Senator Doug Jones Holds Campaign Rally – EVENT PHOTOS

by Steve Wiggins
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TUSCUMBIA – The Young Democrats held a rather unusual political rally this past Friday. In normal times, such events would be held inside to hear local candidates for office speak to their constituents about the upcoming elections. But with COVID-19, everything has changed. So they conducted their event at the Alabama Music Hall, outside. It was a “drive-up” rally. Several hundred cars parked out in front of a big stage like they were at a concert or a drive-in movie theater to listen to what their candidates had to say. It was really pretty neat.

The big event of the evening came when former Alabama state Senator Roger Bedford introduced the Guest of Honor, United States Senator from Alabama, Doug Jones. Before the event The Quad Cities Daily had a chance to speak with Senator Jones and get his take on the state of the Nation, the COVID-19 pandemic response, and his race for reelection this November.

QUAD CITIES DAILY – Could you please sum up what’s going on in Washington?

SENATOR JONES – It’s pretty crazy up there. It’s been really disappointing. What’s happening up there should not be happening and that’s the bottom line… It should not be happening. We should not have to be forced into making any kind of nomination… And it’s just that simple. It’s too close to the election and the American people deserve a say.

QUAD CITIES DAILY – How do we reconcile it? Long term… Are you in favor of going back to a 60 vote majority to pass and to seat Supreme Court justices?

SENATOR JONES – I think that horse is out of the barn. I would love to see it changed back to 60 votes, quite frankly. I think Mitch McConnel has eroded the great institution of the Senate. It’s no longer the great deliberative body. It’s a partisan rubber stamp. I don’t see it happening. Republicans are not doing it and I don’t seen enough Democrats in favor of a 60 vote requirement. If they get control of the Senate, I think there would be only a few Democrats that would vote for it… I think overwhelmingly, most would not. At least not if there’s a Democratic President. They might if Donald Trump is reelected.

QUAD CITIES DAILY – What’s going on with these confabs with the Joint Chiefs and transition of the Presidency if Biden wins?

SENATOR JONES – Look… I think there’s just a lot of talk. There’s a lot of uncertainty and the President is stoking these fears. When he says he would not agree to a peaceful transition of power if he loses, look… That’s concerning… That’s very concerning. But you’d have a lot of pushback from Republicans on the issue of that subject. and there should be pushback by the Republicans. At the end of the day, though, this Republic is going to survive. The Constitution is going to be there. And we will survive. We will have a President. It may be Donald Trump. It may be Joe Biden. But the fact is, we are going to have a President, and there will be a peaceful transition of power if that’s what the Electorate calls for. I am convinced of that. But we still need to be on guard! We need to be on guard about what happens on Election Day to make sure that those elections are free, fair and done appropriately.

QUAD CITIES DAILY – About your race here in Alabama. Your account, versus Tommy Tuberville’s account.

SENATOR JONES – Look, I believe that we’re going to win this race. I believe that we’ve done so much for the people of Alabama in every Zip Code. It doesn’t matter whether it’s veterans, teachers, hospital workers, union workers… Businesses, small businesses in Alabama. We have been everywhere for all people. that’s why you see all these signs and t-shirts that say, “ONE ALABAMA”, because that’s who we represent. And I’ve got a record that I’m very, very proud of. Not everybody agrees with me on everything. But the one thing that I do Know, is that when I decided to run for this office, I got prepared on the issues. I was a lawyer, so there were some things that I knew about and there were others that I didn’t know about but I studied and I ran and I learned and I discussed those issues. Tommy Tuberville just doesn’t do that. He is running as a matter of his ego. He doesn’t care about the issues. He’s not prepared to be a U.S. Senate candidate, much less a United States Senator! He thinks that just being a member of the Republican Party gets him across the finish line. And I’ve got news for him… Alabama’s got a lot more independent strength than he thinks! And for the first time in 2017, that independent strength came forward. It was a close race. It was a tough race, but the people of Alabama decided that “we want to move forward” and we don’t want the “same-old, same-old”. So, at the end of the day, the people of Alabama recognize that I’ve got their back. I’m working for them. And he (Tuberville) is only in the race to do one thing… Have Donald Trump’s back. And Donald Trump may not even be President. But that’s his whole thing. He has no substance what ever! Look, this guy doesn’t even know what the Voting Rights Act was. OK, y’all have heard that audio. You know, you’re running for the United States Senate from the birthplace of the Voting Rights Act… And he doesn’t have a clue? I mean… Come on! That… Right there should disqualify him. The Republicans should pick someone who t least has got a clue and tell him to get out of the race. I know that’s being quite facetious. But the fact of the matter is, somebody who doesn’t have a clue what the Voting Rights Act is, has no business even being a candidate for the U.S. Senate from the Sate of Alabama. We need to be extending the Voting Rights Act, not trying to stammer around trying to explain your position.

QUAD CITIES DAILY – What about his statement that $6-hundred dollars a months is too much money for those people displaced from their jobs due to the corona virus pandemic?

SENATOR JONES – It’s absurd! It’s “too much” for people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, but Tuberville didn’t mind taking his $5-million dollar payout when he quit at Auburn, he didn’t mind taking a $250-thousand a year “no-show” job at Auburn, and still draws $8-hundred dollars a week, maybe from Retirement Systems of Alabama! It’s crazy! That shows how out of touch he is with issues and the people of this state. People have lost their jobs and are still hurting. We hear from people all the time. Our unemployment has gone down, but there’s still a lot of people hurting. There’s  a lot of people here who the economy wasn’t working for when there was lower unemployment, and it’s for sure not working them now. They need healthcare, and they need unemployment. As for COVID, I’m not really optimistic about a new stimulus/recovery package. McConnell has shown no urgency to do that. None! The House of Representatives passed a bill in May, stating that COVID was going to be with through the Summer and beyond. But McConnell showed no urgency. and now he’s looking to get a Supreme Court seat filled. There’ll just be another continuing resolution to keep the government open past the election, and the he will recess until November.

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