The Other McCain

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Instapundit Interviews Les Phillip

Posted on | February 13, 2010 | 6 Comments

This was sort of a carom shot of my Alabama trip. My Monday American Spectator column included two paragraphs about Les Phillip, who is running for Congress in Alabama’s 5th District. Friday night, after the state GOP meeting in Montgomery, Ali Akbar and I hung out with Phillip — who smokes cigars — on the veranda of the lobby bar at the Renaissance Hotel. (Photo here.)

Professor Reynolds highlighted Phillip when he linked the column. So, Tuesday night I’m driving home through a blizzard when my cell phone rings and it’s Ali, calling from Phillips HQ in Madison, Ala.: “Glenn Reynolds is on the phone with Les right now!” And today his column appears in the Wall Street Journal with this:

One of the less-noted aspects of Mrs. Palin’s speech was her endorsement of primary challenges for incumbent Republicans, something that is already underway. Tea partiers I talked to hope to replace a lot of entrenched time-servers and to throw a scare into others.
One primary challenger is Les Phillip. He is running against Republican Parker Griffith in Alabama’s fifth congressional district. Mr. Phillip, a black businessman and Navy veteran who immigrated with his parents from Trinidad in his youth, got his start in politics speaking at a tea-party protest in Decatur, Ala., last year.
“Somebody had to speak,” he told me, “so I stepped up.” He did well enough that he was invited to speak at another protest in Trussville, Ala., after which things sort of snowballed. Of the tea partiers, he says, “Their values are pretty much mine. I live in a town in North Alabama where there are plenty of blacks driving Mercedes and living in big houses. Only in America can someone come from a little island and live the dream. I’ve liked it, and that’s what I want for my children. [But] I saw the window closing for my own kids.”
Mr. Phillip has gotten tea-party endorsements, as well as one from Mike Huckabee. The Republican establishment is siding with Mr. Griffith, who only recently switched from Democrat to Republican. That support is perhaps understandable as realpolitik, but it’s not the sort of thing that sits well with tea partiers, who think that too much realpolitik is what rendered the Republican Party corrupt and ossified over the past decade.

Read the whole thing. In another one of those small-world coincidences, Professor Reynolds also mentions Angela McGlowan, whom I profiled in a 2007 feature article for the Washington Times when she published her book Bamboozled., and who is now running for Congress in Missisissippi’s 1st District.

A little humor: At one point during our conversation Friday, I made a reference to which Les responded, “I know. I Googled you.”

Lies! All lies!

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Category: Alabama, Republicans, Tea Party

Comments

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  • victoria_29

    Great read…glad to see true conservatives like Les & Angela getting some attention. Maybe the RNC will wake up at some time.

  • victoria_29

    Great read…glad to see true conservatives like Les & Angela getting some attention. Maybe the RNC will wake up at some time.

  • Cathy

    The mainstream media just doesn’t “get it”. Tea Party “people” are NORMAL, every day, hard-working, little league game attending, church members, employees, employers, from all walks of life. It’s not a “GOP” thing or a “DNC” thing, it’s about abuse of government. It’s about stopping the liberty our government (state and federal) has been taking with our tax dollars and with the U.S. Constitution.

    Most of us happen to know a thing or two about this country, how it works, economics, how to run a business, how to raise children, and we also know that en masse, we are a powerful force.

    Angela McGlowan happens to be black. Les Phillip happens to be black (I never really noticed) and because we haven’t distinguished this, indicates that as long as that candidate is dedicated to the principles this country was founded upon and will be accountable to “We the People” we don’t care if he/she is purple.

    Speaking of Les Phillip, he is the ONLY candidate for Congress in the 5th District of AL who is qualified for the job. Oh, no he hasn’t held any political office. That is just one reason of many why he is the man for the job. He owes no one a thing.

    He knows what we need, he CAME to this country to that he would have the opportunity and freedom to achieve all he could. He didn’t achieve his success as a result of hand-outs or special favors. He knows what America is about and he, of all people, should appreciate it. And, he does. He wants his children to have the SAME AMERICA that he got to know when he came to the USA.

    How did we get here? We know the way back, and that is with people like Les Phillip and Angela McGlowan taking back our country.

    Let the left grumble and groan about The Tea Party. They have move.org, Obama for America, oh I’m sorry it’s now Organizing for America, ACORN, the SEIU and who knows what else up their sleeve. But, we’ve got something for them. People like Les Phillip AND the people of America and they have a big battle coming because we aren’t giving up on America, yet.

    Thanks for writing and mentioning Les Phillip. He is a constitutional conservative is has already taken an oath to protect this country and the Constitution. He still does and will continue to do so.

  • Cathy

    The mainstream media just doesn’t “get it”. Tea Party “people” are NORMAL, every day, hard-working, little league game attending, church members, employees, employers, from all walks of life. It’s not a “GOP” thing or a “DNC” thing, it’s about abuse of government. It’s about stopping the liberty our government (state and federal) has been taking with our tax dollars and with the U.S. Constitution.

    Most of us happen to know a thing or two about this country, how it works, economics, how to run a business, how to raise children, and we also know that en masse, we are a powerful force.

    Angela McGlowan happens to be black. Les Phillip happens to be black (I never really noticed) and because we haven’t distinguished this, indicates that as long as that candidate is dedicated to the principles this country was founded upon and will be accountable to “We the People” we don’t care if he/she is purple.

    Speaking of Les Phillip, he is the ONLY candidate for Congress in the 5th District of AL who is qualified for the job. Oh, no he hasn’t held any political office. That is just one reason of many why he is the man for the job. He owes no one a thing.

    He knows what we need, he CAME to this country to that he would have the opportunity and freedom to achieve all he could. He didn’t achieve his success as a result of hand-outs or special favors. He knows what America is about and he, of all people, should appreciate it. And, he does. He wants his children to have the SAME AMERICA that he got to know when he came to the USA.

    How did we get here? We know the way back, and that is with people like Les Phillip and Angela McGlowan taking back our country.

    Let the left grumble and groan about The Tea Party. They have move.org, Obama for America, oh I’m sorry it’s now Organizing for America, ACORN, the SEIU and who knows what else up their sleeve. But, we’ve got something for them. People like Les Phillip AND the people of America and they have a big battle coming because we aren’t giving up on America, yet.

    Thanks for writing and mentioning Les Phillip. He is a constitutional conservative is has already taken an oath to protect this country and the Constitution. He still does and will continue to do so.

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