Pro-choice Democrat Doug Jones does the unthinkable and defeats Judge Roy “Ten Commandments” Moore in Alabama

A big, heartfelt “thank you” to the good people of Alabama tonight.

With 97% of precincts reporting, today’s special Senate election has been called for Democrat Doug Jones, who looks to have defeated accused pedophile and confirmed racist Roy Moore by less than one percentage point. Jones seems to have won due to a combination of factors, including significantly higher than normal black voter turnout, and the fact that 1.7% of those who cast ballots decided to take Senator Richard Shelby’s advice and write-in a choice other than either Jones or Moore. This, as we’ve discussed before, is absolutely huge, as it not only keeps the reprehensible Moore out of the Senate, but also puts the Democrats in position to possibly take back the chamber in 2018, assuming things continue to trend the way they are in Arizona and Nevada. The question is, what will Trump and those loyal to him do now that it’s clear the tide it turning, and that the recent Democratic victories in Virginia weren’t a fluke? Granted, we were running a very good candidate against a likely pedophile in this Alabama race, but, still, this is huge. When a Democrat wins in Alabama, it’s a sign that tremendous change is afoot. And it’s got to be scaring the shit out of the Republicans and their donors, who, by the way, still haven’t gotten those enormous tax cuts that they’d been promised.

And, speaking of those tax cuts, it’s now sounding as though Rand Paul may vote no on the reconciled Republican bill when it comes out of the joint House-Senate committee, which means that the they may not have the votes to pass it. [Now that we have Jones in the Senate, the Republicans can only afford to lose two votes, and they’ve already lost Corker. So, if Paul also votes no, that means the bill will fail 51 to 49. And, even if Paul votes yes, it’s still possible that either Collins or Flake could vote against the massively unpopular giveaway to the rich.] And, if Trump fails to deliver on his promise to wealthy Republican donors, it’s really difficult to imagine why they’d continue to support him.

I know it’s probably overly optimistic to say what I’m about to say, as Trump could wake up tomorrow and fire Mueller, declare martial law, and go on Fox News to announce his intention to wage war against the “deep state” coup being waged by Hillary Clinton and the FBI, bone spurs be damned, but I really do think we could look back on today as the beginning of the end… the point when Republicans started acknowledging the abject failure of the Trump administration, and looking toward the future. [Just a quick reminder… Trump has failed to pass even a single piece of legislation over one year’s time, in spite of having control over the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. And, as I noted above, the Republican he was backing in the Alabama Senate race just lost to a pro-life Democrat.]

If I were a betting man, I’d say that quite a few Republicans tonight are wondering if now might be the right time to cut Trump loose in an attempt to save their party. Personally, I think the party was already long gone when Trump pulled its withered husk around himself and used it to take the White House, but I suspect there are still some who think that they can bring the party back with an epic post-Trump reboot, and I know they have to be thinking that, unless they want to be swept completely in 2018, they need to do something now. But thinking about ousting Trump, and actually doing it, are two very different things, and I don’t know who in the Republican party actually has the guts to stand up and do it. We’ll see, though. Maybe a leader will emerge…

I mean, miracles can happen, right? Look what just happened in Alabama.

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41 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    Posted December 12, 2017 at 11:43 pm | Permalink

    The AP is reporting that, with 100% of the votes have been counted, Jones has won by 1.5%, or 20,715 votes. This is probably about equal to the number of Republicans who, instead of voting for Moore, wrote in the name of someone else.

  2. LUMOS
    Posted December 12, 2017 at 11:50 pm | Permalink

    I’m reminded of this May 3, 2016 tweet by Senator Lindsey Graham. ‏

    “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed…….and we will deserve it.”

  3. Ypsilanti
    Posted December 12, 2017 at 11:57 pm | Permalink

    Roy Moore is refusing to concede even though the Republican Secretary of State in Alabama says that a recount won’t make a difference. Moore told those gathered for his victory party to “wait on God”.

  4. Anonymous
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 12:01 am | Permalink

    I can’t wait to see what God has planned. He didn’t come back to cure cancer, or stop the rise of Hitler, but he’s going to intercede on behalf of an unrepentant child molester. Yeah, right.

  5. Anonymous
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 12:03 am | Permalink

    White House correspondent Jim Acosta‏ just reported that, according to a source close to Trump: “It’s devastating for the President… This is an earthquake… Virginia but on steroids… The President has egg on his face because of Bannon.”

  6. Sad
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 12:21 am | Permalink

    Just wait until next year when Mitt runs to replace Orrin Hatch.

  7. Iron lung
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 6:36 am | Permalink

    God has decided to enact his plan by allowing Roy Moore time to prepare to take the Presidency.

  8. Meta
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 9:20 am | Permalink

    The Daily Beast: ‘I Think Bannon Made an Ass of Himself’: Republicans Rejoice in Breitbart Chief’s Alabama Humiliation

    Roy Moore wasn’t the only loser Tuesday night. He might not have even been the biggest one.

    The Alabama Republican’s stunning defeat at the hands of Democrat Doug Jones dealt a crushing blow to the nascent political operation helmed by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who threw every ounce of his political muscle behind Moore’s candidacy, even as many national Republicans, save President Donald Trump, rushed to distance themselves following the emergence of sexual assault and child molestation allegations against Moore.

    Bannon headlined rallies for Moore, enlisted allies in a political effort to boost his candidacy, and marshalled his website, Breitbart News, to Moore’s defense against those misconduct allegations—and in an effort to discredit the former state supreme court justice’s accusers—with at least one top Breitbart staffer spending the last month of the race in-state. And when it was all said and done, with Jones claiming triumph, the Bannon critics (and there are many) took the chance to dance on his grave.

    “Bannon is like so many people that get involved in politics. They work on their first race, their person wins, and they think people voted for them,” said Stu Stevens, the former top strategist to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

    Read more:
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-think-bannon-made-an-ass-of-himself-republicans-rejoice-in-breitbart-chiefs-alabama-humiliation

  9. M
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 10:01 am | Permalink

    On the tax bill, it may not be that easy. As I understand it, McConnell is refusing to seat Jones until after the vote.

  10. M
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 10:10 am | Permalink

    First we got this from White House reporter April Ryan‏:

    “I am hearing from several sources there was a lot of drama at the White House last night and it wasn’t about the Alabama election. #fired. Stay tuned”

    And now we hear that Omarosa was escorted out of the building.

    Could it be that Trump responded to last night’s loss at the hands of the black women of Alabama by firing the only black woman on his staff?

    Has a decision been made to double down on White Nationalism?

  11. Republican Steve King
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 10:23 am | Permalink

    Rep. Peter King: Steve Bannon “does not belong on the national stage. He looks like some disheveled drunk that wondered onto the political stage.” http://cnn.it/2ASnnUh

  12. Lynne
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 10:33 am | Permalink

    The thing I am most pleased about is that a message has been sent. Sexually harassing others is now something that can even take down a candidate in the South. The seat will likely flip back in 2020 but hopefully with a less rapey candidate

  13. Iron Lung
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 11:03 am | Permalink

    I admit, I’m surprised. I expected Moore to win by at least 20 points.

    The South does surprising things sometimes. To their credit.

  14. Anthony Gentile
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 12:51 pm | Permalink

    I think this is going to be good for the Republicans. It gives the the semblance that they are still a reasonable party. Less fallout… more chance of retaining or gaining seats in 2018. I am happy beyond words that the people of Alabama did not vote in Moore… but in a way, I think that voting him in would have created more fallout for the party. If I were a Republican (outside of TrumpCo’s inner circle), I would be very happy today.

  15. M
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 1:08 pm | Permalink

    April Ryan‏ is now saying that it was Kelly who fired Omarosa.

    “Sources say General Kelly did the firing and Omarosa is alleged to have acted very vulgar and cursed a lot and said she helped elect President Trump. The word is a General Kelly had it and got rid of her.”

  16. Jean Henry
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 1:28 pm | Permalink

    This Victory is entirely to the credit of Black women, just as Hillary’s win in the popular vote was attributable to women of color.
    60% of white women voted for Moore..
    I’m thrilled that so many POC got out the vote, especially given their history of marginalization and that a big chunk of the progressive wing of the party spent the last year talking about the poor, neglected White working class and the evils of ‘identity politics’… They could have just given up on us and said fuck off. But more poc voted for Jones than voted for Obama. Apparently voting against racism and theocracy and sexual predation was even more appealing than voting for a Black man. We have all just come to know Moore, but as a friend from the South said, “We have known Moore and people like him and their racist [not sexist…] strategies for our whole lives. We recognize that guy.” The turn out was incredible. This is what is required for Dems to win. Also White women… wtf? Gender traitors…
    https://thinkprogress.org/back-vote-alabama-jones-8da18c1d8d7a/

  17. Dan Blakeney
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 1:36 pm | Permalink

    My gut is Happy for the victory. But the lead at the finish is so very slim. This morning they are plotting. They’ll learn from this. The adjustments they ponder will not be about a more enlightened and human platform though. A few more closed registration offices in black districts, maybe some road repair on the routes to key polling places, come up with a couple hundred hanging chads…

  18. site admin
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 1:38 pm | Permalink

    White People Suck

    http://markmaynard.com/2016/11/you-write-the-fucking-white-people-post/

  19. Jean Henry
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 2:03 pm | Permalink

    site admin– yep.
    Yo! White people are racist a/f. Liberals. conservatives, progressives… We need to own up to this shit and stop talking about the ‘White working class.’ We’re lucky as hell to have voters of color. They are our future and we’d be sunk as hell without them

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BcoPRCsDaYt8mOnop1PaREfA7-dM7E2U472M7k0/?igref=ogexp

  20. Jcp2
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 2:12 pm | Permalink

    White college graduate women favored Moore by only 52%. White non college graduate women 73%, white college graduate men 62%, white non college graduate men 79%. That coverts to 1:1, 3:1, 3:2, and 8:1.

  21. Jcp2
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 2:24 pm | Permalink

    Correction, non college graduate men 4:1 for Moore.

  22. Iron Lung
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 4:06 pm | Permalink

    People keep trying to rationalize support for Trump as some kind of natural result of unemployment or stagnant wages or by simply feeling left out. This might be true, but the reality is that misogyny and racism speak to a large swath of people, mostly men, but some women, too.

    The reality is that there are a lot of people out there who like having a guy in office who will “talk to bitches like they deserve to be spoken to” and will “speak the truth about black people, beaners and hajis.”

    There are a lot of people out there who get off on it, and they don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

  23. wobblie
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 4:12 pm | Permalink

    There is a reason why Republicans and Corporate Dems oppose free college for all. Granholm at least supported two years of free college for all. They want to keep the folks ignorant for a reason.

  24. Jean Henry
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 4:38 pm | Permalink

    Wobblie: ‘Corporate Dems’ do very (extremely) well with college graduates. They also do very well with people of color and the poor. Hillary had good margins over Bernie Sanders in all these categories. (Sanders won among the young and white only) Trump won by a 4% margin among college graduates overall. These results I attribute that to racism and social conservatism and wealth hoarding tendencies…

    There is no basis for thinking that regular old Democrats have any vested interest in an uneducated citizenry. There’s really no basis for saying establishment Dems are opposed to free college. The reality is our public university system is funded by the individual States and the ONLY way to make college free for everyone in the USA is to work at the state level. At the federal level we can improve the student financial aid system, which was on HRC’s and the DNC’s agenda from the get go. The difference between free pony progressives and establishment Dems is understanding the structural impediments to ‘free college for all’ demands, including gerrymandering. Leftists think demanding stuff is the same as doing the work to make it happen.
    Time for them to get cracking on working at the State level. Once the young actually start working on implementation of a progressive agenda, they may find they understand incrementalism a little more.

  25. Jean Henry
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 4:57 pm | Permalink

    Presidential General Election results (as per Jcp2):
    White college graduate women favored Clinton by only 51%. White non college graduate women favored Trump by 63%, white college graduate men favored Trump by 54%, white non college graduate men 72%. That coverts to (roughly) 1:1, 2:1, 3:2, and 3:1.

    Pretty damn close to the Moore results. This is not just a Southern problem.

  26. Jean Henry
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 5:16 pm | Permalink

    The real difference I see between results in the Moore-Jones contest and the 2016 general election is that the Senate campaign did not give greater weight to more rural places via the electoral college. Otherwise they are pretty comparable. I’ll take it though.

  27. Jean Henry
    Posted December 13, 2017 at 6:02 pm | Permalink

    Some ideas on how to thank and support Black women. In particular Woke Vote did some amazing work overcoming apathy (aka the nihilism of the oppressed) and getting out the vote in Alabama. https://www.thecut.com/2017/12/black-women-turnout-roy-moore-doug-jones.html

  28. Anonymous
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 6:47 am | Permalink

    Try this.

    White women are hindering the progress of America trib.al/9LkaIbg

  29. Jean Henry
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 8:29 am | Permalink

    White people (not just women) are hindering the progress of America, Anonymous.
    The Christian right has it’s own set of values, it’s own news sources, it’s own political influence. They don’t see Moore the way we do, and the more we attacked him, the more they defended him.
    In the end, 94% of Moore voters thought the allegations against him were definitely or probably false and 89% of Jones voters thought the allegations against him were definitely or probably true.

    As far as female Moore voters were concerned they weren’t voting for a pedophile, they were defending a man they admire from a ‘witch hunt.’ Just as many liberals disbelieved allegations and defended Franken and many Black women disbelieved allegations and defended Conyers.

    All this election shows is that we don’t need those racist women to win elections if we GOTV better than they do.

  30. Iron Lung
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 9:10 am | Permalink

    “There is a reason why Republicans and Corporate Dems oppose free college for all. Granholm at least supported two years of free college for all. They want to keep the folks ignorant for a reason.”

    Where is the evidence to support this idea?

  31. Jean Henry
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 10:02 am | Permalink

    It’s important to also note that the sitting GOP Senator from Alabama, Richard Shelby, threw his support behind Doug Jones. This likely caused many Evangelicals to stay home, rather than vote Dem for the first time. This seems consistent with voter turn out, which was historically high overall, but with most of the increase coming from Black voters, many voting for the first time. I compared the outcomes of this race to the national presidential outcomes, but the reality is that if Alabama can move left through such mobilization, almost any district can.

    If we are going to win going forward, I think we need to stop talking obsessively about what’s wrong with our messaging, and start throwing our support behind GOTV efforts within communities of color, run by communities of color. We also need to encourage more moderate Republicans to stand up to the hostile takeover of their party by bigots. And so I’ll be sending Sen Shelby a thank you message today.

    https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-doug-jones-beat-roy-moore

  32. Jean Henry
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 10:05 am | Permalink

    I mis-wrote. Shelby said he would be writing in his choice. He did not support Doug Jones. Same effect. I’m still going to thank him. Because I understand incrementalism.

  33. Jcp2
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 10:41 am | Permalink

    I disagree that the Moore standings are essentially the same as general GOP election standings. They are for college educated men and women, but look at the ratios for non college educated men and women, Moore vs GOP. For men it’s 4:1 vs 3:1, for women 3:1 vs 2:1. There might be a moderating effect in the general election based on urban/suburban residence vs rural residence, so I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that rural Michigan breaks down in the same way, and that it is party affiliation that drives voters, regardless of whether their candidate is a saint or a sinner.

  34. Meta
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 10:49 am | Permalink

    From the conservative National Review: “For Republicans, a Reckoning Is Coming”

    In the aftermath of Doug Jones’s victory, many Republicans are saying they “dodged a bullet” because Democrats would have used “Senator” Moore to discredit the entire Republican party. Their relief is understandable but premature. Though the morning-after commentary has tended to focus on Steve Bannon’s noxious role, the Moore candidacy was not his responsibility alone. A number of key Republicans – Richard Shelby, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Mike Lee, Cory Gardner, and others — treated Moore as radioactive, but an amazing percentage were willing to say that a sleazy bigot was fine as long as he would vote for the president’s agenda. Prominent “family values” conservatives like James Dobson, Tim Wildmon, and the infinitely flexible Jerry Falwell Jr. stood by their endorsements of Moore. Sean Hannity issued what seemed to be an ultimatum to Moore to give an account of himself regarding the teens he dated/molested, but then, Obamalike, backed away from his own red line. He said the people of Alabama would judge (as they certainly did, but not in the way Hannity was presumably hoping). Other Fox News hosts returned to the Clinton well again and again, implying that if Bill Clinton hadn’t been held responsible for Juanita Broaddrick, well then . . . And of course, Moore’s most crucial booster was Donald Trump, someone with more than a passing interest in the “he denies it all” defense. The Republican party has not dodged him, and cannot. You can scan the exit polls of the post 2016 elections so far and draw a scary 2018 picture for Republicans. African Americans, who weren’t motivated to turn out in off-year elections even when President Obama implored them to, showed up in force in Alabama. Suburban educated voters – the key to Republican general-election victories – have turned against the party in formerly swing-state Virginia, and even in reddest Alabama. The Republican party has voluntarily donned a fright mask that the hapless Democrats and the evil mainstream media could never have pinned on them. It is probably too late to avert the reckoning that is coming, but even if only as a gesture of civic hygiene, individual Republicans might wish to make clear that the Molotov-cocktail politics that Trump brought to the Oval Office is not what they represent.

    Read more:
    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/454632/roy-moore-republicans-gop-reckoning-coming

  35. Jean Henry
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 2:32 pm | Permalink

    Jcp2– Agreed. As I said later on, winning in Alabama was considered impossible. There was no Dem challenger at all for Sessions seat last election. It as a victory for GOTV efforts among POC and a certain amount of resistance to voting for wither among Evangelicals that won the day. So it’s not about converting voters but about motivating Dems to vote. If the GOP fissure persists and the Dems manage to hold together the coalition we have AND motivate them to vote, then we should be able to overcome the structural impediment of gerrymandering in 2018 and maybe in 2020. Again, I highly suggest support of Black run GOTV efforts.

  36. wobblie
    Posted December 14, 2017 at 8:32 pm | Permalink

    Question Jean Henry, are you a member of the Democratic party? Participate in local, district and State meetings and conventions? Just curious when you say, “and the Dems manage to hold together the coalition we have” it seems to imply that you are part of the party. Or are you just registered as a Democrat.? I was a member of the party doing all of the above for many years.

    I ask these questions because I wonder how much you are aware of the politics within the party. Embedded in this clip is part of a C-Span clip of a discussion of the “Unity Commission” meeting of the Democratic National Committee.

    the relevant part begins at about 30 seconds into the clip and runs too the 4:30 minute

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ePXPeBht3w

    What I took away from this, other than the total lack of transparency on Democratic Party finances, it looks like the Party spent 750 million dollars on 5 political consultants. And that the consequences of this spending was the lack of funds for state races, and recruitment of candidates.

    Iron Lung, evidence for which part of my comment? I believe that the “school of choice”, charter school movement, and the general movement towards privatizing all of education is part of a political plan of the right.

    I think the evidence can be found in places like Ypsilanti where we are witnessing the slow disintegration of public education and in New Orleans where public education has been entirely “privatized”. They, the education reformers, are proposing these same type of solutions for Puerto Rico.

    I also rely upon my wifes comments about the educational achievments of her incoming freshman students. “No Child Left Behind”, seems to be producing a generation of students who are unable to engage in critical thinking.

    As far is Granholm is concerned, her advocacy for free junior college for all Michiganders is general knowledge.

  37. Iron Lung
    Posted December 15, 2017 at 1:25 am | Permalink

    Most people don’t go to college, so what would be the benefit?

    The “free college” idea that was floated by Sanders was poorly thought out. Pay for Universities (predictable expenditures) through taxes on Wall Street trades (volatile revenue) was just silliness.

    There is no evidence at all that “Corporate Dems” (whatever that is) oppose “free college” because they “want to keep people stupid.” When you find it, let me know. From here, it looks much more complicated.

  38. Jean Henry
    Posted December 15, 2017 at 9:07 am | Permalink

    Wobblie– you addressed none of my criticisms and went on personal attack again. I’m a registered Dem but don’t participate in internal politics, in part for the reasons you mention. Also because the divisiveness is so counterproductive that it kills me. I’m not a true believer in the Dems. I agree with your assessment of the GOP plan to dismantle public schools, because I know GOP folk (and super lefties) who truly believe charters are better. I do not. And I do not see that position within Dem Party politics, though I’m no fan of many Dem big city mayors for that reason.

    But I have no idea what that has to do with college and Dem party politics. Your righteous rage prevents you from addressing any discourse reasonably. You just start screaming about the plots to undermine…. And don’t talk about solutions. It’s all suspicion and ideology and no information. I’m with IL on this. Show us some evidence.

  39. Jean Henry
    Posted December 15, 2017 at 9:20 am | Permalink

    PS Wobblie– That video featured the rantings of Young Turks investigative reporter Nomiki Konst. The Young Turks was seed funded $4 million by a member of the GOP and just received more $20 million more VC funding from conservative sources to expand their reach. Why would the GOP fund an inflammatory leftist faux fox news media outlet that regularly attacks and divides the DNC??? Hmmmm….
    I’m wondering how much time the Young Turks spend on air talking about their funding sources.
    Gotcha politics is stupid. Gotcha media screaming hypocrisy and drumming up fear and paranoia is a very profitable business. It’s also really really bad for Democracy.
    You should get over it.

  40. wobblie
    Posted December 23, 2017 at 1:44 pm | Permalink

    The real reason Jones won was not black voters but the desertion of white voters from the GOP
    http://mattbruenig.com/2017/12/15/what-actually-happened-in-alabama/

    by the way Jean, I don’t know what personal attacks you refer too. Was just asking questions about your past.

  41. Jean Henry
    Posted December 23, 2017 at 7:19 pm | Permalink

    Why don’t you stick to replying to what I said about TYT. That was a clip staged by a TYT journalist for airing on their own channel. Manufactured click bait, not insider knowledge. She also did not produce the FOIA information she cited. Maybe this is all in a long form piece somewhere, but that clip makes it seem like she’s a Dem Party insider whistle-blowing. It’s highly suspect. (And yes I know the DCCC is broke and that there are many questions about its handling of funds.) I don’t think that clip demonstrates anything. 400k for political consultants for a national party in a critical race does not seem extreme. I would hate to see the party’s functionality wothout them. The Sanders campaign was loaded with them.

2 Trackbacks

  1. […] district.] This is absolutely staggering. Tonight’s win, especially as it comes just after Doug Jones defeated Roy Moore in the deep red state Alabama, has to be terrifying to the GOP. The question is, will it be enough to make them finally start to […]

  2. […] district.] This is absolutely staggering. Tonight’s win, especially as it comes just after Doug Jones defeated Roy Moore in the deep red state Alabama, and the big Democratic gains in Virginia, has to be terrifying to the GOP. The question is, will […]

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