http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/12/could_richard_shelby_lose_its.html
At first blush, running a primary campaign against Sen. Richard Shelby looks as promising as trying to destroy the Death Star by walking up to it and peeing on it.
Maybe even as futile as running as a Democrat.
To say that Shelby is an old name in Alabama politics is an understatement. He has held office longer than most Alabamians have been alive.
And he has campaign money. Lots and lots of campaign money. According to OpenSecrets.org, as of the last reporting period, Shelby had $19.4 million in cash on hand.
With money like that, he could have bought Larry House's house at auction for his campaign headquarters and still had $15 million left over.
If you think I was being a bit ridiculous in that last paragraph, think again. Shelby has been prone to spend his campaign money conspicuously and lavishly before, and just last year, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called the senator out for spending that doesn't seem to have much to do with campaigning.
Forget campaign barbecues. Shelby spends his money at steakhouses a few cuts above Golden Corral or even Outback. Places like The Palm, Bobby Van's Grille, Charlie Palmer's Steakhouse and ...
Let's just say the man likes steak, and he likes it from places where a dinner for two costs slightly less than a whole cow.
Larry House's house.jpg
With his campaign cash on hand, Richard Shelby could have bought Larry House's house to use as a campaign headquarters and had $14 million left over.
He also likes nice hotels, including the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans, the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego and the Michelangelo Hotel in New York. Shelby appears to like the Michelangelo a lot. He spent $34,742 in 32 stays there.
Just to put that in perspective, the annual income of the average Alabamian is $26,338.
Over a six-year period, CREW found, Shelby's campaign had reimbursed him and his wife more than $580,000, more than any other senator.
You might be thinking, "Didn't Jesse Jackson Jr. go to jail for something a lot like this?"
Sen. Shelby understands that the key to buying happiness is to purchase experiences, not things. Spend $1,000 on a watch? You go to jail. Blow that much on a night in a luxury hotel in a state you don't even represent? That's a necessary travel expense.
And if you thinking that Sen. Shelby seems to be spending a lot of time in states that aren't Alabama, don't worry. Most of his campaign money doesn't come from Alabama, either.
If you want to see an interesting contrast, compare Shelby's top campaign donors to those of the junior senator from Alabama, Jeff Sessions. The top Sessions donors include some Alabama brand names — McWane Inc., Drummond Co. and Bradley Arant. Shelby's money comes from banks, insurance companies and defense contractors — Metlife, Boeing, Signature Bank. Quickly it becomes clear. Sessions and Shelby might represent the same state, but they have very different constituencies.
For decades Shelby has hoarded his campaign cash like Smaug lounging on a mountain of untouchable gold. Some fellow Republicans have hit him up for donations, but few have walked away with any. Even the Wall Street Journal called him stingy.
Which brings us back to the March GOP primary.
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Sen. Richard Shelby's campaign finance disclosures show he likes a good steak and a luxury hotel room.
Shelby hasn't had to run a real race since 1986, at least in part because of that growing pile of money. It might look like cash to you and me, but to political challengers it's a sign on the door saying "This house is protected by Smith & Wesson."
However, this year, that warning might not be enough. Shelby has three challengers, including the hapless former state senator, Shadrack McGill.
No worries there.
But Homewood businessman Jonathan McConnell is a former Marine who, after serving in the Iraq War, started Meridian Global Consulting, a defense contractor that protects merchant ships from piracy. McConnell's candidacy is a long shot, to say the least, but so was David Bratt when he defeated House Eric Cantor. So was Ted Cruz.
If you were to describe a Cruz-like insurgent for Shelby to a police sketch artist, you'd get a picture back that looks a lot like McConnell. And with a three-way war raging between Trump, Cruz and Carson, this is not the year to be a down-ballot Republican establishment candidate.
So for the first time in a long time, Shelby is spending money trying to suffocate this upstart in his crib. We won't know until next year just how much Shelby is spending, but his digital ad buys might already be following you around on the Internet and his radio spots sound like Wes Craven's Nightmare on Obama Street.
Ultimately, though, for Alabamians, this election will be about the power of incumbency.
Are we OK with someone holding office as long as Shelby?
Are we OK with someone holding onto power by hoarding that kind of money?
Are we OK with a Washington insider as a Senator?
The answers to all those questions might be "yes." Shelby has brought a lot of money back to Alabama. Throughout the state, public buildings bear his name. In Washington, he loads up federal spending bills with pork, hoping that his constituents won't hold him accountable for the national debt. Politico has even called him the chairman of the "hope yes, vote no caucus."
Economists call it "revealed preference." When it comes to what people want, what they say means less than the choices they make.
But the right candidate might be able to hit the sweet spot on Shelby's Death Star by asking voters just two questions.
Do you really believe in term limits?
If so, would you consider someone else?
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