I realize this is going to be one of the most hated diaries in Kossack history — and I’ve been here awhile, I’ve seen a few — but I’m gonna do it.
First of all, I don’t believe Doug Jones — a supremely qualified and upstanding public servant — can win in Alabama. That says less about him and more about how far gone the Right is. They keep telling us who they are and we keep telling them “Shush, you don’t mean that!”
BREAKING NEWS: THEY MEAN IT.
We all thought there was no way Trump was going to win the GOP primary. Even though millions of Republicans were telling us “We Want Trump!” We all thought there was no way Trump was going to win the Presidency. Even though millions of Republicans were telling us “We Want Trump!”
We keep telling Republicans “Goshdarnit, you guys are not as bad as people keep saying you are.” and they keep replying “YES WE ARE!!”
I for one, received a huge lesson a year ago. It is time to start taking Conservatives at their word. They say they are racist, bigoted, homophobic Jesus-And-Gun nuts for just one reason: THEY ARE.
Roy Moore is going to win because a huge majority of rational, thinking humans has LEFT Alabama once they turned 18. (Liberal clustering IS a problem to be sure. Those born in the South can’t wait to leave and they inevitably run to the military or to one of the Coasts. This is why the South/Appalachia remains the way it is with small blue pockets here and there.)
Another thing is this: the registration deadline to vote in the election was November 27th. The allegations about Moore started to break on November 9th. Now I don’t know how many Democrats or Democrat-leaners were registered to vote in Alabama before the 9th, but I can’t imagine its a lot. For Jones to have a chance, there would have had to be a massive registration drive to overcome the consistent, hard core GOP voting bloc, correct? I don’t believe that, in that less-than-three weeks period, there was enough sign-ups to do so. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.
So Jones has to rely on turning out what Dems he can, or pray for enough Repubs to sit on their hands or do a write-in for someone else.
I’m just not optimistic.
But look at what a Roy Moore wins gets us. Look at the benefits.
1) Did we EXPECT this? Did we have any inkling or suspicion that we were actually going to compete for Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III’s Senate seat in Alabama? No we did not. This is not a heartbreaker. Certainly it is good that we campaigned. Certainly it is good that media attention is focused on this. Certainly it would be a nice thing to have. But since we didn’t really expect it, it’s a zero net effect for us. There are other seats such as in SD and WV at stake next year, that are way more important.
2) Roy Moore will be an ANCHOR around the necks of the GOP. They’re not going to investigate him or censure him or anything else. Once he’s in, he will be IN AND THEY WILL OWN HIM, LIKE IT OR NOT. They will own ALL OF HIM, The Racist, The Homophobe, the Anti-Semitic AND the Child Predator.
3) Al Franken’s and Conyers’ decisions to step down are enormously helpful in this regard. I said it before and I will say it again regarding Franken: when it was one woman, fine, dig in our boots, wait for an ethics investigation to pan out. But when it got to be 5-6, I believed the right thing to do was for him to depart. And Conyers too. We cast out Anthony Weiner, we cast out Eliot Spitzer. (of course those last two explicitly broke laws, but you get my meaning.) We have moral high ground and I DO believe it means something, even as the hypocrites in the GOP continue their little game of “do as I say”…
4) Finally, I believe — and I could be wrong, but I believe it anyway— that we are at a crux in this country of perception of the two political parties. Trump was a big part of that, and now Roy Moore will be another. The upcoming voting generation is largely progressive.
The Fox News version of liberalism (whackjob college professors, tree-huggers, etc. etc.) is on its way out. (excepting of course, amongst the faithful Fox News viewer of course.) In the general population, a new vision of liberals and Democrats is taking shape; that of mainstream policies and ideologies. Are we perfect? No. But I believe the overwhelming view of Democrats is that we’re the party of sensible fiscal policy, the party of personal freedom, the party of diversity and the party of — gasp — family values! Us! Family Values!
Meanwhile, as Goblin takes the GOP further and further into the muck, THEY will be the party of Corporate handouts, make-believe Christians and all around intolerants.
That is not to say that the Obama/Clinton brand of pragmatism and the Bernie Sanders wing won't collide every now and then; But given that milennials, non-whites and women (and growing numbers of suburbanites) are forswearing the GOP, is a kinda-sorta good problem to have. Dustups will happen but I believe it’ll all come out in the wash.
So there you are. Go Roy Moore! This is one Dem who’s pulling for your victory, as it portends, in the long run, the disembowelment of the GOP as we know it.
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2017 · 4:41:49 AM +00:00
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Jank2112
WOW. WOW, WOW, WOW. NEVER have I been so happy to be so wrong. I seriously did not think Jones had a chance.
I also want to say that I probably worded the subject header wrongly: I didn’t WANT Moore to win, I simply saw it as inevitable, but it was a win that could be used to our advantage. Make no mistake, this is — if projections are correct — a huge win, an upset on par with the 1980 Miracle On Ice.