Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the newly sworn-in Sen. Doug Jones (D-Birmingham) suggested his vote would be up for grabs in the U.S. Senate.
Jones told host Joe Scarborough he was taking a cue from former Alabama U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin in that he would listen and do his best to reflect the mood of Alabama.
“I think that that is critical,” Jones said. “I made a promise during the campaign. I said it yesterday after I was sworn in — that I think the role of the senator, two roles — you got to listen and learn from your constituents, learning what they’re hurting about, what they’re concerned about. And the other part of that is also to try to use your office to educate folks. I’m going to try to do that as much — I don’t want to try to dodge people. I don’t want to run from folks like we’ve seen so much in the last couple of years. I think the only way to be effective is to be out there, to talk to people.”
“And again, we may not agree,” he continued. “We’re not going to agree on everything, but I want to listen to hear those concerns. I think that’s what people are looking for most — somebody that’s going to care about them, listen to their concerns. And they know — I was raised in politics by Senator Howell Heflin from Alabama. He was one of the great leaders, and he did that. He taught me how to listen. He taught me how to reflect Alabama. And that’s what I hope to do. I think it’s going to be a tug-of-war both ways for my vote.”
Jones went on to add the CHIP program and infrastructure as some of his possible early priorities and cited his long-time relationship with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) to work to continue to bring military funding to the state.
Jeff Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and works as the editor of Breitbart TV. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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