© Stefani Reynolds/Pool via APSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., poses with newly elected Republican senators, from left, Sen.-elect Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Sen.-elect Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Sen.-elect Roger Marshall, R-Kan., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020.
Veteran Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky have been named by national media outlets as possible allies. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said he was undecided on the matter Wednesday.
And another name floated in recent days: Senate-elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
But unlike Cruz, Paul and Hawley - among others - Tuberville is a rookie senator who will be sworn into office on January 3, a mere three days before Congress meets to ratify the Electoral College's decision on Monday that awarded the presidency to Joe Biden.
If Tuberville is the sole senator backing Brooks, it would also place the former Auburn University head football coach at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who congratulated Biden on Monday and - according to national news accounts - is warning fellow Republicans not to challenge the election results.
Stan McDonald, Tuberville's campaign chairman, during an interview on WVNN-radio in Huntsville on Tuesday, said:
"I think that he (Tuberville) and Ted Cruz are the two best candidates to do this. I don't know yet if or when he will do this. He's very seriously considering it."Tuberville is in Georgia this week and was unavailable for comment.
Alabama's senior Senator, Republican Richard Shelby, said Wednesday it was time to "move on" from the election.
"The electoral college met earlier this week, which is our constitutional process for determining the result of the presidential election. The electors voted 306 for Joe Biden and 232 for Donald Trump, thereby making Joe Biden the official President-Elect. While I wish it would have yielded a different outcome, it's time to move on."'Bucks the leader'
At least two Republican strategists in Alabama believe Tuberville won't make the move, largely because of McConnell's lead. Brent Buchanan, a GOP pollster in Montgomery, said:
"McConnell made it very clear (Tuesday) that he won't tolerate Republican senators speaking out against or challenging the Electoral College results. Tommy Tuberville is wise enough to know that first impressions matter, especially in Washington, so I doubt he bucks the leader of the Senate."Angi Stalnaker, a GOP strategist who is also from Montgomery, said that Tuberville's role right now is "to stand in the Senate and do whatever he can" to help Georgia Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue win their special elections on January 5. The stakes are high in both races as the majority of the Senate hangs in the balance when Loeffler faces Democrat Raphael Warnock Perdue goes up against Democrat Jon Ossoff.
Stalnaker said the Electoral College vote challenge amounts to an "entertaining and frustration distraction" from the more relevant matter: Keeping the two Georgia seats.
"I think every Republican should be in Georgia right now campaigning," said Stalnaker. McDonald, during his WVNN interview, said Tuberville had been spending time campaigning in Georgia.
Continuing to combat the election results might make for good, albeit short-lived politics, according to Stalnaker. Polling shows a vast majority of Republicans have concerns over the voting process was flawed, and more than 80% of Republicans polled by Gallup right after Biden was projected to win the election, said they didn't believe the reports.
"The symbolic attempts (to overturn the presidential election) is good for a few days of media coverage, but it's not going to stop the liberal agenda of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris," said Stalnaker.
'Tough' climb
At least one congressman believes Brooks has a valid case to make before the House on January 6. U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, who will be leaving office on January 3 and will not get a say in ratifying the Electoral College vote, said he did not share McConnell's congratulatory message toward Biden, noting "there is one step left" that will involve Congress.
Byrne, as well as Brooks, have pointed out that a handful of Democratic House members objected to the Electoral College votes during the ratification on January 6, 2017. Some members complained about long lines at polling places, while others cited Russian interference in the 2016 election.
None of the representatives had support from a senator, which would have required the House and Senate to meet separately and debate the objections.
Brooks, during an interview on Fox Business, also noted that in 2005 California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer filed an objection in the certification of Ohio's Electoral College votes during the 2004 presidential election. It was the first time a senator challenged a state's full slate of electoral votes since 1877. The Senate, however, voted Boxer's objection down by a 74-1 vote. The House also overwhelmingly voted down the objection.
Byrne said that Brooks has a tough hill to climb.
"So far, there is no senator to say 'I would agree with Congressman Brooks. Even if there is one who does, it goes to each House separately and there is no way a Democratic majority does not count the votes of Biden electors. We've had Senator McConnell who (acknowledged) that Biden won the election. It's tough to see how you turn around those votes."Byrne ran against Tuberville for the Senate earlier this year but lost in the March GOP primary. Byrne said he has not considered how he would have voted were he still a member of Congress on January 6.
Byrne and five of Alabama's six GOP representatives in Congress signed onto an amicus brief in a lawsuit sponsored by the Republican Texas Attorney General last week that challenged the Electoral College votes in four battleground states - Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court, on Friday, tossed out the case and paved the way for the Electoral College's official ratification of the November election results on Monday.
Biden won with 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232.
"I have a lot of concerns with the election," Byrne said. "But since I won't be there on January 6, I have not thought what I would have done as a member of Congress."
Alabama's only Democratic member of the U.S. House called the effort to change the electoral votes "pathetic."
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, in a statement to AL.com, said the voters, the courts and the Electoral College have all "spoken" in determining Biden had won. Also, she noted that "experts within the Trump Administration," such as former Homeland Security cyber chief Christopher Krebs certified that the "election was safe, secure and legitimate."
"Any effort to delegitimize the results of the election should be seen for what it is: A pathetic and unconstitutional attempt to overturn the will of the American people."
Comment: Other sources are reporting the new senator could surprise us and make that bold move: At the very least, Senator Tuberville seems willing to hit the ground running to start his tenure in the Senate. Not many have such convictions - be it early or even late in the game. Perhaps it takes a rookie to address the major flaws in the fabric of the nation and shows the rest of the bums in Congress how its done before political aphasia and mind-think arm-twisting kicks in. We shall see.