OpsLens

Ret. Marine Col. Lee Busby To Salvage Alabama U.S. Senate Race?

“Hold my beer… we’ll just see about that.”

Nov. 27 may be the day Republican Roy Moore’s bid for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session’s abdicated Alabama U.S. Senate seat died. Because retired Marine Col. Lee Busby launched a last ditch write-in campaign in one of the most partisan and scandal-ridden tickets in recent memory.

According to The Daily Beast, when Busby was told it was too late to get his name on the ticket as a third choice for the Dec. 12 election his reported response was “Hold my beer… we’ll just see about that.”

His impromptu strategy is not without operational footing.

“Alabama is not happy with the two choices we have down here. They are not appealing.”

“I think you can flip this thing. If this were a military operation, the left flank and the right flank are heavily guarded,” Busby said. “I think that gives you an opportunity to run straight up the middle.”

Explaining his decision to run a last minute Hail Mary for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ abdicated Senate seat, Busby says “Alabama is not happy with the two choices we have down here. They are not appealing.”

Far from a “career politician,” Tuscaloosa native and University of Alabama graduate Busby’s most recent headline pre- write-in announcement was a feature in Southern Living magazine. It was an interview for his retirement work as a sculptor since 2013. His inspiration is to honor the memory of his fellow Alabamans lost in Iraq and Afghanistan so they may not be forgotten: “In the military we say a warrior dies twice,” he told Southern Living. “The first time is when he draws his last breath. The second time is when somebody speaks his name for the last time.”

Even President Trump has gone conspicuously shy on delivering a last minute endorsement of embattled Republican candidate Roy Moore amid a slew of sex scandal allegations.

Even President Trump has gone conspicuously shy on delivering a last minute endorsement of embattled Republican candidate Roy Moore amid a slew of sex scandal allegations. Will he use the Oval Office pulpit to support this Marine who served for 31 years and who was now White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s deputy chief of staff during his last tour of duty?

And will Alabama voters – whom Busby says deserve a better candidate who represents them – respond in time?  Or will he, a centrist conservative/independent, suck more from the Right and hand victory to the Left?