This election year is all about change. It's the key piece to Barack Obama's platform. In a recent Gallup poll, it showed that 79% of Americans want a change in direction from George W. Bush's policies, while only 17% want those policies continued.

In a hotly contested election where the vast majority of America wants a different direction, this could spell victory for Figures. If she can capitalize on this mentality, she may be one of many people to take down incumbents from both sides of the aisle. This could be an election year where things get shaken up.

Things are certainly looking good for John McCain in Alabama. A recent Rasmussen report showed the Republican candidate had won over 55% of voters to Obama's 37%. With such a sizable early foothold for Mccain, it looks likely that the state will go red this fall. it's interesting, then, that Senatorial incumbent Sessions has declined to officially endorse the Republican presidential candidate. Instead, Sessions has opted to state that he "strongly supports" McCain. Although Sessions has helped fund raise for McCain, his failure to formally endorse the candidate lends a fraction of distance to the two Republicans' relationship. In an electoral environment when the tradition is to gather moment for one's self by jumping on the party bandwagon, one must wonder what Session's reasons might be for keeping McCain just at arm's length-- and how they fit into his own campaign strategy for the fall.

In the Alabama Senate race, we're looking at yet another example of the impact that finances and campaign contributions have on the public sentiments surrounding a particular candidate.

The Democratic hopeful, Vivian Figures, faces off against the presiding Alabama Senator, Rep. Jeff Sessions, in a contest that finds her struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing funds being added to Sessions' campaign (as of July, Sessions held $244 to every $1 of Figures campaign chest.)

However, aside from her financial disparities, Figures is campaigning against "the 5th most conservative member of the Senate" according to the National Journal and a prominent spokesperson in favor of the war in Iraq.

With a concerted push to focus on the economic effect of our continued military and financial investments in this war, an attack against Sessions voting record against key clean energy bills, and an emphasis on providing healthcare and better education opportunities to lower to middle class citizens of Alabama, perhaps Figures can speak to a voting block disillusioned with the Republican party (and a Senator who fall directly in line with a majority of the Bush administration's policies) and drum up the votes necessary to take Sessions' place in the Senate.

It's true that Figures is running in a hostile environment, but she's marketing herself wisely. With the few dollars she has, she's pitching herself as a sort of anti-Washingtonian-- someone with a strongly defined sense of personal, professional and family identity. "Washington has forgotten its priorities", her website announces, and Figures touts herself as cure to that malady.

This angle is just one example of an increasingly popular campaign strategy for Democrats and Republics alike, particularly those running in local elections, wherein candidates aim to distance themselves from "Washington" and align themselves with the "regular folks" of their home state. It doesn't matter the voter's affiliation-- whether they're turned off by the Clintonian debauchery of the 90s or Bush and Cheney's corporate allegiance of the 00s--"Washington" is turning Americans off. For Figures, running against well-established incumbent Sessions, the fact that her opponent is so entrenched in politics might be an advantage if she can leverage her own image properly.

The Alabama Senate race between Republican incumbent Jeff Sessions and Democratic challenger Vivian Figures vibrates with the results of the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress and the 3 special elections of House members over the last 2 years.

After the Democrats gained a net 29 House seats and secured a majority in the Senate. Special elections in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Illinois have all proved to be windfall gains for the let. Most notably, was the victory of Bill Foster to the Illinois 14th Congressional District's seat, formerly belonging to GOP Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

The surge of Democratic wins in this last cycle could rove to be a silent ally for Figures in an otherwise one sided race.

A lifetime of grassroots public service will aid Vivian Figures in her attempt to usurp incumbent Jeff Sessions' Senate seat. Before running for Federal office, Figures made a name for herself in the Mobile City Council and eventually took a position in the Alabama Senate representing her native city's needs on a statewide level.

Early in her career, Figures made her stance for environmentalism and a healthy lifestyle a priority. Leading opposition to the construction of a facility designed to burn petroleum-contaminated oil near Mobile and becoming a staunch supporter of the statewide indoor smoking ban has shown her desire to help the people of Alabama keep clean air.

Figures also helped boost Mobile's sagging economy by giving incentives to Thyssen-Krupp to build a steel plant in the area, creating thousands of new jobs.

State Senator Figures past initiatives are not as numerous as Jeff Sessions' legislation, however, they give her a focused edge in a race that is not national, but local.

Jeff Sessions will have a challenge to win over his entire base in the general election over Vivian Figures. Libertarian candidate Darryl W. Perry has launched a write in campaign directed at the more conservative wing of the Republican party achieving endorsements by organizations such as Alabama Statesmen, Boston Tea Party, Christians for Life and Liberty, and PaulCongress.com.

Although still an odds out favorite, Sessions struggles with what has been a banner year for Alabama libertarians. In the West Alabama Republican Assembly's straw poll, Ron Paul secured 81% of the votes, a total of 261. The remaining 14 votes went to mitt Romney, leaving the nominee John McCain with little core party support. How this will impact Sessions, has yet to be seen, but the fact still remains that Alabamans are not content with the status quo.

In a year that has proven to look more and more like a Democratic repeat of 2006, Jeff Sessions may face a backlash from his strong party-line approach. Sessions' record shows an 89.1% voting unity with the Republican Party.

In the hot button issues of the 110th Congressional session, SCHIP and FISA, Sessions voted with his party against and for respectively. He backed the Helmsley bill, which pushed for a ban on HIV positive immigrants from entering the country and supported Vice President Dick Cheney's push to give immunity to the CIA in regards to torture and extreme interrogation practices. However, he did join in the bipartisan effort to pass the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

It's yet to be seen how Senator Sessions record will impact his reelection campaign, but it can be proven that he stands united with the GOP.

Running with the slogan, “I Believe...” may prove to be a boon for Vivian Figures while her opponent, Jeff Sessions, chooses to run on his incumbency.

A stark contrast between the two campaigns for the Alabama Senate race is the overwhelming, Obamaesque campaign rhetoric from the Figures camp, while, much like John McCain, Sessions is running on anti-sloganism and pure experience.

Slogans have had a long history in the United States from the “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” slogan of the 1840 presidential election all the way to “It's the economy, stupid.” Short catch phrasing has done wonders to get individual candidates elected in the face of insurmountable odds.

Figures uses her “I Believe...” slogan to great use on her website and in speeches, almost in a rhythmic way creating a broad statement that moves from her stance on a given issue to targeting the “we” in every voter's mind. “I believe that with the right priorities, we can do better.”

Vivian Figures has chosen an interesting and positive slogan to utilize in getting her message to the voters, however it's yet to be seen whether that will be enough to win against Sessions.

In light of the Siegelman affair I can't see how anyone with even the semblance of a conscience could ever vote for an Alabama Republican.

In her bid for Alabama's Senate seat, Vivian Figures touts her history of fighting against big tobacco for the health and well being of Alabamans. As a state senator, Figures introduced legislation to put a statewide indoor smoking ban in place. Even after the bill failed, Figures was honored at the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures for her work to keep children way from smoking. The tobacco companies have come under pressure nationwide for their stances on cigarette use and Figures support for legislation shows her progressive views for Alabama's future.

In a Senate race that seems awfully one sided, Democratic challenger Vivian Figures has enlisted the help of Major League Baseball legend Hank Aaron to help boost her campaign for the Alabama Senate seat. Aaron joined Figures for fundraisers in Birmingham and Huntsville, helping her raise large sums of money.

Representing their shared native city of Mobile, Figures pushed to name the minor league baseball stadium after Aaron and the one-time home run record holder wanted to return the favor. Having been friends for almost 20 years, Aaron pointed out the challenges Figures faces in this race, "A lot of people say, 'Well, why tackle giants? Why tackle something that you think you can't win?' When I started my baseball career, I started out with zero home runs."

I'll make this as simple as I can- the only way we are going to get real change in this country- the only way we are going to be able to do something about the economic disaster, the wars without end, the environments continual debasement- is to get a democratic majority in both houses of congress. If you want health care reform, vote for Figures. If you want Wall Street reform, vote for Figures. If you want to leave the world safer, cleaner- in a word better- for your children, vote Figures. If there is any doubt about how important this election is, read the headlines from ten different papers for the past week. To put it into one issue- think about how the GOP gutted FEMA, and what happened all along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We can't afford another minute of a congress or White House controlled by the Republicans. Time for change. Time for Figures.

On the issue of ethics, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions' opponents have brought up the issue of a 1984 prosecution of civil rights workers. Sessions traveled to predominantly black counties all over Alabama in an effort to find tampered ballots. He found 14 ballots of 1.7 million that may have been meddled with. Among those that he prosecuted was Albert Turner, an aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. The civil rights workers were ultimately acquitted after four hours of deliberation.

The issue with this case is whether Sessions harbors a dislike for his African-American constituency. He questioned thousands of black voters, without grilling whites.

In the past, he's admitted to not supporting the Voting Rights Act of 1984 and called the NAACP an “un-American” organization.

Vivian Figures (D) is climbing a steep hill against incumbent Republican Jeff Sessions and she took her campaign this Monday (September 29th) to the Shoals where she spoke to around 60 Democrats.

Figures took the opportunity to tie Sessions' voting record to the Bush administration and discredited the Senator's work as dated.

Figures then went on to point out her work on the state legislature on behalf of medicare, the Child Protection Act, and the Clean Air Act.

Her statements rang with the same overtones as an Obama speech yet Figures is still facing a massive financial gap between her mere $17,000 campaign purse to Sessions' $4.3 million in a state that generally has a more conservative voting base.

Vivian Figures (D) is climbing a steep hill against incumbent Republican Jeff Sessions and she took her campaign this Monday (September 29th) to the Shoals where she spoke to around 60 Democrats.

Figures took the opportunity to tie Sessions' voting record to the Bush administration and discredited the Senator's work as dated.

Figures then went on to point out her work on the state legislature on behalf of medicare, the Child Protection Act, and the Clean Air Act.

Her statements rang with the same overtones as an Obama speech yet Figures is still facing a massive financial gap between her mere $17,000 campaign purse to Sessions' $4.3 million in a state that generally has a more conservative voting base.