By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The Moore campaign said that seventy-six years ago, Christmas was interrupted in America when our military base at Pearl Harbor was attacked without warning.
The Moore campaign said that this historic event offers important context for their next question of Doug Jones. “Will Doug Jones kill our defense industry to fund Obamacare?”
“The world becomes unstable during times of American weakness. That weakness should never be self-imposed,” said the Moore campaign in a release. “Our enemies will only stand down when America stands up. Obama gutted America’s military in a way that not only encouraged our enemies but discouraged our allies and put longstanding relationships with friends like Israel at risk. Alabama has always been a strong industrial supporter of our military, and we should maintain that role with pride.”
“Doug Jones was a vocal advocate for Barack Obama and all of his policies, and Jones supports massive spending increases on expanding federal government programs that will necessarily require a choice between cuts in our national defense or bankruptcy,” the Moore campaign stated. “In addition to putting the nation’s security at risk, Jones’ policies will also severely impact Alabama’s economy and job force.”
By contrast, Roy Moore is an alumnus of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate, a former U.S. Army officer and a Vietnam Veteran.
The Moore campaign said that he, “Has the strong support of veterans throughout the state of Alabama. He understands that government’s first priority is the safety of its citizens, and nothing could be more important for our nation and our state than a vibrant and strong military. Roy Moore will stand with President Trump to rebuild the military and is the right choice for our Armed Forces and for our veterans.”
Jones has tried to reassure the thousands of Alabamians that depend on defense jobs that he is not a threat to their livelihoods. Jones said in response to charges that he is weak on defense that he is, “Tired of listening to people on the other side using the same blah, blah, blah. ‘He’s weak on defense.” “Baloney,” Jones said in Huntsville. “Look, I’ve got a family, I’ve got granddaughters, and I’m going to protect them, folks.”
But Jones in a meeting with defense industry leaders did hint that he supported defense cuts in favor of spending more money on social programs.
Jones said he told the executives, “I understand your businesses and I want to help your businesses, but there are people in this state who are sick and dying … and we need to make sure those people are protected as well, and we can do that.” I made it clear that (we) may not agree on everything,”
Moore has tried to concentrate on issues and policy differences between the two candidates while Jones’ campaign has focused more on attacking Moore and arguing that unlike Moore, “I will not embarrass you.”
The special election between Moore and Jones will be on Tuesday, December 12.
The Democratic Party Establishment views the seat as a likely Democratic pickup in the Senate and has outspent Moore ten to one to try to take the seat from the Republicans who have held it since 1997.
(Original reporting by the Alabama Media Group’s Lee Roop contributed to this report.)
