When Sen. Doug Jones beat Roy Moore to become Alabama’s junior U.S. senator, it was widely believed by everyone who was not in the mainstream media or a Jones voter, that Jones is a caretaker senator.
If Jones want to keep this seat, Jones has to represent Alabama and not just his voters. To keep his seat, barring a Roy Moore political rebirth, Jones has to represent all of the voters that sat out the 2017 special election. Can he do this without voting with President Donald Trump on a Supreme Court nominee? Congressman Bradley Byrne told WVNN and Yellowhammer News that Jones has to balance what he wants to do with what he has to do to survive:
“Doug is a personal friend of mine, and I like him a lot, but Doug really does personally deep inside of him agree with the liberal agenda. So, he knows the political ramifications of voting against whoever President Trump brings up. But deep down inside of him he does not want to vote for that person, and he’s getting a lot of support in that regard from people on the Democratic side. So, it is a tough decision for him, I get it, but he was elected to be a senator from Alabama. And when you are in that position you have to represent Alabama, and you are not representing Alabama if you are going against President Trump’s pick to be on the United States Supreme Court.”
Why this matters:
President Trump’s choice is going to be a pro-life choice, Jones and his base are not. Alabama, as a whole, is the most pro-choice in the union. While Jones does not have an election this year, other Democrats in red states do.
Sens. Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Donnelly and Claire McCaskill’s public pronouncements may give us a clue as to where Jones is heading. However, Jones has been particularly secretive of his decision making, he hedged on the Trump tax cuts and still hasn’t said where he stood on Trump’s other Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. The obvious difference here is that he never had to cast votes on those matters so he can have some wiggle room, but he will have to vote on this.
Listen to the interview here:
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
