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As recounted here earlier, Elvis Presley was famously reticent to share his political views with the world. Unlike most of today's celebrities, who seem zealously called to impart their world views without even being asked, Elvis typically declined to comment even on the most controversial of issues that raged during his lifetime, from civil rights to the war in Vietnam.
There is no evidence that Elvis ever registered to vote or identified himself as a Republican or a Democrat. Though he gave thousands each year to charities and was famous for handing out Cadillacs to strangers, he apparently gave no money to political candidates or parties.
But there were exceptions to the rule. Early in his career, he was asked whether he liked "Ike" or
Tri-State Racetrack
Bring in the blackjack tables, set up the spinning wheels. Time will tell if the "1,000 new jobs" will happen, but that was never the point, despite the ad campaign. Tri-State owners just got a lot richer, demonstrating that West Virginia really does welcome out-of-staters.
The "Vote No" Coalition
The table games issue brought together a consortium of churches, social conservatives and other activists who had never before joined forces in such an organized way. A powerful new political coalition has been born in Kanawha County, and the new relationships will work together in the future to support or oppose candidates and issues.
Mayor Danny Jones
His aggressive promotion of the table games issue led the city of Charleston to carry the "yes" vote. But he also became a more polarizing figure than ever before, and in the end it might hurt him more than help.
Tri-State Employees
Employees were originally promised bonuses of $500 each if the referendum passed, a deal that seems perilously close to vote buying.
Governor Joe Manchin
The governor's talent for getting what he wants without directly dirtying his own hands was never more evident. Only Jefferson County's defeat of table games cramps the overall revenue he was depending on -- and its a sizable cramp.
Commissioner Kent Carper
The commissioner was originally willing to ignore the law on legal notice. Then he pointed fingers at anyone in sight to blame for various problems, especially targeting well respected clerk Vera McCormick. His erroneous public comments on technical matters more often than not had to be clarified by the Secretary of State's office. But never try to get between Carper and a microphone.
51 West Virginia Counties
The legislature's decision to disenfranchise all but four counties from deciding the table games issue will be an election issue in 2008.
Early Voting
Stretching out voting over a three-week period resulted in misplaced ballots and endless confusion over when and where to count votes. Some serious tinkering needs to be done, but the most obvious and simplest solution -- end, or at least shorten, early voting -- probably won't happen.
Local Video Lottery Terminals
In an ironic partnership, table games opponents and Tri-State both want neighborhood gray machines eliminated -- one side because they believe it's wrong to have thousands of slot machines dotting the landscape, the other side so everyone is forced to come to the track to gamble.
"Yes" Voters
Those who bought into the "new jobs, boon to the economy" campaign are in for a big disappointment.
Table games: the winners and the losers
THE WINNERS
THE LOSERS
Less than 2 votes per precinct is a civics lesson to be remembered
If the table games referendum did nothing else, it helped to bring credibility to all the old bromides constantly preached in civics classes, i.e., every vote does count, one person really can make a difference, etc.
Out of more than 46,000 votes in Kanawha County, the issue was decided by a mere 343 ballots. That's fewer than two votes per precinct. Every vote, every precinct, is always worth fighting for.
The election also served to energize Kanawha County conservatives, who combined spent only a few thousand dollars that nearly toppled a multi-million dollars "yes" campaign.
The relationships that have been formed thanks to a common foe will last for years to come, and the new muscle built from the strength in numbers will be flexed in future elections.
News and notes...
The funeral service Thursday for Bob Gould brought out Republicans and Democrats alike to pay their respects. The biggest VIP was, of course, Gov. Joe Manchin. He and First Lady Gayle Manchin, along with Chief of Staff Larry Puccio, came to pay their respects, as did Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, former Governor Arch Moore, Secretary of State Betty Ireland, Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin, and many, many other luminaries from politics and business. Bob's wife Denise graciously received the condolences of hundreds of mourners who came to say a final farewell to a man taken much too soon.
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It was fun to serve as the unofficial resident Elvis Presley expert last week, with stories and interviews with Jake Stump in the Charleston Daily Mail (which featured an embarrassingly large front page photo of yours truly in full Elvis mode), with Mannix Porterfield in the Beckley Register-Herald, and with Hoppy Kercheval on his "Talkline" program on Thursday. It was nice having the rare opportunity to do interviews on a non-political subject.
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If not for McDonald's I would starve to death, so the recent lawsuits against the fast food chain are highly disturbing. One plaintiff is suing Mickey D's because they put cheese on his Quarter Pounder. Hmmm. On the other hand, if I sued McDonald's every time they didn't hold the tomato, or gave me a regular instead of a diet, or for every time I drove all the way home with food for the whole family only to discover half my order was missing, I could be a very, very wealthy guy. But let's face it, if you're seriously allergic to cheese and don't make sure to check for yourself that they did indeed hold the cheese, the fault is entirely your own. If this case gets beyond the very early stages, we are in deep trouble.
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TODAY'S ELVIS TRIVIA
Only one right answer to Thursday's tough trivia question, which was: In 1975, after learning that John Denver had given his manager a Rolls Royce, what did Elvis buy for Col. Parker (a gift Parker turned down)? The only correct answer was submitted (on his third try) by Tommy Phillips -- a Lockheed Jetstar jet airplane. Parker turned it down because, he said, he couldn't afford it. Elvis kept it for himself, and soon also bought a huge Convair 880 (similar to a Boeing 707), dubbed the "Lisa Marie." Both planes are on display at Graceland. Today's question: Elvis recorded several songs with the names of cities and/or states in their titles -- none about West Virginia. But name the Elvis song title referencing the closest geographic location to West Virginia.
Elvis Presley checks out the Oval Office while President Nixon checks out his cuff links during Elvis' famous Dec. 21, 1970 visit to the White House.
Elvis: GOP, Dem, or none of the above?
President Eisenhower's Democrat opponent, Adlai Stevenson in the 1956 presidential election.
Drawing on some typical 1950s lingo, Elvis replied, "I'm strictly for Stevenson. I don't dig the intellectual bit, but I'm telling you, man, he knows the most."
In 1956, an endorsement from Elvis Presley -- the rebellious, dangerous singer of that godless rock'n'roll music -- may not have boosted Stevenson's chances. But Elvis' sentiments for the Democrat nominee are not difficult to fathom. His family had largely survived the post-depression 1930s and '40s courtesy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal" program, usually living in government housing and employed through Work Projects Administration jobs.
No doubt chastised by Col. Tom Parker for opening his big mouth, Elvis henceforth clammed up when it came to politics, telling interviewers bold enough to ask his opinions on controversial issues, "I'm just an entertainer, and I'd just as soon keep my views to myself."
But Elvis expressed views in private, and they were bluntly expressed in 1970 in a letter to President Nixon, which Elvis hastily scrawled on American Airlines stationary as he flew to Washington hoping to secure a badge designating him a federal narcotics agent.
In the letter, which only came to light after Elvis' death, the former rock'n'roll rebel (but by now former Army sergeant, too) told Nixon, "I admire you and have great respect for your office. I talked to Vice President Agnew in Palm Springs three weeks ago, and expressed my concern for our country. The drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc., do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it the establishment. I call it America and I love it."
Elvis was known by his friends to be a world class charmer when he wanted something, and his letter no doubt was designed to tell Nixon things the president wanted to hear. What Elvis wanted at the moment was the federal badge, and before the day was over Nixon promised he would have it, after a spur of the moment Oval Office visit hilariously recounted in a Showtime film called "Elvis Meets Nixon," available on DVD.
A week later, Elvis went back to D.C. to collect his badge, and was given a private tour of FBI headquarters, with agents making notes indicating that Elvis expressed criticism of the Beatles, Jane Fonda, the Smothers Brothers and others, saying they had "poisoned young minds by disparaging the United States in their public statements and unsavory activities."
But again, Elvis wanted something, and this time it was a personal meeting with J. Edgar Hoover, and he no doubt believed some pointed criticism of "subversive" entertainers would carry some weight with the FBI director. But a Hoover meeting was refused because agents informed Hoover that while Elvis appeared sincere, he insisted "in the wearing of all sorts of exotic dress," like the black caped suit and huge gold belt he had worn to visit Nixon.
Elvis' last encounter with a president was just a few weeks before his death. He had met Jimmy Carter when Carter, as governor of Georgia, had attended one of Elvis' concerts in Atlanta. Now, Elvis put in a phone call to the White House hoping the president could pull some strings in helping one of Elvis' buddies get out of a federal fraud investigation.
Carter returned the call the next morning, but said later that it seemed Elvis was "too stoned" to express himself coherently to the president. Elvis called back later, but Carter refused the call.
But when Elvis died within weeks, Carter issued the first ever official presidential statement on the death of an entertainer, against the advice of some of his staff, who felt doing so demeaned the office of the presidency.
In probably the best move of his presidency, Carter said the following:
"Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself. He was unique and irreplaceable. More than 20 years ago, he burst upon the scene with an impact that was unprecedented and will probably never be equaled. His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country."
Couldn't have said it better myself, which is tough for a Republican to admit.
Then-Governor Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, visited Elvis backstage at an Atlanta concert, 1974.
