Dem
51
GOP
49
Donald Trump created the Space Force and decided its headquarters should be located in a deep red state. He picked Alabama. For the time being, though, it is located in Colorado because it has bigger mountains to hide it in while Alabama is working on its mountains. Now is the time for the move and there is pushback from Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). One of Bennet's arguments is "What about abortions?" Is he worried about a female space warrior who needs an abortion in space, and whether Alabama law would govern that? Well, not really. It's more about getting qualified people to work at the Space Force headquarters and would qualified people be willing to work in a state that bans nearly all abortions? And you thought the culture wars didn't permeate the military. Try again.
Joe Biden has vowed to revisit Trump's decision. Both states already have some military infrastructure. Alabama has Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. Colorado has NORAD, located at the Peterson Space Force Base, just outside Colorado Springs, where the Air Force Academy is located. The Academy could provide a steady stream of new Space Force officers (the Space Force does not have its own academy, unfortunately, and Starfleet Academy is not scheduled to be founded until 2161).
Of course, part of this is pure patronage. Why should a Democratic president give such a big plum to state that never votes for Democrats when putting the headquarters in Colorado could be an argument he could make to keep Colorado blue? Could politics be involved in locating a major government installation for space-related things? As you probably know, Lyndon Johnson put the Johnson Space Center in Texas and NASA's main launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida. An accident? We don't think so. Johnson was pretty good at politics.
What does the military want? The generals had a bake-off and two of the top six finalists were Colorado Springs and Huntsville. Probably the military would be happy with either one. The battle may come down to who's got Biden's ear. On the one hand, Colorado has three-term Sen. Bennet and first-term Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO). But before becoming a senator, Hickenlooper was a two-term governor of Colorado and before that a two-term mayor of Denver. Clearly these are Democratic heavyweights who have Biden on speed dial. What does Alabama have? Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) was first elected to public office in 2020, is very Trumpy, and spent most of his career as a college football coach. Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) is said to be a genuinely nice person, but she won her first public office last November when her boss, Richard Shelby, retired and did his level best to get her to replace him. Advantage Democrats. But it's Biden's call. (V)