Presidential Primaries And A Look Into Alabama Politics

President Trump now has another primary challenger in 2020.

Former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh officially joined the race Sunday and is honest about his chances saying he is not necessarily in the race to win but to give voters a choice.

“Do you remember when we conservatives used to rail against Obama for the debt and deficits?” Walsh tweeted. “Well, that same debt and those same deficits have increased more rapidly under Trump, yet conservatives generally don’t say squat.”

Walsh said the way to campaign against the president is with an in-your-face approach.

“The only way you primary Donald Trump and beat him is to expose him for the con man he is, Walsh said. “I’d punch him every single day.”

The former congressman was a supporter of Trump’s but is now a vocal critic.

“I’m running because he’s unfit; somebody needs to step up and there needs to be an alternative. The country is sick of this guy’s tantrum, he’s a child,” Walsh said in making his announcement.

Walsh was elected to congress as part of the Tea Party movement. He has most recently been a conservative talk show host.

Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld has already declared his challenging President Trump in the Republican primary.

Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, has reportedly also been considering a run in the Republican presidential primary.

Calling it a campaign: There are now two less candidates in the still very crowded Democratic primary for president in 2020.

Washington governor Jay Inslee decided to toss his hat out of the ring last week after failing to gain much traction nationally. Inslee launched his campaign touting the number one issue in the campaign would be combating climate change.

Even in the Democratic voter base this really did not play well in terms of poll numbers and certainly not fund raising. Without those two elements your campaign is doomed before it starts.

It’s always been interesting to me how debated climate control is. Truthfully it not as serious as some contend and is certainly more of an issue than some deny.

It is not what should be the number one for someone running for president, however.

In addition, Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton ended his campaign for president last Friday.

Moulton gained less traction than Inslee and had not been able to make the debate stage. With the threshold increasing for future debates Moulton also decided to throw in the towel.

The congressman said the race is really between Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Moulton has not endorsed another candidate but did say Biden would make a great president.

The race continues for the Democratic nomination. With more than 20 upper tier candidates to choose from two less still won’t be noticed that much.

John Hickenlooper, who previously dropped out the race, is now running in a similarly crowded Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Colorado. Hickenlooper is a former governor of the state.

As a long-time political observer I’ve always found it puzzling that candidates drop out of a race before any votes are cast.

Koch remembered: Billionaire David Koch, who was the Libertarian Party vice-presidential candidate in 1980 passed away at age 79.

Koch, a polarizing figure to be sure, would later rejoin the Republican Party but always stressed his Libertarian beliefs, similar to Ron Paul. He was the running mate for Ed Clark in 1980.

Alabama politics: Alabama U.S. Senator Doug Jones, who faces a tough re-election bid, has seen his announced primary opponent drop out of the race.

State representative John Rogers said he has been unable to raise the needed funds to have an effective campaign. Another Democratic could still challenge Jones who won a highly publicized general election against Roy Moore.

Several Republicans, including Moore, are campaigning to challenge Jones in 2020. All but Moore would be favored to win including former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.

Political quote of the week: “I’m a big Teddy Roosevelt fan because he seemed very bipartisan and solutions-oriented.” – Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He has earned awards for his columns from the National Newspaper Association, the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Sports Writers Association. He welcomes feedback from readers about this column at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.