... who is not on the ballot.

The following snippet appeared today on the Politico web site.

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Good Saturday morning. A JUICY SPOTTED FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dining last night at Ocean Prime in D.C. with Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Needless to say, the two men -- who served in the Senate together for 20 years -- have recently found themselves at odds with President Donald Trump.

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This coming Tuesday, August 15, by order of Kay Ivey, (Alabama's Governor), the Alabama Republican party is holding a special primary election to fill the Senate seat of Jeff Sessions. Sessions had been Alabama's junior senator (for 20+ years) until he made the fateful decision to resign from the Senate in order to serve as Trump's Attorney General - a decision which he [now] probably regrets. The "incumbent" senator is Luther Strange, (yep, that's his real name), who was appointed to the position back in February by former [scandal-plagued] Governor Robert Bentley. (You might recall Bentley being referred to as the "Luv Guv" due to his inability to keep his hands off the breasts of Rebecca Caldwell-Mason, a [much younger] political aide. Bentley [allegedly] violated a series of state laws in his attempt to cover up his sleazy involvement with the married Mrs. Caldwell-Mason.) Strange was Alabama's Attorney General at the time. Although "Senator" Strange is one of the top two candidates in a crowded field, (there are at least six candidates running for the job), there is an undercurrent of suspicion by some, (possibly many), that Strange is an illegitimate senator as he is suspected of having made a deal not to prosecute former Governor Bentley in exchange for Bentley appointing him to fill Sessions vacated seat. Of course, everybody knows what has happened to Jeff Sessions ... Ever since he decided [correctly] to recuse himself from oversight of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation, Trump has been treating our former senator like s**t. Given the kind of public comments Trump has made about our former senator, I have a feeling Jeff Sessions regrets having gotten in bed with "The Donald" in the first place, but we all make mistakes ...

So we have this "Special Election" on Tuesday. The top three candidates (according to polling) are Roy Moore, Alabama's controversial [former] Supreme Court Chief Justice, Luther Strange, and my own congressman - Mo Brooks. (Mo is getting a "free shot" at this senator job since he still has his House seat if he doesn't make it to the primary.) The top two vote getters in Tuesday's primary will face each other in a runoff in September. Currently, Moore and Strange are running first and second according to the polling with Mo running a distant third at around 18 percent. Judge Moore has strong support among the Christian evangelical community due to controversial positions he has taken in the past, such as openly defying United States Supreme Court rulings on separation of church and state and opposition to gay marriage. Openly defying U.S. Supreme Court decisions resulted in Moore being ejected (twice!) from the Alabama Supreme Court. Naturally, Judge Moore's defiance makes him a "hero" among the religious community. Judge Moore is currently leading the polling with around 35 percent of the [projected] vote - if polls are to be believed. The polls are indicating Luther Strange is in second place with approximately 31 percent of the vote. Strange has been endorsed by President Trump - who is "enormously popular" in Alabama - so who knows? Mo Brooks is polling at just under 20 percent, so he [probably] won't make the runoff. (If Mo finishes in third place and fails to make the runoff, it will confirm a theory I've long held about our congressman. Mo can win a local election in North Alabama, but he can't win any state-wide office. He has tried before to win a state-wide office - and failed.) The remaining candidates are spoilers as they are all polling at below 10 percent of the vote.

Since I can't stand all three of the top candidates, I have decided to do something I have never done before in a political election: I am going to write-in my vote for ... Jeff Sessions! I'm not voting for Sessions because I love Jeff Sessions, (he's a Republican after all ...) I'm voting for Sessions more as a "protest vote" against President Trump. I've had a bit of communication with some newspaper writers here in Alabama. At least one has told me that I'm not the only voter who is considering a write-in vote for Sessions.

Whoever ultimately "wins" the Senate seat may find that he has achieved a Pyrrhic victory. The winning candidate has to stand [again] for re-election either in 2018 or 2020 - I'm not sure which. So it's interesting that Jeff Sessions had dinner last night with Mitch McConnell. It appears that Sessions may be longing to return to his old job in the Senate - that the bloom has worn off the rose of his obsession with Trump. If Sessions, who is not on Tuesday's ballot, gets a substantial percentage of write-in votes, (where "substantial" might be anywhere in the 5-10 percent range), that result could very well embolden him to resign his current job - assuming Trump hasn't figured out a way to fire him in the interim - and run [again] for his old job.

So, for the first time in my life, I will be casting a write-in vote. I hope I'm not the only write-in vote as whoever finishes in third place, (Mo perhaps?), will go nuts thinking: "If it weren't for all those damn write-in votes for Jeff Sessions, I would have made the runoff!" Ha! Ha! (I love chaos!)

instead of throwing away your vote, try putting your support behind the candidate you agree with most out of the field of people who have a chance at winning

Screamin:

Oh, I will. In December, when the Republican candidate - whoever that turns out to be - runs against the Democratic candidate, I will vote for the Democrat. I hope that candidate is Doug Jones, the former U.S. Attorney who prosecuted and convicted several Ku Klux Klansmen who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. That bombing resulted in the deaths of three young girls. That bombing was just one of the notorious events from the 1960's that continue to stain the public perception of my state to this day. Alabama is very different now from what it was 50 years ago, but old perceptions die hard. In most of the rest of the country we're still hicks and rednecks, but I bet we have better race relations here than in say, New York or Boston. (I remember back in 1974 when there was rioting in Boston over forced school busing. Everybody down here just looked at each other and said: "Uh, huh ...")

Of course, the Democratic candidate probably has less than a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but - as a true unrepentant "librul" - I'll vote for the Democrat anyway. I'm voting for Sessions (Tuesday) as a way of "sticking it in the eye" of President Trump. (Just because two-out-of-three of my fellow Alabamians seem to be enamored with Trump doesn't mean that I have to follow in lockstep.)

I'm glad you recognize the absolute lunacy of Roy Moore, who is about as deranged as it gets. I live on the other side of the country in LiberalLand and even I'm familiar with Moore's actions.

Leading D candidate is a black guy named Bobby Kennedy Jr.. Pretty elite strategy to win votes. Some democrat should change their name to George Wallace Jr. to win in Alabama.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...-hes-more-than

Somehow Trump managed to endorse the least-awful of the big three Repubes.

Roy "God Before Constitution" Moore is gonna win it all imo /puke

So AL will somehow have someone worse than Sessions repping it in the Senate, and my family in AL will continue to be mystified as to why I refuse to set foot in that ****hole state ever again.

I arrived at my polling place and quickly noticed a table full of [apparently bored] poll workers. Looking around and noticing that I was one of maybe 2 or 3 voters, I commented: "You folks are the most overworked people I have ever seen in my life!" They all looked at each other and smirked. (One of them said: "Yea, it's been like this all day."

One of the workers asked me which primary (Republican or Democrat) I wished to vote in? I responded "Republican" and quickly followed up declaring that I intended to vote for a write-in candidate. The poll workers quickly looked at each other and then over to an election official (I think he was a Republican poll watcher) and asked (in slightly elevated voices) "Can he do that?" The official emphatically answered "No!" I objected stating that I had spoken with an Alabama political reporter who told me that write-in votes would be allowed - that this reporter had confirmed this with the Alabama Secretary of State. This election official told me this was a "party primary" (not a general election) and I must vote for one of the candidates on the Republican ballot. I asked him who had told him that? He responded "Judge Ragland" - who is a local county judge or (possibly) the voting registrar.

Realizing that this Republican election official was bound and determined that my write-in vote would not be allowed (or counted), I promptly declared "OK, I'm voting in the Democratic primary!" One of the poll workers handed me the Democratic primary ballot. I voted for Doug Jones, the former United States attorney who prosecuted (and convicted) three Ku Klux Klan members who bombed the 16th Street Baptist church in 1963.

So, if Doug Jones makes it to the runoff election next month by a margin of one vote, he can thank Judge Ragland for refusing to allow me to vote [write-in] for Jeff Sessions.

Mo Brooks Declared an "Inactive" Voter - Not Allowed To Vote For Himself!

Lifted from an article on AL.com about Tuesday's "Winners and Losers" in the GOP primary for Jeff Session's U.S. Senate seat.

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Loser -- Alabama's voter registration system

Some voters arrived at their polling places on Tuesday and were surprised to learn that they had been placed on an inactive list. Among those who encountered this problem was Brooks, who was, of course, trying to vote for himself.

Voters listed as inactive could still cast ballots, after confirming or updating their registration information, and the scope of the problem was not immediately clear. State Rep. Patricia Todd (D) found herself on an inactive list and encouraged others in the same position to share their stories with her on Facebook.

The issue appears to be that some voters did not receive postcards from the Alabama secretary of state that required responses to confirm their registrations. Todd says that is what happened to her.

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This is so ironic ... Republicans have been in the forefront of voter suppression efforts aimed against minority groups. Then it happens to one of their own and it's suddenly not so cute.

Moore laments racial division between 'reds and yellows'

“We were torn apart in the Civil War — brother against brother, North against South, party against party. What changed?” Moore asked in footage provided to The Hill by a Republican monitoring the race.

“Now we have blacks and whites fighting, reds and yellows fighting, Democrats and Republicans fighting, men and women fighting. What’s going to unite us? What’s going to bring us back together? A president? A Congress? No. It’s going to be God.”

Moore's campaign told The Hill the remarks were taken out of context.

A democratic candidate should just come out in favor of being able to marry your sister and have sex with farm animals and they'd sweep the nomination.

Assuming those aren't already legal in Alabama.

LOL I'm pretty sure Alabama still has sodomy laws on the books.

In Alabama Senate debate, a noun, a verb and Donald Trump

If you took a shot of liquor every time Luther Strange name-dropped the president during a televised debate last night, you’d probably be too hammered to attend Donald Trump’s rally for him in Huntsville later today. Heck, depending on your tolerance, you might still be too hung over to go vote next Tuesday in the GOP runoff.

Everything in Alabama is special, starting with the educational system. The shortbus state. Roy Moore isn't even the dumbest guy in his county.

https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/st...18165079142402

That's a lot closer than it should be

They've already put $10 million+ into this election. I'm sure they can spare a few more to remind voters that Democrats want to take their guns away and force their women to be concubines for ISIS. Once the Strange voters catch on that the Dem is even slightly competitive, it'll be Ossoff all over again, but this time, more of a blowout.

Why do they even bother running a democrat in Alabama? Some KS house seats run unopposed I think.

My Dad was telling me a story about a friend who lives in rural MO. He said he can't find a barbershop that isn't blaring FoxNews 24/7. Think about that all day for 20 years. Their brains have been completely rewired by now.

I'm fine with leaving no set uncontested if only to remind people there is an alternative.

And dry counties and blue laws.

The town I grew up in there didn't allow draft beer until about 10 years ago. When I was a kid the boozers could only buy liquor at state-owned liquor stores.

A local auto parts store owner used to pay fines weekly for having the temerity to opening his store on Sunday.

There are pockets of awesomeness there but by and large it's really an awful state and I hope never to have to visit it again. I've turned down Bama tickets so often they don't even offer anymore.

I've got family in Birmingham and Dothan. As a child I used to dread going there on "vacation".

MLK and the civil rights were partly born there.

Because it was the worst of the worst for black people.

MLK was born in Atlanta.

John Lewis was born in Troy.

didn't read OP LOL, how did alan's write-in candidate do?

I was referring to the civil rights movement, not MLK.