I’m skeptical because Alabama.
From the description, basically, Doug Jones is too good for Alabama. The majority of people in Alabama don’t want someone ‘authentic’. They want a gun-totin’, cowboy-hat wearin’, Bible-thumpin’, homophobic fraud. Remember, Alabama is a state that would rather let its agricultural produce rot in the fields than risk having undocumented immigrants harvest it.
An honest, authentic Democrat. If we run more candidates like this everywhere, we’ll win a lot more races. And won’t have to lose our souls in the process.
Nevertheless, many credit Jones for running an authentic, strong campaign. They say while the abortion comments will likely hurt him, it would have been worse to try to focus-group his way to a victory.
Whether or not Jones wins, this much rings true. My sense is that at least some American voters are sick of current political campaign messaging, which has ossified into a form that everybody sees coming. I think that that might be one of the explanations of Trump´s win; it was obvious that he wasn´t following the advice of traditional campaign strategists, and some voters found that appealing. in and of itself.
So the Alabama Republican platform appears to be as follows: deny women rights over their own bodies; make sure millions don’t get health care: kick a few hundred thousand youth out of the country because their parents brought them here; allow carbon-burning industries to pollute at will; accept Supreme Court rulings only if you agree with them (that old 10th Amendment thing): and enable all football coaches to act like idiotic demagogues. A winning combination. And let’s not forget Ross Douthat in the NYT carrying water for Steve Bannon and his anti-Jones abortion ad. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/opinion/sunday/democrats-alabama-doug-jones.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion-columnists&_r=0
“Once a baby is born I’m going to be there for that child, that’s where I become a right-to-lifer,” he continued.
BOOM! This is what Republican’ts do so well; they turn the other candidate’s strength into a weakness. Kudos to Doug Jones for paying attention! And extra bonus points for not selling out his beliefs to bad advice from the Consultancy Class. Win or lose, he will have not only run a campaign to be proud of, he will have laid the foundation for future Democratic success in the South…
And can we please have more Democrats running for office who don’t listen to what Republicans say Democrats need to do to win? Be honest, tell the electorate what you think and don’t hide.
I dunno the answer to the article’s opening question, but it appears from that photo as if those who accused Biden of groping women got it wrong. He gropes both ways!
It is all about getting more of Democratic voters out than the Republicans getting their voters out.
In our age of tribe voting GOTV is what wins races.
The real reason Dems don’t win in the South is because the good ole boys are still in charge of the elections. They still have found ways to suppress and outright deny Blacks the vote. Alabama is 26% African-American. As soon as Scalia and the other Pukes in robes on the Supreme Court went after pre-clearance and dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, which happened during the Obama administration, places all along what is commonly called “the Black belt” in the south started putting impediments once again in the way for Blacks to be able to vote with less legal protections and fewer protections overall to redress the issue. One of those issues was in closing numerous DMVs where people could get a photo ID, even if they didn’t drive. Even if a person travelled a greater distance now, having the requisite early paperwork to prove who you were, the cost involved in getting your birth certificate and/or making up for a lost Social Security card could be prohibitive for a poorer person seeking that ID. If you were born at home and were of a older generation, you might not even have that kind of paperwork like a birth certificate.
This is why I don’t think a Democrat has a chance in Alabama. Not because he’s a Dem. Its because the sick culture of white supremacy in the South is alive and well. It doesn’t have shit to do with abortion, climate change or expanding Medicaid. Its about keeping African-Americans, the most loyal Democratic voters from voting. The newest approach to voter suppression in the deep south, is almost as onerous and as effective as having people count fucking jelly beans in a jar in order to be able to vote…
This is exactly what democrats in EVERY state need to be doing. For decades, repugs have won because they stand there and proclaim the most outrageous shit and their voters turn out because Strong and Wrong. Democrats lose because they play repug lite instead of standing up for real Democratic Party values.
If Jones loses, Democratic candidates should take heart from his candidacy. Speak the outrageous truth and turn out every last voter.
Me too. But WTF, it’s worth running the experiment under what are close to perfect laboratory conditions. A base election in a crazy deep red state with the craziest possible candidate.
In a world of rational people, the outcome, whatever it is, would shut someone up, either the ones who’ve been crying out for this kind of thing or the ones who pooh-pooh it. But if this was a rational world, we wouldn’t be where we are. And people being people, whoever turns out to be wrong will either claim conditions were too perfect or not perfect enough.
And yet all anyone can seem to talk about is Russia…
I’m backing Jones with everything I’ve got, but we have to be realistic: it’s a long, long shot, especially now that the abortion issue is guaranteed to turn out evangelicals in big numbers. It’s not too late for Democrats to push a softly-softly, outsider narrative–“this is a long shot, Alabama is a red state,” etc, because (1) the Democratic base in Alabama is stoked like never before and needs very little urging to vote, and (2) you want Alabama republicans to think that this isn’t going to be a close race. You almost want to sucker them into staying at home. The astounding blue waves in Oklahoma, Kansas and Long Island special elections were due, in large part, to local campaigning and grassroots organization and the total absence of a sense of urgency among local Republicans. Money should be poured into getting out the vote more than TV ads. Maybe there’s nothing that can be done about it, but we don’t want an Ossoff situation to arise, with every Republican in the district absolutely primed to vote precisely because of the enormous liberal brouhaha surrounding the election.
Good on ya’, Doug Jones!
It’s much better to lose a political campaign running as yourself and calling things as they are than it is to win by cloaking yourself in a disguise.
“”"“He’s taking a seat that could be in play and putting it firmly in the Republican camp. If he’d just shut up on abortion and take some more moderate stances I think he’d be in a position to win,” said Alabama GOP strategist Chris Brown."""
If I said that it would mean just what the words say. If a GOP’er pundit and strategist says it it means something else entirely. That’s some seriously bad concern trolling. No one, GOP or Dem thinks this man has a real shot at winning. No one. But change comes slow and this election may warn that change is coming. If this Democrat running as a Liberal can make a race out of it then he’s done all he needs to do. Roy Moore will be a disaster as a Senator. He’ll embarrass the Alabama GOP and redefine what a Republican is. The morning talk shows will make sport of him and FOX will have to make a fool of itself trying to defend him. He’ll taint the GOP from coast to coast.
If the Democrat can make a decent showing ( earning Democrats more money and support in the South ) and Moore makes a fool of himself Alabama’s political compass is going to shift a few degrees. Alamaba’s GOTV folks have a job on their hands. There’s a reason states like Alabama exist.
This is a hard story to report, because pretty much everyone is going to tell a reporter what they want to be true, in hopes of influencing the rest of the race.
Also amused to see the article tiptoeing around the rabid elephant in the room.
Agreed. That’s what some Dems don’t quite understand. AL has more registered Rethugs than Dems. That’s just
the reality of a numbers game. Getting out the vote for Dems is important but if most of the Rethugs decide they’re getting out and voting for Moore for whatever reason, then they win.
It’s worth a try. Running Republican “lite” hasn’t worked out very well.