WASHINGTON – It’s official now, Alabama State Sen. Vivian Davis Figures will run against Sen. Jeff Sessions for one of the state’s coveted spots in the U.S. Senate.
Aside from the grim reaction from the various political scientists quoted in the Birmingham News and Press-Register who believe Figures will have a tough battle ahead of her to beat Sessions, not many others Democratic supporters are giving her a chance. Sessions has raised a considerable war chest and thus many of the Democrat grassroots are not putting a lot of confidence in Figures.
Agricultural Commissioner Ron Sparks was the consensus pick and seen as the best shot for the Democrats to defeat Sessions, but Sparks said earlier this summer he had decided not to run.
History isn’t on Figures’ side. Sessions won in 2002 by defeating Democrat Susan Parker with 59 percent of the vote and the last senator from Alabama to lose re-election was in 1986 when Jeremiah Denton lost to Richard Shelby.
Ron Paul’s curious Alabama popularity
Ron Paul, a Texas congressman and Republican presidential hopeful has picked up some notable support within the state and that might make some scratch their heads and wonder who Ron Paul is.
Earlier this month, the West Alabama Republican Assembly held their straw poll in Tuscaloosa. Out of the 266 votes cast, Paul overwhelmingly won with 216 votes with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney a distant second with 14 votes.
Despite not being very high in national polls, Paul has had some very fervent support.
“I think that the reason [for his energetic support] is two-fold,” Clay Rossi, a Mobile attorney and Ron Paul activist, told Lagniappe. “First is that no other candidate in either party is even paying lip service to freedom and liberty. Their message is one of fear and dependence on government. There has finally come a backlash against this kind of ‘soft’ negative campaigning. People don’t want to wake up everyday in fear and trepidation. The other reason for the seeming ascent of Ron Paul is the Internet.”
Paul has been touting a very Libertarian-like message in his campaign and in the televised debates. He has also run for president as the Libertarian Party candidate.
“The other thing is that Ron Paul is not the slick, pre-packaged candidate – typified by [Mitt] Romney,” said Rossi. “He is not the commodity, his message is. If more well known candidates knew the message, as [Ronald] Reagan did, Paul would not be the force he is becoming.”
Sessions new committee assignment
When Congress is back in session after Labor Day, Sen. Jeff Sessions will have a new committee panel assignment that could be a shot in the arm for Mobile. Sessions will be relinquishing his spot on the Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee to take Sen. John Ensign’s (R-Nev.) spot on the Armed Services Committee’s Seapower Panel. Ensign is leaving the Armed Services Committee for a seat on the Finance committee.
The Seapower Subcommittee has jurisdiction over most U.S. Navy and Marine Corps programs and procurement activities, as well as strategic transportation activities.
Why could this be important for Mobile? Austal USA has a ship construction facility in Mobile that opened in 2005. It is home of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship. Should Austal procure any more defense contracts, with Sessions influence on this subcommittee, it could mean added jobs for Mobile.
Shelby and GO Zone exploitation
An Associated Press story published earlier this month showed how some condo developers were taking advantage of the Gulf Opportunity Zone (or GO Zone) tax breaks, a variety of tax breaks designed to stimulate construction in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, in response to the devastation caused two years ago by Hurricane Katrina.
In the shadow of Bryant-Denny Stadium on the University of Alabama campus, there are several condominium projects are going up, with developers asking as much as $1 million for one of the units. But the developers are taking advantage of the GO Zone tax breaks, even though Tuscaloosa is considerably inland and far away from where the brunt of Katrina’s fury took place.
However, the AP story written by Jay Reeves insinuated Sen. Richard Shelby, a Tuscaloosa native, had influenced the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to include Tuscaloosa County as part of the federal disaster area after Katrina.
Shelby has since responded to those allegations, in a letter to the Tuscaloosa News, published on Aug. 21. “It suggested that Tuscaloosa County was unfairly and unjustly included in the GO Zone program,” wrote Shelby. “I take issue with the accuracy of that statement and with the substance of the article.”
Shelby also said in the letter he had no influence FEMA’s decision, but supported the idea of the GO Zone tax breaks.
Shelby has been criticized in the past for playing favorites with Tuscaloosa. Shelby has five offices in Alabama – Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile and Tuscaloosa. Sen. Jeff Sessions only has four – all of the above listed cities with the exception of Tuscaloosa.
Shelby blocks Darfur Divestment Legislation
Chalk this one up for those insanely concerned with the crisis in Darfur, but Sen. Richard Shelby blocked the fast tracking of a bill that was overwhelmingly passed in the House 418-1 (the lone nay vote being Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)) that would empower states to divest their holdings in companies doing business with the Sudanese government and also block federal contracts with companies linked to Sudan. Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, blocked the bill before the recess at the behest of several unknown Republican senators according to The Hill newspaper.
“We have no reason to doubt Senator Shelby’s commitment to stopping genocide in Darfur,” said Allyson Neville, advocacy associate at the Genocide Intervention Network to Lagniappe. “However, in our experience, opposition can be disguised as delay.” Neville also told Lagniappe before the senate recessed earlier this month, her organization could not find a single Republican senator who opposed the bill.
“There is speculation – but no evidence – that Senator Shelby is delaying the bill at the request of the [Bush] administration, the Treasury Department in particular,” added Neville.
Contact Jeff Poor at jeffreypoor@yahoo.com.
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