Jonathan McConnell: The problem with the EU’s new refugee plan
The first lesson you learn in Economics 101 is that people respond to incentives. Whether we’re talking about insurance, welfare, or hiring a new employee–incentives matter. That doesn’t change when we start talking about immigration or the refugee situation in the Middle East. Right now the incentives involved in the migration and refugee problem do not align with the stated goal of creating a stable region and minimizing human rights atrocities. I recently returned from a business trip to Turkey, from where millions of refugees have fled in the last several years into Greece and other members of the European Union (EU). Today an arrangement between Turkey and the EU went into effect, sending more than 200 people back to Turkey from Greece, in an effort to stem the flow the wave migrants and refugees that has begun choking the EU in recent years. Under the agreement, for every certified Syrian refugee sent to Turkey, one must also be sent for permanent settlement in the EU. Of the migrants sent back to Turkey today, not a single one was a Syrian refugee. The EU, Turkey, and Greece can contemplate how to halt the flow of migrants all they want, but it will not work until those nations, with backup from the United States, stop incentivizing bad behavior and empower Turkey and Syria to take matters into their own hands. The acceptance of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of refugees has allowed ISIS, with its relatively small fighting force, to gain a significant foothold in Syria—and they’re moving toward Turkey. Much how the United States’ immigration policy, or lack thereof, of allowing illegal immigrants to collect benefits and stay in the country with little or no negative ramifications has encouraged illegal immigration and stifled legal immigration, not incentivizing Syrians and Turks to stay and fight for their own nations will leave a negative impact across the globe. In Hamburg, Germany, for example, there are three Immigration camps which have effectively taken over those portions of the city. The police are reportedly not allowed to go into those portions of the city, and German citizens are leaving their homeland at a rapid rate. They feel their homeland has been taken over and do not feel safe. We are not going to stop the mass exodus of refugees without fixing the underlying tensions and problems. Simply shuffling refugees around the globe without a plan to require the Syrian and Turkish people to take responsibility for their land will only worsen the problem. After all, if a massive amount of people want to come to the United States because it is the land of opportunity, then why would we are only further incentivizing Syrians to flee their country by giving them a fast-track option through declaring refugee status. Syria is just one troubled area. There are an estimated 60 million refugees worldwide who are displaced from their homes. Europe is getting refugees from Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and other North African countries, all displaced due to insecurity in their homeland. Whether the refugees are here in the United States, in the EU, or in Turkey, all of this insecurity, from the Middle East to Africa, can be credited to the Global Jihad Movement. The world must first recognize the Global Jihad Movement, then strengthen its resolve to destroy it. This effort must be led by Arab countries. Arab countries must take the lead in ridding the world of this radical ideology. For the U.S. to continue to meddle in the Middle East without Arab leadership is only to embolden Jihadist into fighting against an invading force. Politics aside, we may be divided on economic and social policy, as a world, we must unite to protect our way of life. The atrocities of Belgium and Paris are a mere body of water away. • • • Jonathan McConnell is the owner of Meridian Global Consulting, LLC, a maritime security firm, a Marine, and a former Republican U.S. Senate candidate.
Incumbent Richard Shelby easily wins Alabama primary over sea of challengers
Voters across the Yellowhammer State decisively re-elected Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) to continue as their representative in the U.S. Senate . The race was called with Shelby leading by over 35 points. With 99 percent of Alabama’s precinct’s accounted for, his closest opponent former Marine Capt. Jonathan McConnell garnered only 28 percent of the vote to Shelby’s 65 percent, with all other challengers taking only about 8 percent of the vote. “I am honored that the people of Alabama have once again trusted me to be the Republican nominee for the United States Senate,” said Shelby following his victory. “Serving as your Senator is a privilege and responsibility that I do not take lightly, and I will continue to stand up against big government for all Alabamians and Americans.” Shelby continued, “Tonight’s victory would not be possible without the countless volunteers and supporters who worked to help me advance our conservative message across the state. I am grateful for each and every vote I received today, and I look forward to continuing the conservative fight in the General Election.” Shelby now moves to the General Election on November 8 and will take on Democratic victor Ron Crumpton.
Where will Alabama candidates be Election night?
Super Tuesday — or what the south is affectionately referring to as the SEC Primary — could all but solidify the 2016 presidential race as election results from 12 states, including Alabama, roll in Tuesday night. In the Yellowhammer State, incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby is hoping to win once again his Party’s nomination, over a slew of challengers, most noticeably former Marine Jonathan McConnell. Meanwhile, all of Alabama’s House Members face challengers. Here is where the candidates will wait for the results: The incumbents: U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby What: Election Night Watch Party Where: Embassy Suites Hotel, 2410 University Blvd. Tuscaloosa When: 6:30 p.m. CST U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (AL-01): What: Bradley Byrne Election Night Watch Party Where: Moe’s Original BBQ, 701 Spring Hill Ave., Mobile When: 7 p.m. CT U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (AL-02): What: Election night reception Where: The Warehouse at Alley Station; 103 Commerce St; Montgomery When: 7 p.m., CT Extra details: Roby is tentatively scheduled to speak about 30 minutes after the race is called. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (AL-03): When: Post-Election Party Where: The Green Olive; 1024 Noble St; Anniston, AL 36201 U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-04): What: Tuscaloosa County Republicans Election Night Watch Party Where: Chuck’s Fish; 508 Greensboro Ave; Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 The challengers: Jonathan McConnell for U.S. Senate What: Election Night Results Watching Party Where: Cahaba Brewing Co., 4500 Fifth Ave. S., Birmingham When: 7:30 p.m. CT Becky Gerritson for AL-02 What: Election Night Watch Party Where: Coaches Corner Sports Bar and Grill, 203 Orline St., Wetumpka This story will be updated as more details from other candidates come in.
State incumbents face uphill battle in primary contest
As Alabamians gear up to go to the polls to select their presidential nominee of choice, several other important races will likely get the attention of voters on Tuesday. Sen. Richard Shelby is facing his stiffest competition in years. At the forefront of the onslaught is former-Marine Jonathan McConnell, who has taken Shelby to task over a myriad of issues. But McConnell isn’t the only Republican vying for Shelby’s seat – Shadrack McGill, John Martin and Marcus Bowman are also hoping to unseat the 30-year incumbent. Further, Shelby is facing opposition from the other side of the aisle in political activist Ron Crumpton and West Africa native Charles Nana. But Shelby isn’t the only longtime Alabama politician facing opposition. U.S. Reps. Martha Roby and Bradley Byrne are embroiled in high-caliber primary contests, while Reps. Mike Rogers and Robert Aderholt also face opposition. Though Roby is being contested by two Republican candidates, Wetumpka Tea Party founder Becky Gerritson seems to have the best shot of unseating her. However, Roby’s preliminary polling and fundraising numbers are dwarfing even her toughest competitor. The winner will face Nathan Mathis, whose most recent political experience was a failed bid for state Senate in 2010, in the November General Election. Similarly, Byrne seems to be winning the fundraising and name recognition battle against Dean Young, an Orange Beach developer who failed to unseat Byrne when he first challenged him in 2013. The primary winner will take all in this race, as there is no Democratic opposition. Rogers is going toe-to-toe with former Phenix City school superintendent Larry DiChiara, who is mounting his opposition on the assertion that Rogers has been in Congress for too long. The winner in this race with face Democratic opposition from Army veteran Jesse Smith in November. Aderholt is going up against Republican Navy veteran Phil Norris, whose website seems to hinge on his opposition to the policies of President Barack Obama. Reps. Mo Brooks and Gary Palmer are facing no Republican opposition in the primary election but will face Democrats Will Boyd Jr. and David Putman in the general. Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell is running unopposed.
In Alabama Senate race, a 30-year incumbent Richard Shelby chances nothing
At an evening meeting at a PoFolks restaurant in this rural Alabama city, members of the county Republican club swapped gripes about the economy, immigration and the Obama administration as they munched on cornbread and sipped sweet tea from mason jars. It is in this agricultural town, where a statue pays tribute to the boll weevil pest that prompted its shift from cotton to peanuts, where former Marine Jonathan McConnell makes a pitch to voters in his longshot bid to topple five-term incumbent Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby. It’s a pitch that’s familiar this election cycle: “If you think this country is heading in the right direction, will you raise your hand?” he asks. Not a single hand goes up. “That’s exactly why I’m running for U.S. Senate. This country is heading in the wrong direction,” McConnell, 33, said. That voter frustration is what challengers have pinned their hopes on in a year that has given rise to outsider candidates such as bombastic businessman Donald Trump. To be sure, Shelby, 81, is a heavy favorite to win a sixth term. But in the year of an ornery voter mood, Shelby is leaving nothing to chance, spending millions on an advertising blitz – including spots that go negative on his most aggressive challenger. He’s aware people are frustrated – “frustrated about America,” as he recently told a gathering in the tiny town of Arab, where he took questions on issues from the Islamic State to immigration to Social Security solvency. “We tell ourselves we are the greatest country in the world, and I believe that. I grew up that way. But will we be in the future if we don’t protect our borders and we don’t know who is in our country, and we let people go on and push us around, in a sense, in the world?” Shelby said. Shelby faces four challengers in the March 1 Republican primary, the first test this year of whether the anti-establishment surge has any impact on down-ballot incumbents. “Most Republicans and Alabamians are not happy with the way that Obama is taking the country and they don’t see that we have fought hard enough to resist that. So any incumbent up there could get lumped in with the dissatisfaction that voters have with the performance in Washington,” former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead. A titan of Alabama politics, Shelby was elected in 1986 as a Democrat during the party’s waning days of power in the Deep South, but he switched to the GOP in 1994. University buildings are named after him on the state’s major campuses, and Shelby is now on track to be the next chairman of the powerful appropriations committee. While some of his challengers have zeroed in on his early days as a Democrat – including a 30-year-old vote against one of President Ronald Reagan’s appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court – he has taken votes that help insulate him from criticisms that he is not conservative enough. This winter, he was instrumental in rewriting the appropriations bill – including stacking it with treats for Alabama by including provisions to benefit the Gulf fishing industry – and then voted against it in raising concerns about Syrian immigration. The Heritage Action for America scorecard – which ranks members of Congress based on how conservative they are considered by the group – gives Shelby a 99 percent rating, second only to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Utah Sen. Mike Lee. Johnny Hart, the former mayor of Arab, a tiny town of 8,000, said there was no other choice but Shelby. “He feels the same as I do on immigration and other issues,” he said. Hart said while people like to grumble about incumbents, the small Southern state will only benefit from having its senator at the top of the seniority food chain. During a meeting of the tea party group Rainy Day Patriots at an indoor gun range in Hoover, members fired off gripes about Washington insiders. Shelby’s time in office was seen not as an asset, but a chief reason to vote against him. “Since I was about 5, Shelby has been in office, so pretty much all my life. … What’s the old saying about babies and politicians? They both need to changed, and for the same reason,” said computer programmer Paul Stephenson of Pelham. Going decades without serious opposition, he amassed $19 million in campaign money that he is beginning to unload in what could be his last race. Shelby, who says he is “taking nothing for granted,” is perhaps trying not to follow the cautionary path of six-term Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi who narrowly escaped being unseated by a tea party challenger in 2014 after an initially unenergetic campaign. McConnell is pegging his longshot hopes on forcing Shelby into a runoff required by state law if no candidate wins at least 50 percent of the primary vote. Shelby, however, won a commanding 84 percent of the GOP primary vote six years ago. McConnell, 33, was a preschooler when Shelby took his Senate seat. He is, without subtlety, making an issue of the 81-year-old Shelby’s age as he runs for another six-year term. “At 81 years old, asking an 81-year-old to solve 2016 problems by someone who has been up there for 37 years is not going to happen,” McConnell said. Shelby, though, brushes that aside: “I’m in good health. I feel good I’ve got a lot of energy and I believe I have a lot to offer: experience, resolve, courage. I think that will all come out (on Election Day).” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Email insights: Jonathan McConnell campaign says new survey shows Richard Shelby in danger
Senate-hopeful, 33-year-old Marine veteran Jonathan McConnell‘s Senate campaign sent an email Thursday saying longtime incumbent Richard Shelby is likely headed to a runoff. That is, based off a recent survey the campaign conducted Jan. 29 to 30, 2016 among 1,299 likely Republican primary voters. According to the email, the campaign has made three main takeaways based on the survey’s findings: Richard Shelby has spent millions to lose ground; Shelby’s support is collapsing while McConnell’s is growing; and Richard Shelby will not break 50 percent on March 1 and cannot avoid a runoff. Here’s the full text of the email: To: Interested Parties From: James Harris, General Consultant Date: February 4, 2016 Last week, our campaign conducted its most recent survey of the campaign for Alabama’s Senate seat. What we have found is incredible – Senator Shelby has begun to lose serious ground in the battle for the US Senate seat, despite spending $3 million so far on broadcast and cable television – more than any incumbent Senator so far this cycle. Senator Shelby now sits just barely above the threshold to avoid a runoff, and he is moving in the wrong direction. Based on this survey, we have come to 3 key conclusions about this race: (1) Richard Shelby has spent millions to lose ground; (2) Shelby’s support is collapsing while McConnell’s is growing; and (3) Richard Shelby will not break 50% on March 1 and cannot avoid a runoff. RICHARD SHELBY HAS SPENT $3 MILLION ON ADS – AND LOST 9 POINTS. Richard Shelby is vulnerable, and he knows it. Hence why, as the Cook Political Report noted, he has spent more money on ads than any candidate so far this cycle. Shelby’s ballot share has plummeted nine points after just 3 weeks of McConnell advertising. Now, he stands at 55% on the ballot – barely enough to avoid a runoff, with 4 weeks left until Primary Day. All this, DESPITE the fact that he has spent more than $3 million on television advertising in an attempt to improve his position. BALLOT 14-Oct 16-Dec 30-Jan SHELBY 53% 64% 55% Someone else 22% 15% 29% Undecided 26% 21% 16% On the other hand, McConnell is increasing his ballot share dramatically. Since December, he has gained 10 points on the ballot test, while Shelby has lost 9 points. McConnell is clearly the strongest candidate against Shelby in the race and the only candidate positioned to advance to the April 12 runoff election. BALLOT 16-Dec 30-Jan Shelby 64% 55% McConnell 15% 25% McGill 3% 2% Martin 2% 1% Bowman 1% 1% Undecided 21% 16% SHELBY’S IMAGE AND SUPPORT HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO COLLAPSE WHILE MCCONNELL’S IS GROWING. As we noted two weeks ago in our last survey, Shelby’s numbers are soft and easily susceptible to collapse once voters learn about his true record. And in just two weeks, we’ve started to see that collapse in full motion: SHELBY IMAGE 14-Oct 16-Dec 30-Jan FAVORABLE 61% 62% 56% UNFAVORABLE 17% 19% 27% NO OPINION 22% 18% 17% McConnell’s image, however, is growing rapidly. After just $250,000 in paid media, McConnell has more than quintupled his favorability ratings and is now better than 2-1, with almost half of Alabama Republicans having an opinion of him. MCCONNELL IMAGE 16-Dec 30-Jan FAVORABLE 5% 28% UNFAVORABLE 12% 12% NO OPINION 83% 60% CONCLUSION: SHELBY WILL BE FORCED TO A RUNOFF – WHERE ALL BETS ARE OFF Shelby is now in a precarious position. After spending more than $3 million on television advertising, Shelby has lost 9 points of ballot share. He is now just 5 points above the threshold for a runoff, and heading in the wrong direction. Historically, these races develop within the last 10 days, as we’ve seen in countless GOP primaries before. McConnell is currently the number 2 candidate against Shelby, earning 22% of ballot share, nearly double the last survey. He is incredibly well positioned to force Shelby to a runoff on March 1st and emerge as the lone Shelby alternative in the April 12 run-off election. Survey conducted January 29 through January 30, 2016. 1,299 likely Republican Primary voters participated in the survey. Survey results weighted to reflect expected turnout demographics for the 2016 Republican Primary Election. Margin of Error is +/-2.7%. Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding. McConnell will face Shelby in the Republican Primary on March 1.
Get to know Jonathan McConnell, Richard Shelby’s most outspoken opponent
In the current battle for the Senate seat of Sen. Richard Shelby, no candidate has garnered the state’s attention like Republican Jonathan McConnell. A Mobile native, McConnell received his Bachelor’s Degree from Auburn University before joining the United States Marine Corps, where he served as an Infantry Officer and completed tours in Iraq and on the Syrian border. While pursuing his law degree from the University of Alabama, McConnell was inspired by the hijacking of Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates to form a private security company designed to defend ships in high-risk waters. According to McConnell, his company Meridian Global Consulting, LLC is currently defending ships in Somalia, the Persian Gulf and “all over the world.” “I didn’t want to get into politics,” McConnell said. “But this country is headed in the wrong direction.” McConnell, as a business owner and former Marine, sees keenly the need for the United States to balance its budget and do more to protect against the threat of terrorism, at home and abroad. Like the majority of the candidates running for Shelby’s long-time seat, the economy tops McConnell’s list of priorities. “I don’t see anybody stepping up to do anything about it,” McConnell said. “We’ve got to get America back on track and that means fixing our economy.” According to do McConnell, the most effective ways to address our current overspending and create revenue is to support tac reform, specifically the institution of a flat tax or fair tax and to cut regulations on small business. Further, McConnell believes that by eliminating the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” which he says has “killed the middle class,” small business owners would be relieved of a huge and unnecessary burden. McConnell also believes more should be done to fights terrorism and protect our own borders, two bullet points that he believes are one in the same. “We’ve got to stop rewarding bad behavior by incentivizing people to come over here illegally,” McConnell said. “First and foremost, we’ve got to secure our borders. There is not other first-world country in the world that’s going to allow people to cross their borders unchecked.” While these two issues top most of McConnell’s agenda, the Republican candidate noted that Shelby has failed to represent “Alabama values” through his approval of liberal Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Bryer, a vote McConnell says undermines the conservative values of Alabamians. “I am 100 percent pro-life, I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and Obamacare has been one of the worst economic policies in the history of this country,” McConnell said. “Sen. Shelby has been a silent partner in undermining Alabama values.” While the candidate wouldn’t open up about endorsements from state legislators, an announcement he says will be released soon, he has gained the endorsement of Citizens’ United, a conservative political action committee (PAC), and Special Operations Speaks, a PAC supporting candidates best representing veterans. And while Shelby’s war chest is immense, McConnell believes it will take more than money to win this election. “I don’t have to compete dollar for dollar with him,” McConnell said. “The establishment has the money in this race, but the people have the power and people are sick of Richard Shelby, all across Alabama. I don’t think money can win this election.” Oddly, McConnell is looking forward to the possibility of a run-off, noting that if Shelby receives less than 50 percent of the vote it will only reinforce the assertion that his campaign is weak and people are ready for change. “It’s our entire system that’s broken,” McConnell said. “I can’t think of a single thing the federal government does well, except spend money. We need change agents in Washington, D.C.” — This part is part of our ongoing “Get to know” series spotlighting the various candidates in the 2016 Senate race. Click here to get to know the other candidates we’ve highlighted thus far.
U.S. Senate hopeful Jonathan McConnell releases first TV ad
Election 2016 is in full-swing in the Yellowhammer State and U.S. Senate hopeful, Republican Jonathan McConnell released his first TV ad of the season Tuesday morning. The ad, which will air on both broadcast and cable networks statewide, emphasizes what McConnell says are the core differences between himself and his opponent, five-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. “Washington politicians have failed to lead, leaving significant security risks both domestically and internationally,” McConnell said. “The rise of ISIS, the tragedies in Benghazi, and the spread of radical Islam can be attributed to the failures of career-minded politicians like Richard Shelby.” The commercial hits the airwaves in the wake of a fundraising uptick following two major endorsements from Special Operations Speaks and Citizens United just last week. “After the last 37 years of Shelby’s politics as usual, the people of Alabama are ready to be represented by a principled conservative,” McConnell said. “The culture of politics in Washington has failed us and left America unsafe. .. It’s time to send in a Marine.” Watch the ad below:
Jonathan McConnell nabs endorsement of Citizens United PAC for Senate run
Taking on 29-year incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby in the Republican primary this March, Marine Corps Iraq War veteran and small-business owner Jonathan McConnell landed a major endorsement Thursday from Citizens United Political Victory Fund (CUPVF), the PAC affiliated with Citizens United. “Citizens United Political Victory Fund is proud to support true conservative candidate Jonathan McConnell against career Washington politician Richard Shelby”, said Citizens United President David N. Bossie. “As a conservative change agent, Captain McConnell will be a breath of fresh air in a United States Senate that is full of stale ideas and outdated big-spending politicians.” In the endorsement, there were obvious jabs at Senator Shelby, who has been in Washington over 37 years, between his current Senate gig and a previous position in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bossie continued, “Over the 37 years Richard Shelby has been in Washington, he has gleefully presided over the out of control federal spending habits that has resulted in our $19 trillion national debt. America needs a new generation of conservative leaders like Jonathan McConnell who will join Senator Ted Cruz and others in challenging the failed status quo in Washington. Big spending politicians no longer have a place in the U.S. Senate because there is no more money to spend. It’s time for Richard Shelby to go.” “It’s this mindset of indifference by entrenched career politicians that so desperately needs to be swept from office in Washington. All Alabamians who are Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or Ben Carson voters should also pull the lever for fellow-change agent Jonathan McConnell in the rapidly approaching primary election on March 1st,” Bossie concluded. CUPVF has also contributed $5,000 to McConnell’s primary campaign.
Jonathan McConnell accuses Richard Shelby of endangering national security
News broke last month U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) was considering adding language to a must-pass spending bill to slow the Pentagon’s phase-out of Russian-made rocket engines used to launch military satellites into space. Shelby, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has since been able to add said language to the Omnibus — a catchall spending bill that would fund the federal government until after the presidential election next November — that was released Wednesday morning. In the midst of the 2,000-page bill, Shelby’s efforts have resulted in a lone paragraph that would allow United Launch Alliance (ULA) to continue buying RD-180 engines from Moscow until a domestic alternative is available, which Shelby has already worked to secure more than $300 million in funding for domestic development. However, his office tells Alabama Today it could be another four to five years at best before an American alternative is available. In Congress, Shelby’s most vocal opponent is former Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) who argues on behalf of the phase-out, which could negatively impact more than 800 jobs at the ULA outfit in Decatur located near Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. Outside of Washington, Shelby’s primary opponent former Marine Captain Jonathan McConnell is none too pleased with the Senator’s latest legislative accomplishment and is sounding the bullhorn against him accusing him of endangering national security in return for a few votes. “Richard Shelby’s willingness to give President Obama’s liberal agenda a blank check in return for a few votes reveals just how out of touch he has become with the values and priorities of Alabamians in his 37 years in Washington, D.C.,” said McConnell. “This Omnibus bill does nothing to defund Planned Parenthood or Obamacare, allows Obama’s executive amnesty to continue, and does nothing to ensure the refugees soon arriving from the Middle East are being sufficiently vetted.” He continued, “In the stroke of a pen today Shelby proved two things: He no longer has a grasp on the precarious nature of our foreign policy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has shown a growing inclination to give aide to the terrorist state of Iran, and he is willing to rubber stamp over $1 trillion in federal spending, including all of President Obama’s liberal pet projects, over a few sentences he hopes will buy him some votes.” But Shelby, who plans to oppose the Omnibus as a whole, contends he is actually working to protect national security in supporting the RD-180. “I’m the first one to argue that we should not depend on any foreign power for access to space — especially in the national security arena,” Shelby explained. “However, I agree with our nation’s top military leaders who say that restricting the use of the RD-180 will undermine our national security for years to come.” Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, among other officials and top military officers have also joined Shelby in expressing concern over the RD-180 ban. “Anyone who supports banning the RD-180 is arguing that it is acceptable for our troops under fire around the world to be left blind on the battlefield,” Shelby continued. “This is a reckless and irresponsible approach that needlessly endangers our national security.”
U.S. Senate candidate Jonathan McConnell releases first statewide radio ad
Republican candidate and conservative businessman Jonathan McConnell released his first statewide radio ad Thursday as he makes a run to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate. In the 1-minute, six-second ad is being emailed and shared with supporters and donors across the state. In it, the former Captain in the United States Marine Corps vows to “keep [America] safe from ISIS terrorists” and will “say no to unchecked Syrian immigrants on American soil.” McConnell is challenging incumbent Richard Shelby (R-AL) for the GOP nomination in next November’s general election for the Senate seat, claiming Shelby has “abused [his] power for profit, and Alabama has paid the price.” Listen to the McConnell ad below: Ad transcript: ANNOUNCER: Small businessman, Marine, outsider, that’s conservative Republican Jonathan McConnell. Captain Jonathan McConnell led over a hundred Marines in Iraq. Later he founded a security company that protects American ships from pirates and terrorists. JONATHAN MCCONNELL: Hi, I’m Jonathan McConnell. For over 40 years Senator Shelby and career politicians like him have abused their power for profit, and Alabama has paid the price. While our debt skyrockets politicians continue to put their interests ahead of ours. Enough is enough. America’s in crisis, but Washington’s career politicians only know how to protect themselves. As your senator, I’ll focus on protecting you and your family. I’ll work to eliminate the debt, and illegal immigration, repeal Obamacare, and keep us safe from ISIS terrorists and I’ll say no to unchecked Syrian immigrants on American soil. I’m Jonathan McConnell. I approve this message because we need leaders who will fight for the people of Alabama, not themselves. ANNOUNCER: Captain Jonathan McConnell, the tough tested conservative Christian Republican for U.S. Senate. Paid for by Friends of Jonathan McConnell.
Personnel Update: Elizabeth BeShears leaves Yellowhammer joins Jonathan McConnell campaign
Yellowhammer’s secret weapon and content writer extraordinaire Elizabeth BeShears has moved on. According to BeShears she left Yellowhammer (YH) News last week has accepted the position of director of communications with the Jonathan McConnell for U.S. Senate campaign. According to her Linked-In profile BeShears has been with YH for almost a year. She frequently wrote the majority of the content each day, combining aggregating with writing original stories. This big loss for Cliff Sims is a big gain for McConnell. BeShears is well known for her work with Alabama Policy Institute and Heritage Action. She is very well respected among the conservative grassroots community statewide and I’m willing to bet able to keep up with the self described fast pace and long hours McConnell described being used to in a Business Alabama article highlighting his business success last year. In that article McConnell said, “Work-play balance is tricky when he works as many as 100 hours a week and flies to Africa on a moment’s notice, but he’s close to his parents in Mobile and his sister, who lives in Montgomery and has three daughters”. That’s about the work ethic a statewide campaign requires but we at Alabama Today have no doubt BeShears is up for the job. McConnell announced his campaign on Nov. 6 with Emily York listed on his press release as communications director. York has since moved over to become the campaign director. McConnell will be facing an uphill battle against 81 year-old incumbent, six-term U.S. Senator Richard Shelby. According to OpenSecrets Shelby has over $19 million cash on hand for his reelection campaign.
