Sen. Jeff Sessions did what most politicians love to do at a campaign stop Saturday at Samford University: He shook a lot of hands and passed out a lot of pork.

With just 23 days to go until the Nov. 4 vote, Sessions enjoys a commanding lead in the polls over challenger Vivian Davis Figures, a Democratic state senator from Mobile. Sessions also enjoys a huge lead in dollars to spend on his re-election, having raised more than $4 million for the campaign compared with about $250,000 for Figures at the last reporting period.

Yet Sessions said he is not taking his re-election for granted, especially given the mood of most citizens he talks to and the poor state of the nation's economy.

"The mood is hard to figure out in some ways," Sessions said. "But what's not hard to figure out is that the people are not happy. The people are worried about the state of the economy, some worried about jobs, some worried about their pensions. Families are hurting and I don't think the politicians are appreciative of really the body blows the middle class is taking, and we've got to do something about it, but that bailout was not the right answer."