Oh my God, is that Jeff Sessions’ music?
This is how desperate things have become for the GOP — both in Alabama and nationally. On Monday, Politico and other national outlets began reporting on rumors that have been swirling in Alabama for weeks now: Jeff Sessions, everyone’s favorite tiny racist, is considering a run for his old Senate seat.
This would be quite the turnaround for Sessions, who, sources have said, took great glee in telling Republican powerbrokers to stuff it a few months ago when they showed up on his doorstep making the same request.
But that was before things got really desperate — like Tommy Tuberville and Roy Moore leading in the polls.
Current Sen. Doug Jones scores well against both in pretty much every demographic, but particularly with white, suburban, Republican women.
That was a Roy Moore issue the first time around, and surprisingly (or maybe not), ol’ Tubs doesn’t score any better with them. Shockingly, simply being a mediocre college football coach for awhile doesn’t impress women.
And so, the GOP bigwigs reached down deep in the bag and have (maybe) come up with an offer Sessions can’t refuse.
They probably need him.
Because the party is fading into irrelevancy quickly. More quickly than most predicted.
Look at the maps and the trends. Long held Republican territories are shrinking at a remarkable rate. To the point that states like Georgia, North Carolina and Texas are suddenly in play for Democrats in 2020 — not 2024 or later, as most predicted.
If Doug Jones were to win another term in Alabama — the reddest of red states — well, Republicans might be looking at a nightmare scenario. And by that, I mean the scenario in which they have to back away from their racist, misogynistic approach to trickle down governance that is tailored to the 1-percenters, and instead consider legislating in a manner that respects the rights and values of all people.
I know, I know. Shiver at the thought, Republicans.
But that’s where things are — so desperate that they’re hauling Sessions out of his retirement, where he was undoubtedly spending his time participating in Civil War reenactments in which the South won the “war of northern aggression.”
If you’re an Alabama voter, though, let me ask you a simple question: Why wouldn’t you vote for Doug Jones?
Set aside for a moment the fact there isn’t an R beside his name and try to answer that question honestly.
What has Jones done during his time in office that would lead you — common, working man or woman in Alabama — to not vote for him?
Because I can tell you a few things he has done.
Just last week, he introduced a bill to create and expand job training programs to offset job losses that are expected to hit Alabama hard due to automation.
That was about the 50th pro-worker bill he’s introduced in his short time in office.
Jones has also been instrumental in passing legislation that aids Alabama farmers and protects health insurance benefits for some of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
He has fought to get the military widow’s tax eliminated and to get funding to combat infant deaths in the state. He’s secured millions in grants for a number of programs, including for children’s education and health, maternal health and veterans’ assistance programs.
And the majority of the legislation that he has written or co-sponsored has been bipartisan, and it has passed.
But even if I didn’t tell you any of that, here’s how you know Jones has done a good job: With their candidates lagging in the polls, when the ALGOP went looking for a way to attack Jones, the best they could do was a phony, made-up gimmick demanding that Jones make a decision on impeaching Trump immediately.
That’s it. Nothing on his voting record. No attacks on legislation that he’s sponsored or supported.
Just that ridiculous nonsense.
For the record, Jones’ position was and is that he would be a juror at any potential impeachment trial and that it would be improper for him to make a decision before hearing all of the facts. The same position that almost every Republican in the U.S. Senate has taken.
The fact is Doug Jones has served the people of Alabama — the majority of the people of Alabama — admirably. He’s paid attention to causes and issues that have gone unattended to for years. And he’s done more for the working class in this state in two years than Sessions did in two decades.
Maybe if you can’t come up with a good reason to mess with that progress, you shouldn’t.
