Jeff Sessions is providing a prime example of how substance, even when considerable, bows to slogans in modern political campaigns.

The former U.S. Attorney General, seeking to regain the Senate seat from Alabama he held for 20 years, faces a contested Republican primary on March 3. Both at the Justice Department and in the Senate, Sessions built fine records of accomplishment. His campaign messages, though, have done little to remind Alabamans of those achievements.