So at this late hour, the Alabama Senatorial race is close (as I write this, 49.9% to 48.4%), but the media, such as CNN, is reporting a victory for Democrat Doug Jones, although Moore is unwilling to concede. His privilege to wait for the last bitter votes.
So it’s a little disappointing it wasn’t a big victory for Jones, but it’s a big plus that he was in the race at all, nevermind actually winning the darn thing.
So what’s next, assuming Jones wins? He has to find a way to earn the respect of those Alabama independents who didn’t vote for him. Some of that will come from assessing the demographics of the vote. This is a chance for the Democrats to prove that they’re not the Devil incarnate, despite the ravings of the extremist GOP. So he’ll have to do what politicians always do – take care of their constituents without going overboard.
I wish him well.
And on to the Senate, which now moves to a 51 – 47 edge for the Republicans, with two Independents who caucus with the Democrats. This flip of a seat is important because this seat doesn’t come up for election again until 2020. That means the Democrats have picked up a seat that normally wouldn’t even be available, and in fact a seat that wasn’t even contested back in 2014.
That makes it a bit easier for the Democrats to hope to take control of the Senate at the mid-terms. If they manage that, it’ll be another slap in the face of a Republican party which is doing no good service to the United States in its present condition, which is to say it’s held by extremists who are willing to burn down the most important buttresses of our governmental system if that’s what it takes to retain power, as they seek to discredit every objective source of information that doesn’t happen to have information favorable to the Republican party. They’d rather be top dog in a banana republic rather than out of power in the leading nation of the world.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
And I can’t help but wonder if there are Republican Senators who have considered changing parties. Murkowski of Alaska was actually not nominated by the Alaskan Republicans for her own seat the last time re-election came up; she won on a write-in vote. She might be a little bitter about that. How about she changes parties and suddenly we’re 50-48-2?
That would also help disassemble a Republican party that has an increasingly bad reputation in national polling, while demonstrating gross incompetence in just about all aspects of governing. About the only bright spot came today when Republican Senator Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told President Trump he should retract two of his nominations for the Federal judiciary. It’s a little late to show some spirit, Senator, but at least you did a little.
So disassemble the Republicans, I said? What should be their first step? Remove the “team politics” pillar, whether it’s a formal part or an informal tradition. Oddly enough, giving your membership the right to withhold their vote for some party hack will actually make your Party stronger, while pushing out the extremists.
