Doug Jones

doug jones

This is only my opinion, and not necessarily the representation of Saintel Daily, LLC.

Voters in Alabama elected Doug Jones yesterday, making him the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama in 25 years.  Jones stated “we have shown the country the way that we can be unified” in his victory speech Tuesday night. The reason that this seat was up for grabs was that it was previously filled by Jeff Sessions.  Sessions stepped down nine months ago in order to become the Attorney General under Donald Trump.  It was also a sure win for the Republican party, but what happened? The vote was straight down racial lines. Women of color showed up in force. White men voted for Roy Moore, a man that was a pedophile. White women voted in great numbers for Roy Moore, a man that wants to remove the amendments. The same amendments that gave women the right to vote.   African American women were not having a repeat of the national election and came out to show their underestimated power.

Roy Moore

Some are suggesting that Roy Moore tried to use Donald Trump’s playbook, but it didn’t work for him.  Roy Moore is the Republican candidate who was faced with some serious sexual assault allegations.  Instead of bowing down and backing out, he stayed in the race and went on the attack.  Why does this sound familiar?  This is what Donald Trump did during last year’s presidential race.  He accused the media and the establishment of orchestrating a conspiracy against him.  Which cast the race as good versus evil.  Christian versus everyone else.  But we know that’s not actually true.  Both Trump and Moore thought that this approach would mean their base would stick by them to give them a win.

But that’s not what happened.  Alabama sent a clear message that not even in their conservative state could this Trump-backed candidate win.  I should also point out that Trump won in Alabama by 28%.  That’s a huge margin.  Which is what makes this Democratic win ever so sweet.  What’s interesting about this is that some Moore supporters were in disbelief and suggested that there needed to be a recount.  Even suggesting that Jones’ win is “suspicious”.  Even Moore refused to concede as well.

Roy Moore has been in the news lately for many things, but let’s start with his religious beliefs. To start, he doesn’t believe that Muslim’s should have equal rights. He also does not believe in equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgendered people.  That’s not even the bad part.  In November, The Washington Post published an article where four women accused Moore of pursuing them while they were only teenagers.  Moore, at the time, was in his 30s.  One woman accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was only 14. Even after all these allegations came forward, the Democrats were skeptical that Jones could win?  Seriously?  I mean, I guess we all were in a way.

Doug Jones

But Jones’ had a good campaign, in which he focused on three things:

  • To expand the Democratic electorate, especially by going after African-American voters.  (This was smart as Moore had gone on record suggesting that the amendment that gave African-American’s the right to vote, should be repealed.  As well as women etc.  Basically anyone that’s not a white man)
  • Persuade some Republicans disgusted by what Moore has been accused of doing, to vote for Moore
  • Hope that Republicans who were on the fence to stay home.

That last “strategy” makes me laugh. I guess the thought is that there are some Republicans who aren’t going to be happy with Moore.  And perhaps they would just stay home so as not to cause a stir. In a pre-Donald Trump era, this win would have made Democrats extremely happy. But Jones has gone on the record to say that he would work “across the aisle” and not be beholden to people like Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Nancy Pelosi (D-California).

I’m on the fence about whether that is going to be beneficial.  On one hand, you want candidates who can work with the other side in order to ensure that things get done. Bi-partisan initiatives are always better (for both sides).  But they’re not always better for the American people.  I can’t say what Jones is going to do with this win.  Whether he will be true to his party or true to the people of his state.  I say that because those two things aren’t always the same.  Will this mean anything for the 2020 election?  Doubtful as these things aren’t usually good predictors. The political discourse in this country has to change.  How, when and by whom aren’t things that I can answer right now.

By Staff Writer

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