Re Jones - Moore: A little reality. Sorry.

[trof]

Last edited Thu Dec 14, 2017, 05:34 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm an Alabamian. Born and raised here. Since 1941, except for about 35 years away in my career.

I worked for the Jones campaign.
Doug is really a terrific guy.
I am delighted that he won.
But please don't get your hopes up that this is a harbinger of some kind of sea change in this state.
And, dammit I hate to rain on your parade.

Doug won because he was running against Roy Moore.
If the repugs had chosen just about any other candidate, he/she would be celebrating today.

Moore has a hardcore, kamikaze, Moore-uber-alles group of way right wing evangelicals that will never desert him.
Never.

Those are the ones who turned out in the primary that got him into a runoff with our former state attorney general (Big Luther Strange) who was appointed to fill Sessions' seat in a very corrupt (and obvious) move by a governor who was shortly thereafter forced to resign just ahead of an impeachment posse (for sexual this-and-that) and pretty much hated (Strange) for that, statewide.

Faulkner would have a field day with this one.

[dem4decades]

1. Don't worry, the nations hopes aren't rooted in Alabama. But it was nice to win one.

[Motley13]

2. Yeah, I thought if Luther Strange had won the primaries, he would have won over Jones

What is your opinion of Mo Brooks? He seemed one of the least obnoxious conservatives.

[trof]

15. Personally, I think he is a loon.

[Legends303]

3. Depends but I wouldn't underestimate the power

of incumbency, which is going to be a big factor in 2020 and Trump popularity has plummeted in that state so it gives at least a shot.

[treestar]

17. +1

The Delaware case - the Republicans in a primary picked extremist and possible witch Christine O'Donnell (who reduced to making an ad starting out with her saying, "I am not a witch&quot and thereby lost a seat they would have won had they picked Michael Castle, a moderate Republican who had been governor and representative in Congress. Thereby allowing the seat to be won by a Democrat instead. He was re-elected in 2014.

The Republicans continue to do this and they lose seats they could have had. We managed to take advantage in the Moore case, too. We only failed with Donald because of the EC and hopefully have learned not to let that happen again.

[JNelson6563]

4. Lived in Michigan all my life

and none of this is unknown to me.

[BannonsLiver]

5. We dont need a sea change.

We stole Jeff Sessions’ senate seat for 3 years and handed Red Don and Otis the Drunk (Bannon) a black eye. That’s more than enough for now. Whatever happens down the road is a problem for another day.

And thanks for your work on behalf of Jones.

[Kirk Lover]

6. I said this today and my post got hidden.

Just an FYI

[brer cat]

7. You certainly know your state better than I do

so your opinion matters, and I doubt that many people see AL suddenly turn blue. However, I think that you need to recognize that it was more than a lousy opponent that led to Jones' win. You now have a blueprint to follow and can see what good organization and boots-on-the ground efforts can achieve. Jones won in highly educated, high income cities and suburbs where voters would likely vote republican, yet are clearly unhappy with their party now. Combining that with high AA turnout is a winning combination. Surely you can start making inroads in state government as well.

I live in GA so I know how hard it is to be blue in a red state, but I refuse to concede to republicans. Intelligent people can see the damage this administration and this Congress are doing to our country. Whether they are willing to continue voting Democratic or the republicans simply become splintered, it is an opportunity for us.

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. As one who voted and celebrated last nite (late), I am just happy

to keep the repugs and the PGIC from celebrating today. For today, just today, that is enough.

[Kaleva]

9. I don't think there's that many who think this signifies a major change in Alabama

Most of us can see that it took a huge GOTV effort just to beat a supremely flawed candidate like Moore. Luther Strange would have won this without much work on his part.

It was, however, a big slap in the face for Trump and Bannon.

[gratuitous]

10. Maybe it's not a harbinger

But after Alabamans get a look at a competent Senator who works to make their lives better, some of them might be inclined to re-evaluate their default settings and knee-jerk animosity to Democrats.

Cribbing Joaquin Andujar's favorite word in English: Youneverknow.

[struggle4progress]

11. I have a photograph on my wall, taken by a man my father knew, of Otto Lilienthal flying

in his glider, a few days before he crashed and died

Two bicycle mechanics in Ohio were studying Lilienthal's book when my father's mother was yet a small girl, living on a farm with no indoor plumbing, lit by kerosene at night, and reliant on horses for their travel

Before that girl died, decades later, she had flown across the Atlantic in a jet plane

I suppose her elders told her we would never fly -- but her children and grandchildren watched moon landings on live television

[trof]

16. Good story. Thanks.

[Xolodno]

12. Sadly, you are probably right.

However, I think a lot depends on 2018. If Dem's win enough Senate seats, Jones can take the "sensible" approach. For example, "When it came to gun control, I voted against my colleagues, I didn't pass it, it was everyone else from other states!"...but vote yes on easier items "Well of course I voted to fund CHIP! Do you know how many "God Fearing" parents depend on this for their children?!"

However, if a major issue comes up and there is a thin majority....he's going to have to make a decision between what is right vs. his job. Since he's a Dem, I'm going to guess he will do the right thing and hang it up. He has to know winning was a long shot and staying long would be a whole new book in the Bible.

[UTUSN]

13. Thanks for the local insight.We can take heart over specific events without expecting forever events

[CakeGrrl]

14. The real takeaway for Dems is that

the Jones campaign is a model to emulate.

That it worked in the reddest of red states is a bonus, since the GOP was arrogant enough to think they could nominate an unfit extremist and get away with it. They may tack back to the center after this.

Dems need to get the ground game going in the purple/lean red states.

[treestar]

19. +1

We have chances in those red Southern States is what this proves.

[treestar]

18. It got the black voters out though

so that we have learned we need to do that, especially where the Rs have picked a nut case. Rs do that with the Orange Ass (who only won due to EC anyway) and Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. This can be tried in any other state where they end up with the nutcase from the primary. We could get more Democrats from Southern States just paying attention to that.

[lpbk2713]

20. "Big Luther" conjures up Ben Quick and Will Varner.

Thanks for your work on the Jones Team.

[planetc]

21. Inadvertently, you make a point about the quality of Republican candidates

I don't see a Democratic wave or sea change until we can establish control over our own elections. Until we can be sure the announced vote counts actually reflect how the voters vote, we ain't goin' nowhere.

But there's another fact of our political life that you notice in passing: that the quality of Republican candidates for national office has been sinking steadily. Recall the 18 (or so) Republican candidates for president who were swept away by Trump. People who are competent, bright, personable, and principled are flocking to the Democratic party. Our bench is deep. Just consider that Alabama didn't have anyone better to run than Roy Moore, and the national party didn't have anyone better to run for president than Trump.

This is a trend, and it's in our favor.