Opinion column in today’s Birmingham News by Cameron Smith, endorsing Katie Britt.
Republicans need leaders who know how to build a team, execute an agenda, take the hits for unpopular decisions, and continue to win elections at home. That means thinking about a candidate’s upside well beyond the first campaign.
www.al.com
The online headline (something about a “McConnell Killer”) isn’t what’s in the newspaper. In print, it’s “Alabama Has a Senate Candidate With Upside.”
In it, Smith recounts his frustration with Mitch McConnell back in the days when he (Smith) was on Jeff Sessions’ staff. Essentially stemmed from McConnell forever playing the long game, whereas Sessions and Smith wanted to be disruptors.
But Smith says in the years since, even though he still doesn’t fully agree, he’s come to respect McConnell’s boring but effective approach. Governing vs. grandstanding and being a firebrand.
Smith also points out that majorities aren’t won in deep red or deep blue states. They’re won in, “New Hampshire, Colorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada and now Georgia.” He goes on to say (accurately, in my opinion) that in those states, “conservatives can definitely win, but crazy won’t fly.”
Side Note: I think if Trump hadn’t tried so hard to overturn the results of the presidential race in Georgia, the Republicans would have won both senate seats there….the voters rightly rebelled against a clear attempt to steal an election.
Smith says that somebody like Katie Britt can build a consensus and be the young face of the Republican Party. Whereas Mo Brooks may play well at home, but is viewed as a buffoon everywhere else, and does far more harm than good nationally.
I know Britt has an uphill climb, and she may really be running for Tuberville’s seat in 2026, but I’m rooting for her this go-round.