The Trouble With Tuberville
Nobody was surprised that a novice candidate, Trump fanboy, and talking-point spewing hack like Tommy Tuberville defeated a politically impotent and embarrassed Jeff Sessions in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in Alabama. What is surprising is how the Republican party has doubled down on picking candidates who can loudly blabber radical conservative rhetoric but have zero experience in governing or public service. One would think that Tuberville would have learned in his prior career as a football coach that having a game plan is indispensably essential. Instead, Tuberville has given Alabama vitriolic and misguided sound bites, but has shown time and again that he has no substantive game plan to deal with the pandemic, healthcare, massive unemployment, or the unique challenges facing public education.
In fact, Tuberville had this to say about Gov. Ivey’s recent mask order, “But I don’t like the government telling us what we have to do. Surely to goodness, we can protect our own selves without the government dictating every move that we make. So, no, I’m not for mandatory. But I am for wearing masks. I believe that right now, in the time that we’re in, if you’re around other people, probably it’s good that you wear them. But I’m not for government — I think our government’s gone overboard on this entire pandemic because we don’t know the facts. Every time you turn around you hear different doctors say different things. I just want them to let us determine our own fate.”
That’s the trouble with Tuberville.
Sorry, Tubs- the doctors have spoken in a unified voice and have been extremely clear. Wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands. There’s no uncertainty about the science, we do know the facts. The troubling thing is so do you.
The trouble with Tuberville and masks is that he doesn’t want to say anything that would cause him to lose favor with Trump, his idol. Tuberville would rather ignore science and appease Trump to score cheap political points with his deep red base than do the right thing for the people of Alabama.
The trouble with Tuberville is that if you give his campaign website a quick look, you’ll find that he has no game plan whatsoever on the issues he thinks are important. His website categorizes veterans, core values, improving education, the economy, abortion, gun rights, healthcare, and, ironically, “investigating the investigators” of Trump. Yet, in each poorly written paragraph, it’s nothing more than a love letter to trump, hateful words toward liberals, and not one workable idea on how to get any of his incoherent agenda accomplished.
The trouble with Tuberville is that after the Housing Authority Birmingham District severed ties with the Church of the Highlands when it was discovered that the pastor was “liking” racist social media posts, Tuberville decided to side with the church for his own political gain and for a minute of free press in a news cycle. Tuberville’s tone-deaf response was, “The Birmingham Board of Education and Housing Authority are wrong to end ties with the Church of the Highlands and its free health clinic. It’s a political attempt to silence Christian voices. Low-income families, who use COVID-19 testing and other services, are hurt the most. We need more God in our lives, not less!” Clearly, Tuberville wants you to know that he’s not below using religion and race as political weapons.
The trouble with Tuberville is not only his obvious lack of public service, but he has no solutions to the myriad of problems facing our state and nation. On the other hand, Sen. Doug Jones has done an admirable job in his tenure proposing and supporting legislation that makes sense for all Americans. Jones has the courage of his convictions and isn’t afraid to take a stand on controversial issues or even reach across the aisle to find common ground.
The trouble with Tuberville is that he is all noise and his only plan is to replace Sessions so he can have the title of Trump’s new top sycophant. The trouble with Tuberville is that we’re all in much more trouble if Alabama elects an inexperienced, hyper-partisan know-nothing to the U.S. Senate. We already tried that by electing Trump and it’s been, by every account, a complete, unmitigated disaster.
That’s the trouble with Tuberville.
Clete Wetli is former Chair of the Madison County Democrats and a liberal political activist.
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