Being from the state, I can offer this insight.
Most people from the state are not pure-Republicans or pure-Democrats. Generally, big-talk from DC doesn’t score. Obama-Care didn’t deliver lower rates or fix what was broken. Most people don’t want unions in the middle of delivering jobs. The guy who shows up to say it’s the government’s job to inspect/audit ditches....will be laughed at. The minute you threaten hunting and fishing in any fashion...you will be asked to leave. A big hocus-pocus tax refund created by a RINO that equals a whopping $135....is mostly laughed over.
I agree with my fellow Alabamian. We pretty much don’t like any of them. Just leave us alone. We do love our junior Senator Jeff Sessions. No one will even run against him.
I’m in the Tennessee River Valley - it’s similar to the rest of the state, but not quite. So long as the GOP does what it needs to do, we’ll hold those seats. In fact, the gains from what happened in 2012 say as much.
That said, I concur with your assessment (I haven’t been here all my life, but my entire extended family has).