Last Friday, President Trump came to Mobile for one of his trademark rallies. When I got my turn to meet him, I expected a handshake and a photo to send to my family. Instead, the President pulled me aside with a question: Are we going to win?
That’s not a question you expect from the Leader of the Free World, especially one managing a war, the midterms, and everything else that lands on a president’s desk. It’s certainly not a question you expect him to ask a homebuilder and family man from Hartselle. But as Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, my job is to help elect Republicans across this state, and the President wanted to know how that job was going.
He started with the Governor’s race. I told him plainly that Coach Tuberville is going to win, and that Alabama cannot afford to let Doug Jones run Goat Hill. The President agreed without hesitation. He worked with Coach during his time in the Senate and watched him build winning football programs, so he knows Coach is a fighter, and a conservative fighter at that. He also knows how much Alabama stands to gain once Coach is in the Governor’s office.
Then he asked about the 2nd Congressional District. He wanted to know how Rhett Marques’s campaign was running and where he stands in the polls. Flipping a seat held by the other party is never easy, but if anyone can do it, it’s Rhett. I’ve served with him in the State House for years and have seen his work ethic up close. The President was clear that this seat matters for holding the Republican majority in Congress and delivering on the promises he made to the American people. Rhett will help him do exactly that.
Here’s what stayed with me.
President Trump didn’t come to Mobile just for a rally. He came to check on the work. He wanted names, numbers, and a plan, and he asked a state party chairman he had never met, not a donor or a congressman. That tells you what he’s focused on: delivering results for the American people.
Skeptics will say he just wants allies in Washington. Of course he does, and that’s a good thing. Few people in his position would crisscross the country to make sure Americans get strong conservative representation. But remember, he also asked about the race for Governor, an office that will never cast a vote on his agenda.
Once Coach leaves the Senate, he can’t vote for the President’s bills or lobby his colleagues to. The President asked anyway, because he cares about this state. In his own words, he came to Mobile to “pay respect” to Alabama.
So, are we going to win?
The President and I are on the same page.
The Alabama Republican Party is working tirelessly to make sure the answer is yes, and to secure a brighter, conservative future for our state.
Scott Stadthagen is chairman of the Alabama Republican Party and a member of the Alabama House of Representatives.
