. After my talks to them about current Alabama politics and Alabama political history, I tend to open up at the end for questions from the floor. The aforementioned question on gambling and lottery dollars has been the most prevalent question asked for the past decade from these conservative audiences.