Gomer and Goober at the Helm: How Doug Jones and Tabitha Isner Drove a Sinking Ship Straight to the Ocean Floor

Doug Jones and Tabitha Isner

By Christopher M Peeks September 27, 2025

To say the Alabama Democratic Party is a shell of its former self is like saying the old courthouse clock still keeps time for a town that no longer exists—symbolic, maybe, but powerless to shape the present.

The last time the Alabama Democrats had relevance was when old general stores, vibrant with life, had old men in overalls sitting around chewing tobacco on sleepy county roads. Those gatherings of town leaders holding court are now barren, boarded-up vestibules like what remains of the aforementioned party.

What seems like a story from antiquity—a mere 19 years ago, back in 2006—Democrats in Alabama politics still possessed the kick of the party’s donkey mascot. That year, the names Baxley and Folsom, legendary in Alabama government, headed the ticket. Though Baxley did not ascend to the governor's office, Folsom did capture the lieutenant governorship, and the party controlled the legislature. It seems like a story from the Old Testament.

Since reaching that high-water mark, the Democratic Party has fizzled out like a wet 4th of July bottle rocket. Part of that is due to no one rising up to fill the shoes of the political giants of the past, but some of that blame can lie on the shoulders of their leaders like Doug Jones and Tabitha Isner.

Reminiscent of Tweedledee and Tweedledum—Doug Jones, a complete joke who won an election that Bo Bo the dancing bear could have won against Roy Moore in the 2017 Alabama special election for Senate—and Isner, in her infinite wisdom, when combined with Joe Reed, morph into Larry, Moe and Curly with their public spat as they fight for the remnants of the heart and soul of the Alabama Democratic Party.

What Isner and Jones pulled in 2022 is abhorrent. After Yolanda Flowers defeated State Senator Malika Sanders-Fortier, the party’s handpicked choice—daughter of longtime iconic Senator Hank Sanders—Isner and Jones proceeded to act like two spoiled brats who lost on the playground. They took their ball and went home.

The dynamic duo, for lack of a better term, chose not to help Flowers fundraise. Though Flowers had as much of a chance as the Titanic, Jones and Isner chose to take everyone down with the ship instead of deploying lifeboats. By not supporting the nominee of the party, how can you expect anyone to take you seriously? They didn't try to avoid the iceberg—they looked for another to hit.

Now, this Laurel and Hardy act has hit a new low. A well-known public figure in Alabama politics, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, revealed that Jones and Isner have privately expressed a desire to see white candidates run. Wow! Racist much? How appalling! What if Alabama GOP chairman John Wahl made that statement? Imagine the outcry! The party of DEI wants to see white candidates instead of a heterogeneous slate? Or are white candidates the DEI of the Democratic Party?

Well, just running white candidates will not ensure victory. If Isner and Jones want their politicians to appeal to whites, they need to hearken back to the days of the "Southern Democrats," those New Deal populists who gave people the belief that "every man is a king." Jones and Isner do not have the courage to separate from national Democrats like previous generations. The last presidential ticket wanted to give transgender surgeries to illegal immigrants in prisons and put tampons in boys’ bathrooms. That not only doesn't appeal to whites—that doesn't appeal to any race.

However, the fragments of the old Yellow Dog Democrats in Alabama cannot move forward while holding on to the past, yet must go back to reach the future. If the Democratic institution in Alabama ever wants to compete again—aside from the few sparse places—they must replace Isner and Jones. They are relics caught in the past of the now-defunct ideology of "Wokeism." Doug Jones and Tabitha Isner are out of touch with everyday Alabamians.

Time is of the essence, and the future for the Democrats is now. In order to build the party from the ground up, you must lay a foundation—and that begins by parting ways with Gomer and Goober.

Doug Jones and Tabitha Isner, you are complete embarrassments. Have enough courage to do the right thing and step aside—not only to alleviate yourselves from continuing humiliation but to do the right thing not only for your party but for your state. Put your constituents

above yourself—before the courthouse clock stops ticking for good.

Christopher M Peeks

Reporter and Columnist

Alabama Political Contributor