The Alabama primary election season is on and poppin’ as the young people say. Several candidates are clawing each other, while organizations with a vested financial interest in various candidates are busy slinging mud on those they don’t support. Meanwhile, lawfare is casting a shadow in the governor’s race, albeit a barely discernable one.
Let’s start with the cat fights. Both Republican candidates for lieutenant governor – Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen and former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party John Wahl – have been at it hammer and tongs, with Allen attacking Wahl for attending a Ramadan interfaith dinner:
Allen said in a statement on Tuesday, ‘When John Wahl chose to enter an Islamic Center to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Ramadan earlier this month, he showed us that he does not share the same values as the majority of Alabamians. He can't spin this.’
Wahl fired back, telling 1819 News:
As a committed Christian, I will never hesitate to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ—anywhere, with anyone. Scripture calls us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. That means showing up, engaging with others, and boldly sharing the hope of Christ with those who don't know Him.The suggestion that I somehow embrace Muslim values or Ramadan is not only false—it is absurd.
Twenty-five years after 9/11, radical Islam has become a political and cultural marker once again. This is heightened by Operation Epic Fury in Iran, as well as several domestic terrorism incidents in New York, Texas, and other states that allegedly involve jihadists intent on killing Americans.
Allen and Wahl are still going at it, with other Alabama candidates and elected officials weighing in, making this an issue that will probably not die before the May primary. Whether this kerfuffle helped or harmed these candidates will be revealed at the polls.
The Club for Growth has made it known who they’re backing, as the organization donated $315,000 to Wahl’s campaign recently. It has also signaled it has zero interest in seeing Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall take U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s place in the Senate, as one of its 1.25 million attack ad buys against Marshall hit the airwaves recently.
WATCH:
The Club for Growth has endorsed U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) for Tuberville’s Senate seat. Moore also has President Donald Trump’s endorsement, along with ones from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
It appears the conventional winds are behind Moore’s back, while Marshall and the rest of the U.S. Senate candidates struggle to gain attention. Moore has joined Tuberville in swinging against radical Islam at every opportunity, and in a recent speech to a Huntsville Young Republicans group, U.S. Senate candidate Jared Hudson did the same, saying that Sharia law is the antithesis of the U.S. Constitution.
Then there is the governor’s race, which, as I explained in January, is Tuberville’s to lose. Yet lawfare is holding its sway, as the Alabama Reflector reports that Tuberville’s opponent, Ken McFeeters, has officially filed a lawsuit to have Tuberville removed from the ballot over Alabama residency issues.
The lawsuit, filed in Covington County Circuit Court against Tuberville and the Alabama Republican Party alleges that Tuberville has not lived in the state for seven years, a requirement for the office of governor under the state constitution.
‘I am through with asking, and now I am demanding Tommy Tuberville tell people the truth, swear that he lived in Alabama for the last seven years and prove it,’ McFeeters said at a press conference Tuesday at the Alabama State Capitol. ‘I hate suing, I have never filed a lawsuit in my life, it is against my nature.’
The law firm listed on the lawsuit is ‘God’s Law Team.’ A search on the Alabama State Bar website did not yield any results.
“God’s Law Team”? Not only does this seem sacrilegious, it also sounds horrifically unserious on its face. It seems McFeeters decided that since his challenge to the Alabama Republican Party was dismissed, he would continue to showboat and grasp at straws. If at first you don’t succeed…
McFeeters said he would remove himself from the ballot if Tuberville proved his residency.
Since Tuberville has powerful funding and Trump’s endorsement, it seems he doesn’t feel the need to prove anything. Indeed, Tuberville is not taking McFeeters or his lawsuit seriously, for “[a] spokesperson for Tuberville said in a statement Tuesday that McFeeters was ‘desperately trying to save his joke of a campaign.’”
This is the problem with politics in general. While the process invites all eligible citizens, the truly competent and serious ones are poorly funded and cannot get the requisite media (or party) attention, while the clown car crowd seems to have unlimited funding and promotion.
We need true Davids to take down Goliaths and make a difference. Sadly, we are offered cars full of clowns instead.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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