Sen. Doug Jones visited his hometown of Fairfield on Saturday afternoon, one of many stops throughout Alabama during the final days of his re-election campaign.
Standing in the parking lot of Urban Smoke Bar & Grill and flanked by his wife Louise, son Carson and U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, Jones told supporters to disregard polls that show him trailing his opponent, former Auburn football head coach Tommy Tuberville.
“We know better,” he said, urging his supporters to “remember the feeling” of his previous victory against Roy Moore in December 2017, which had also been a surprise. Jones argued he could pull off the same surprise in Tuesday’s election. He said his campaign’s internal polling data “is right where we want it.”
Jones roundly criticized Tuberville, calling him an inexperienced quitter whose policies had mostly been copied wholesale from President Donald Trump.
“He talks about draining the swamp. He talks about building a wall,” Jones said. “Those aren’t his ideas.”
He also emphasized that Tuberville had moved into Alabama only to run for Senate, while Jones has lived in the state his whole life.
“We don’t need Tommy Tuberville to talk to us about Alabama values,” he said.
Jones also reiterated his support for the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — which, he mentioned, is set to come before the Supreme Court on Nov. 10 as part of a lawsuit from several Republican states, including Alabama. Jones attributed much of the pushback against the ACA to shallow partisanship, particularly due to its association with former President Barack Obama. “They’re playing politics with your health care,” Jones told supporters.
He also brushed off reports that Joe Biden is considering him for Attorney General in the Democrat’s potential cabinet.
“I’m going to be a senator,” Jones said firmly. “The Senate is where Joe Biden wants me.”
Jones, who also stumped in Bessemer and Birmingham on Saturday, will continue touring the state until Tuesday’s election.
Health experts are warning about gathering with friends and family over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
The COVID-19 caseloads in Alabama hospitals are "worsening fairly rapidly," according to the president of the Alabama Hospital Association.
"We don’t want to send money back to Washington. We want to make sure that it’s spent here and for us to do that, we need to make sure we’ve looked at every avenue possible," said Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin wants to use $7 million from the reserve fund to bring back more than 130 furloughed city employees. But the city council is not sold.
Birmingham Public Library Executive Director Floyd Council was back at work Friday after one month of being suspended without pay.
Voters who cast their ballots last week at Horizon Church may have been exposed to COVID-19.
