The old kid turned new is still the fascination at this point in Alabama’s 2020 U.S. Senate race.

The candidate who spent 20 years in the U.S. Senate, resigned to become U.S. attorney general, held that job for less than two years then jumped into the U.S. Senate race at the last qualifying minute – that’s how Jeff Sessions became the old kid turned new.

And now his campaign is focused on supporting the agenda of President Trump – the person who publicly and relentlessly ridiculed Sessions before finally firing him as attorney general.

It raises the obvious question for Sessions: Why run for office again and seek Trump's elusive blessing while doing it?

"It's not about me at this point," Sessions said Saturday before speaking to the Republican Men's Club in Huntsville. "My life, and I think in America's life, the question is, what do you believe and how do you advance the values that Alabamians believe in. That's why he's popular. He'll stand up and defend his values. He doesn't back down. And, yeah, he can be hard, tough. But I believe overall, people see that as a value."

Sessions was one of three Senate candidates who addressed the crowd of more than 200 people at the club, joined by former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore and Shelby County state legislator Arnold Mooney.

State Rep. Arnold Mooney met with fellow Republicans Nov. 16, 2019, in Huntsville at the Republican Men's Club.

But while Moore and Mooney are mere candidates, Sessions these days is the fascination – a national punching bag for Trump who chose never to punch back.

Despite Trump's unyielding vitriol directed toward Sessions for recusing himself from what became the Mueller investigation, he still backs the president and that's why he said he deserves your vote in the March 3 GOP primary.

"I understand the disagreement he's had," Sessions said. "People wanted me to criticize him and fight back and say bad things but I wanted him to succeed. He was fighting for the values I believed in. I asked people in Alabama and throughout the nation to support him, the first senator to do so. I want him to be successful."

That's probably a spoiler alert to Sessions' opinion of the impeachment inquiry Trump is facing in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

"This is a fake impeachment, really," Sessions said. "Let's see what happens. I don’t think there's a basis for impeachment. I don’t think it's close."

Meanwhile, Moore and Mooney did not necessarily seek to wrap themselves in Trump. In fact, during his seven-minute speech, Mooney never called Trump by name – though he did praise "the president" for efforts to engage the governments of Mexico and China, though he said China has its own agenda and is not concerned with a harmonious relationship with America.

"My faith is my compass," Mooney said. "It's really simple. I believe in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's the prism through which I view things. It's how I make decisions. I believe in the rule of law but my values and my principles are defined by that. That's who I am."

Mooney also delivered one of the big applause lines Saturday.

"You know, the bottom line on all this is simple. We need to give Doug Jones a new ZIP code," Mooney said, followed by cheers from his audience. "Maybe we need to give him a new ZIP code outside the United States. He doesn't represent what we stand for."

Moore's speech focused on topics familiar to his campaigns – going back to a "moral basis" across America and adhering more closely to the U.S. Constitution.

Roy Moore talked with the audience Nov. 16, 2019, before speaking at the Republican Men's Club in Huntsville.

The GOP nominee in the 2017 special election won by Jones, Moore said that election was “basically stolen by false allegations.” And he criticized Sen. Richard Shelby for not backing him in the general election against Jones after accusations of sexual misconduct were made against Moore a month before election day. Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Shelby said before the election he would write in a Republican rather than vote for Moore.

"Hopefully Richard Shelby won't become involved again in the general election," Moore said. "You've never seen a Republican senator come in and pull for the Democrat like they did the last time. That was completely an anomaly and people should recognize something's up. And what's up is they don’t want me in Washington D.C. They don't like me because I will stand for what I believe and I will speak out. They don’t like the truth."

Support for Trump should not be a campaign position, Moore said.

"I support President Trump and his policies," Moore said before his speech. "I am not here to mimic President Trump. I think it's very wrong to run on somebody else. Run on your leadership, your ability. Not somebody else. That's a fallacy I see in these candidates."

Sessions praised Huntsville and its federal connections to Washington, describing the booming city as "special" for the country and a " a leading bright light for Alabama."

It's a reason he said he wants to return to the Senate, to continue the work with longtime Sen. Richard Shelby of advocating for Alabama.

But the old kid turned new said it’s up to the voters.

“It’s for service,” Sessions told the audience of his desire to return to the Senate. “If people think somebody else can serve better than I can, that’ll be fine. I don’t need this job. It’s not something I’m doing for any kind of agenda or ego.”