“On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.” — Revelation 19:16
Welcome to yet another election day.
The GOP runoffs will finally end after today's results – finally!
The closing stretch of these runoffs has been an exhausting race to the bottom, enough to make this man pray for the return of the King.
I confess I’d take a benevolent monarch if it would spare me yet another round of low I.Q. attack ads and text solicitations vying for my vote. Who knew democracy could feel like such a mockery of self-government?
The U.S. Senate runoff between U.S. Rep. Barry Moore and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson has particularly left a bittersweet taste for democracy on my lips. Something about a head-to-head electoral competition – especially between two men who are almost identical on practical policy – inevitably leads to the most strained and uncharitable of distinctions.
Who is the real Republican? Who is the real Christian? Who is the real veteran?
If this weren’t campaign season, the answer to all these questions would easily be both men. Yet, it is campaign season, so we are encouraged to pretend otherwise until someone wins.
That said, through the course of this campaign, I did run across one difference between Moore and Hudson that seems genuinely true and could be reason enough to sway some undecided voters either way.
The difference? How each man plans to work with Alabama’s soon-to-be senior U.S. Sen. Katie Britt.
A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to interview both Hudson and Moore on the same day. Here’s what each man had to say about Britt.
First up, Jared Hudson:
Joey:
I think to your credit, you're coming out as an outsider. You haven't been in political office, but there's always, you know, there's a give-and-take with all these positions.
I worry about somebody, especially in the United States Senate, the learning curve of how do you advance all these great ideas you just splayed out there as well as many others we've talked about over the months now.
Who are you going to lean on, like, in staffing up? Because, you know, I've seen it with a lot of folks, good folks, that come in here and know what they believe in and know what they want to fight for, but Washington's a different – it's almost like a different country within our country.
So, how do you…having to learn the Senate, learn the tricks of the trade up there in DC?
Jared Hudson:
It is. Well, one benefit, one benefit we have is we have, you know, a senior senator that's already up there that's already playing the game.
And even in the last shutdown back in November, the last full shutdown, President Trump said, 'Hey, Katie Britt was the one that brought the ball across the line and helped reopen the government.' Right? Bridging that gap.
With that being said, obviously learning from our senior senator, being able to work hand-in-hand with our senior senator to deliver for Alabama.
But on the other side of it, you know, I'm a team guy. As a field, we're called team guys. We understand how teamwork is supposed to go. That's why we are called team guys. Making sure that you work together with the people on your team, but also do it in a way that delivers for the mission. It's not that we just go along to get along.
And I think that that's why D.C. is so difficult on people. Folks will go up there and they want to go along to get along. That's not necessarily what it is. It's making sure that we work together to deliver on the mission. We got to accomplish the mission.
What's the mission? Well, the mission for me and Sen. Britt will be the people of the state of Alabama. The mission of the U.S. Senate as a whole is to deliver for the United States of America.
Next up, Barry Moore:
Joey:
Now, how do you think you will operate, work with, the current junior, will-be-senior-senator-soon, Sen. Britt … and here's what I'm thinking about – for years what we had Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions. That seemed like a pretty good dynamic to me.
Barry Moore:
Yes, absolutely. And Katie's in her lanes. I mean, she's on appropriations. She's got some areas that she understands and runs … and my thoughts are Coach [Tuberville] and I have the same Liberty score. Like we're both at 95, 96. Two of the top in the country.
And for me to backfill the lanes where Coach is, make sure that I'm working on the defense parameters, the veterans parameters, the agriculture parameters, the things as we look at Alabama – you've got so many committees that you're on and you have to align your needs for the state with the committee assignments in D.C.
And one thing people don't know about is if you come out of the House to the Senate you get preferential treatment over a newcomer to D.C. So being able to target those committees and having that House experience, they give you preferential treatment on committees.
So, we're going to try to backfill where Coach is. Katie stays in her lanes. And we work with the governor, Tuberville, and we work with the delegation. That's how we're getting these wins for Alabama.
So one man wants to learn from and work “hand-in-hand” with Britt, while the other says, “Katie stays in her lanes.”
If you’re still undecided on this election day, perhaps you should ask yourself what kind of junior partner you think is best to send to Washington, D.C., to work with Britt. Perhaps you should even consider who Britt herself prefers – and if it would be good or bad for Alabama if she gets who she wants.
Yet, no matter what result this election day may bring, I still find myself praying for the return of the King.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL, M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances, as well as any feedback, please email [email protected]. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
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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