You probably had many of the same thoughts I had when I was recently stuck in stalled bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 565 due to Redstone Gate staffing shortages, just sitting there burning increasingly expensive gas, when I remembered that Dale Strong supported the DOGE cuts. Why would Dale vote for these cuts that not only led to this traffic nightmare but also eliminated thousands of jobs on the arsenal, including a 25 percent reduction at Marshall Space Flight Center?
Didn’t Strong also support the Big Beautiful Bill, which has caused millions to lose their health care and kids to go hungry due to radical cuts and changes to SNAP?
Well, you wouldn’t know that from the expensive, glossy campaign mailer he recently sent out that he paid for using public, taxpayer dollars (also known as your money). It also didn’t mention how he accumulated $25 million as a career politician on the Madison County Commission and in Congress. What about his poor decision-making as head of the county commission when he failed to allocate approved funds to ensure the safety of a railroad crossing, which could have prevented the deaths of a father and his 8-year-old daughter, but later that same year managed to find funds to give himself and the commission a raise? Strange how that wasn’t on the taxpayer-funded campaign postcard either.
And lately, now that it’s an election year, Dale suddenly appears to care about late mail delivery in his district (a long-standing problem that began in 2011), but his “solution” was to offer up a performative, toothless bill that would do nothing whatsoever to fix the problem.
Funny thing, I ran into him at the airport on my way to Washington, D.C., recently and I insisted that he have a conversation with me. (Folks didn’t give me the opportunity to be their voice for me not to use it.) At least he seems to know who “the other guy” is now. Our conversation was direct but mostly polite. When I asked him in person about attending a town hall or debate, his reply was that he was going to simply run on his record. Interesting choice …
Let’s talk about that record:
-
Voted for an illegal war and tariffs leading to higher prices and record fuel costs
-
A trillion-dollar cut to Medicaid
-
$70 billion in tax breaks for data centers
-
Refusing to uphold his constitutional duties
How has that helped the people of north Alabama?
Something tells me that these are the type of questions that get screened and silenced when he has those no-notice telephone conference calls that he tries to pass off as town halls …
Even after constant public outcry and shaming on social media, Strong adamantly refuses to have any sort of free public town hall or a debate to explain his support for policies that are actually harming the people he’s supposed to represent.
Perhaps, most simply, Strong is wrong because he refuses to listen.
Representative—the job description is in the title. You can’t represent people if you won’t even show up and hear what they have to say, and you can’t bring people together if you engage in the politics of division.
I’m Andrew Sneed and I’m running to represent you in the 5th Congressional District because I believe it’s time to elect a congressman who will hear every voice and actively work to fix what’s deeply broken in Washington. That’s why I built the nation’s largest candidate coalition for foundational government reform (www.take-bac-congress.us). It’s time to fix the House.
My closing argument is simple. It’s time for Congress to be Congress again. Congress controls the purse strings; it is the branch that decides when and if we go to war, and Congress is sworn to function and serve as a constitutional check against executive or judicial overreach.
I am running for Congress because I believe we require new leadership that has a vision and belief in not only what north Alabama can accomplish but what we can show the entire nation. We must be tough, principled and brave. This isn’t a job for a career politician. Dale isn’t strong; he’s wrong and wrong for the hardworking families in our district. This moment requires a new, authentic kind of representative: one who understands that all people deserve to be met where they are: in their anger, in their worry, in their fears and in their hopes.
A representative that will hear them. A representative that truly believes that if we will agree to work together again—we can rise to meet this moment.
Big problems require big solutions … but isn’t that exciting? I believe north Alabama, as much as anywhere in this incredible nation, is capable of leading us to better days. Because unlike some other parts, we haven’t lost our grit or our common sense.
We haven’t lost our faith. Indeed, it is what this campaign is about.
Ours is a government created by and for the people. I have faith that if we will fight to reinvigorate that purpose—with leaders who know it is their job to serve the people—we can remember again what it meant for the entire world for America to be that shining city on a hill. We can not only right this ship—but set sail again towards shimmering horizons that seem lately to have faded from view. North Alabama can lead the way. We can lead the way forward—together. For my children and for yours, we have to.
I’m Andrew Sneed, I’m asking for your vote and that’s my closing argument.
That’s Our Way Forward.
