Q&A: Alabama’s ‘Pitchfork People’ v the Republican Old Guard
The contest for the Republican nomination in the first congressional district of Alabama has pitched Bradley Byrne, a 58-year-old career politician, against the more conservative Dean Young.
Young, who describes his supporters as “pitchfork people”, is opposed to homosexuals “pretending they’re married”, and believes Barack Obama was probably born in Kenya. Byrne, who was a Democrat until 1997, has adopted strongly conservative positions in order to fend off his conservative rival.
The contest between Byrne and Young is seen as a fight for the heart and soul of a Republican party licking its wounds after the government shutdown led to plummeting poll ratings. As such, it is being watched closely by political analysts in Washington.
The Guardian asked both of them to answer a series of touchstone questions.
Apart from the United States, which other country do you admire?
Byrne: Good question. Israel.
Young: I’m not a big world traveller, so I don’t know.Who is your political hero?
Byrne: Forever and all time? Winston Churchill.
Young: Judge Roy Moore.
More: Q&A: Alabama’s ‘Pitchfork People’ v the Republican Old Guard