William Barnes, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, toured Tuscaloosa Thursday and later addressed a group of about 20 members of the University’s College Democrats in an attempt to gain name recognition statewide and speak about his opponent, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
Barnes said that he was not afraid of Shelby and his $17 million war chest, and that he was running, in part, because Shelby has not been representing the best interests of the people of Alabama.
“Shelby has become the epitome of the party of ‘no,’” Barnes said. “He’s voted no to a bill about student loans overhaul. He voted no on the extension of unemployment benefits.
“What’s a person to do when they lose their job and there are no other jobs that exist? Do we expect them to go hungry?”
The first-time candidate said Shelby, who has been in office since 1978, has been acting on what’s best for big business rather than what’s best for the voters that elected him to public office.
Barnes, who called himself “the voter’s alternative to Richard Shelby,” said he had always been a Democrat and that he would never change parties, as Shelby did in 1994.
“If you find something wrong within the party, you try to change it and make it better,” he said. “You don’t change parties. That doesn’t really sit well with me.”
Barnes said he would not call the nation’s current economic problems a recession but a depression.
“We’re in an economic war, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “We have got to stop importing from China. We’re paying Chinamen in a far away, distant land to manufacture what we can do here. We need to create jobs for Americans.”
Barnes, a Vietnam veteran, also urged students to talk about his campaign and get behind him. He said his campaign has raised about $1,000 since he entered the race, and that he, unlike Shelby, would work for the people of Alabama.
“I am not going to drop out of this race,” Barnes said. “I’m going to talk to as many people as I can before the election on Nov. 4 and focus primarily on my race, not others across the state.”
Michael Patrick, a UA junior majoring in political science and the president of College Democrats, said that having Barnes speak to students was very much appreciated.
“We’re excited that we finally have a good Democratic candidate running for U.S. Senate,” Patrick said. “I’m glad he took the time to come to the University and tell us more about his campaign.”
