Cillizza: What's the conventional wisdom going into tonight? Tuberville? Sessions? Or a real toss up?

Sessions says that Tuberville -- who declined debate invitations from Sessions -- is not vetted nor prepared to be a US senator. Tuberville has carried an advantage in fundraising with support coming from the Washington, DC-based Club for Growth.

Cillizza: Donald Trump has made his views on this race VERY clear. How much has that hurt Sessions/helped Tuberville?

Trump is 0-2 in his past endorsements during Alabama Senate contests -- he lost with Luther Strange ahead of the 2017 GOP runoff against Roy Moore. He then endorsed Moore in the general election, which was won by Doug Jones.

Cillizza: Is this rightly seen as a referendum on Trump because he has been so involved? As in, if Sessions wins, is that a message to Trump?

Sharp: I have not heard whether a Sessions' win would be a referendum on Trump. Sessions has, aside from the recusal issue, praised Trump and his agenda while on the campaign trail.

The president has not physically been involved in this race like he was during the 2017 special election contest when he campaigned in Huntsville for Luther Strange (the speech remembered more as the first time the president addressed kneeling NFL football players), and he rallied for Roy Moore days ahead of the general election in Pensacola, Florida.

The President did not hold a rally for Tuberville ahead of the runoff, so his involvement in the race has been centralized on Twitter. Alabama Republicans have long been torn over the Trump-Sessions dispute. Sessions was a popular Senator among Alabama Republicans from 1997-2017. The last time Sessions ran, in 2014, he won without any opposition in the primary. Just a couple of years ago, Alabama Republicans were proud that Sessions became attorney general. Rare is it for someone in this state to get so close to the line of succession to the presidency. The state has had one vice president (William Rufus King, who served six weeks before his death in 1853), one speaker of the House (William Bankhead from 1936-40), and Birmingham native Condoleezza Rice (a longtime California resident) served as secretary of state.

Sharp: I have not heard that it matters. "Lou Saban" was uttered by the President during statements he made in support of Tuberville last night, on the eve of the election. It did prompt reporters in Alabama to look up the name, "Lou Saban," who turns out was actually was a prolific football coach during an astonishing six-decade career. He was the AFL's coach of the year in 1964, while leading the Buffalo Bills. But I've checked out his stats and I don't see any Alabama football connections with this Saban.

The other Saban, University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, is well known in his own right. GOP campaign strategist and candidates in Alabama will sometimes say that the only endorsement that matters more than the current president is one from Nick Saban. And I don't sense that Nick Saban is getting involved in Alabama politics right now, if ever.

Cillizza: Finish this sentence: "Doug Jones is rooting for ________ to win tonight." Now, explain.

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Will Jeff Sessions have the last laugh on Donald Trump on Tuesday? - CNN