Governor Doug Jones? It Could Happen

I went to the Doug Jones “official” kickoff Friday night, and I’m glad I did.

The best moment, at least for me, was when DJ Slim Robb started playing The Village People’s “YMCA” during the pre-event warmup.

Oops.

It only lasted 15-20 seconds before it stopped, and he apologized profusely, saying it would “never, never, never, never, NEVER” happen again—and it didn’t. But, for those few seconds, the looks of shock, horror and pure rage on the faces of the crowd were HILARIOUS!

Sadly, I was too busy being shocked myself, then struggling to keep from laughing out loud (I probably would have been “mostly peacefully protested” into a body cast on the spot if I had) to get it on video. And, I doubt that DJ Robb—or any others at future Jones events—will make the mistake of playing Donald J. Trump’s theme song in a room filled with people who accept “Orange Man Bad” as the 11th Commandment.

The organizers did guide me to one of the few chairs in the hall, which I greatly appreciated. That meant I didn’t have to stand for the time between media check in and the start of the actual program. Kudos to them for that.

The crowd was sizable, and I’d guess 500-ish, maybe? I was told the hall has a capacity of 750, and the area of the crowd was SRO between the main stage and the media platform. Of course, you have to account for backstage, and the media area, and the back of the room…so yes; several hundred, but not the “thousands” another outlet claimed. Not to my eye.

I did get a picture through the middle of the crowd, that I’ll attach below. If you take that, and double it, that would be a reasonably good estimate of the crowd. Knock yourself out.

You might also notice there wasn’t a lot of diversity in the crowd, I suspect for several reasons. First and foremost, this was a fundraiser, and Sutton’s Law definitely applies. The DJ did a good job of repeatedly asking for donations—not while he was apologizing for YMCA, but before and after that—and I suspect several large checks were written. We’ll know soon enough, from the end of year filings.

And the crowd? Lots of Boomers, who remember when Alabama was a one-party Democrat State. Lots of affluent Southside/Avondale/Over the Mountain types. Several idealistic young people, but not as many as I expected to see. A fair number of “ladies” (I use the term loosely) of indeterminate age who looked ready to put on their pink pussyhats and protest against the patriarchy—all of them absolutely gushing over a 71 year old white guy.

Yes, it was a bit surreal, even for Alabama politics…and no, I didn’t say anything at the time. Because, you know, body cast.

The money aside, the event was to fire up the attendees (and the media) with reminders that December 12 marked the eighth anniversary of Doug Jones’ victory over Roy Moore (cue “boo-hiss”) which sent Jones to the Senate. That’s why it was held Friday night—a nice bit of staging on the part of Jones’ campaign staff.

That win, which sent Jones to the Senate, was mentioned multiple times, and let the organizers frame this Gubernatorial race as a continuation of his efforts in the Senate.

There was nary a peep about the 2020 Senate election when Tuberville beat Jones like a rented mule (60%-40%), as you’d expect. It was carefully NOT mentioned, because it would have gone over about as well as YMCA did—and would have deflated the narrative the entire night worked so hard to create.

That narrative was simple and strongly stated, beginning with the three young people who opened the program.

Robert Gaines, Jr. (student at UAB), James Fields IV (recent Miles College graduate) and Ragan Hope Wilson (student at UA) led off the event by talking about their hope for the future—a future that includes Governor Doug Jones.

Ah, I can almost remember when I was that young and idealistic—before reality and Alabama politics burned it out of me.

Folk singer Jason Isabell performed next, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it, so I’m assuming it was good.

Folk music isn’t really to my taste—actually, I despise it—but I can endure a few songs for a good cause. Or, you know, fear of a body cast if I let my opinion be known.

Mrs. Louise Jones spoke about her husband, saying “Our campaign in 2017 was filled with the hope of so many who were craving representation in a way they had not seen in some time,” but “when Doug was elected, the knives came out.” She went on to say that “we feel that same excitement in this room tonight…the hope, the excitement, the anticipation of better things to come for our Alabama.”

Finally, the Man himself took the stage. He spoke about his time in the Senate. He lambasted the Montgomery establishment, Tuberville, Trump, Tuberville and the Montgomery establishment—not necessarily in that order.

It was a very populist speech, and the crowd loved it.

He offered glimpses of his priorities if elected: Medicaid expansion, protecting rural hospitals, expanding voting access—especially early voting, a lottery, addressing the prison system, helping working families.

Jones said that being Governor “is not a game,” challenged Tuberville’s Alabama residency and his record in the Senate—and lambasted the Washington establishment, Trump, the Montgomery establishment and Tuberville some more.

Yep, Big-P Populist speech. He even ended it with a great line about “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

One or two eyebrows went up at that line, but that was about it. I certainly didn’t say anything—you know, body cast and all that.

Alabama has a long history of populism—in fact, we were populist before populism was cool. What was George C. Wallace when he ran for President, if not an anti-establishment populist?

Jones and his team appear to have taken that to heart, and are going to run with it in this campaign. Will it work? Possibly. I can think of two recent examples where populists upset the establishment’s apple cart in major ways—Trump in 2016 and Mamdani last month in New York. And, if ever there was a time to rail against the system and the people in it, it’s now. The country is still reeling after COVID and four years of Bidenflation (shh! The Dems want us to forget that, and blame everything on Trump) and people are hurting, badly.

There’s a lot of anger and frustration out there, and it’s just looking for a place to vent.

Is Doug Jones’ campaign where it will be vented? Who can say? Right now, nearly every pundit sees him as a dead man walking, doomed to repeat the 2020 spanking Tuberville gave him.

Me? I’m not so sure.

It’s a long time until the primaries on May 19, and even longer until the general election in November—and this is Alabama.

I’ve seen stranger things than Governor Doug Jones.

For more information about the Jones campaign, visit https://www.dougjones.com.

All images BC/ALPolitics.com