Roy Moore would be a ‘disaster’ for Alabama business, Doug Jones says

Montgomery Advertiser (AL)

Dec. 07--The countdown is on for Doug Jones and Roy Moore as they enter the final week of the U.S. Senate race.

Jones hit the campaign trail in north Alabama on Wednesday, visiting a Huntsville phone bank before joining equal pay advocate Lilly Ledbetter and former Alabama First Lady Marsha Folsom at a Cullman event.

"Doug Jones is someone who understands the importance of justice and fairness," Ledbetter said. "That's all I've ever expected. Justice and fairness."

Jones' 20-minute speech touched on rural and child healthcare and business in the state, saying his opponent would be a "disaster" at attracting corporations and talent to Alabama.

"Think about Roy Moore sitting down with a German CEO and saying, 'Come on to AIabama. I'm going to demean everybody in the state except for a certain group of people, but we'd love to have your business,'" Jones said. "Does anybody in this room think Mercedes-Benz would have come to Alabama if Roy Moore had been sitting on the other side of that table? Absolutely not."

The Moore campaign was mostly quiet Wednesday after a highly publicized rally in Fairhope on Tuesday, featuring former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon. The campaign did hold a small event in Montgomery -- where Moore was not present -- featuring the Rev. Bill Owens, a pastor from Las Vegas and president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors. Owens, like Moore and other surrogates, denounced nine women who have accused Moore of a range of allegations, from unwanted attention to groping to sexual assault, as well as media outlets covering it and what he referred to as the Washington establishment.

"This is a man with a backbone and I think that scares the establishment in D.C.," he said.

Moore denies the allegations. The women have stuck by their stories, and at least two have said they would testify under oath about the accusations. Asked if Moore should do so, Owens denounced "a smear campaign" against Moore.

The allegations were broadly mentioned at Jones' Cullman event, where both Ledbetter and Folsom spoke out respecting and giving a voice to Alabama women.

"This election is about ensuring respect for women and young girls, and standing up for them when no one else will," Folsom said.

Alabama is at a crossroads, Jones said, and Dec. 12 will determine which path it takes.

"We simply can't overlook at this age, in this time, that this country has reached its tipping point about the power women can feel to stand up and speak out about the things they have to endure every day," Jones said. "Alabama, this is our time to say we are part of that movement. We're not going to lag behind like we did with so many other social movements in this country."

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