7. Saban and former acolyte Jimbo Fisher are going at it

• College football exploded over allegations that Texas A&M “bought every player on their team,” comments from Nick Saban directed at Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher. Fisher responded by calling Saban a “narcissist” and accusing him of misdeeds. He stated, “Go talk to coaches who’ve coached for him. You’ll find out all the parity. Go dig into wherever he’s been. You can find out anything.”
• What happened next was unexpected, as Saban actually backed down and sort of apologized. He said, “I should have never really singled anybody out,” adding,”[T]hat was a mistake and I really apologize for that part of it.” There were calls for both coaches to be punished by the SEC, so they got public reprimands to go with their millions of dollars of attention.

6. Marshall ready for Alabama to be an aggressor

• Roe v. Wade seems ready to be overturned, and the media and their Democrats are ready to gnash their teeth and fight about it. Pro-life states are also gearing up to change and defend their laws, and Alabama is no different. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall suggested Alabama would attempt to implement laws that were already passed by the legislature, but he also said Alabama would go after legal fees in previous cases.
• Marshall outlined, “[I]t is returning to the states the ability to make the decision relating to abortion, and then we would have the responsibility at that time as the people’s lawyer to be able to lift what other restrictions may exist as a result of prior federal action.” He added that the state had been hit with legal fees from those who challenged the state’s 2019 abortion law and he would go after recouping that.

5. Tuberville: Colorado delegation has “sore loser syndrome”

• U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn), like most of us, is completely over all the drama surrounding the relocation of the Air Force’s Space Command from Colorado to Alabama. Tuberville said, “For the sake of national security and military readiness, I will strongly oppose further efforts to unnecessarily delay this critical move.”
• In a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tuberville declared, “At this point, the biggest thing standing in the way of SPACECOM is political inertia and sore loser syndrome, each a detriment to U.S. military effectiveness,” and “It’s time we embrace the Air Force’s decision and move forward together.” The likelihood of this happening is unlikely.

4. Blackouts possible this summer

• High energy costs, inflation and the pending abortion riots don’t sound bad enough for the summer? Fear not, because we may also have rolling blackouts for portions of the United States where the energy needed could exceed the amount of energy supplied.
• Forced power outages in the form of rolling blackouts could become the norm for portions of the mid-South and Midwest. The strain could also lead to higher energy costs across the board, and the issue could spread. Concern over energy is all over. Just yesterday in congressional hearings, Biden administration officials continued to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for high gas prices and refused to say the prices were too high.

3. Illegal PAC ads running in Alabama but they will continue

• We have all seen the latest ads targeting Kay Ivey on her relationship with China. They oddly reference Tokyo Rose to imply she’s a traitor to Alabama and the nation. The ads may be completely illegal because the entity purchasing them ($500,000 worth so far), Common Sense America Election Fund based in McLean, Virginia, has not filed the appropriate paperwork in the state.
• Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill laid out the compliance issues with the PAC, and it sounds like it may just be a paperwork error on their part. He stated, “[G]iven what appears to be a lack of compliance with campaign finance laws and the non-responsiveness to our inquiries, we are now calling attention to this situation in hopes that it can be addressed in a timely matter and to ensure that Alabama’s election laws are complied with.”

2. $2 million more from Mitch McConnell to fight Mo Brooks

• In what may be a sign of things to come in the primary runoff, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continues to dump money into the GOP primary for the Alabama U.S. Senate race. This is all part of a broader move to attack Brooks and keep him out of the runoff.
• This is not the first time McConnell has opposed Brooks. In 2017, McConnell’s Senate Leadership fund spent large funds targeting Brooks. The end result of that brilliant play was his preferred candidate former U.S. Senator Luther Strange (R-Mountain Brook) losing to Roy Moore, who would go on to lose to future U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-Birmingham), and McConnell eventually found himself losing battles on Obamacare, immigration and eventually his leadership post.

1. Another poll shows Britt up, but Brooks closing the gap; Ivey up big

• A new poll conducted by Cygnal, a reputable firm, has U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) within the margin of error of frontrunner Katie Britt (30.8%) with Brooks at 28.5%. This is the closest this race has been in months, and Brooks may be surging at just the right time. Durant is in third with less than seven points separating the three candidates.
• In the race for governor, incumbent Kay Ivey maintains a commanding lead heading into the last weekend of the campaign with 47.5% of the vote and 11.3% remaining undecided. Challengers Tim James and Lindy Blanchard continue to trail by a large margin with 15.9% and 13.4%, respectively. A runoff is possible, but Ivey seems poised to avoid one.