Well, I’m excited and proud that Alabama did not elect Moore.
On the flip side, look at all the “economic anxiety” voting.
Let’s watch McConnell refuse to seat Jones until after the Senate votes on the tax reform legislation.
Already has said as much, that Jones won’t be seated until January. They’re going to very likely fast track the hell out of that tax bill to get it done by Christmas.
I thought the winner of the election should by Senate rules be seated immediately? Or is McConnell claiming that the temp appointment was per session?
The latter. Strange has the seat until the end of the session.
I expected to see Moore win and not by a small amount. My thinking was the Trump effect (i think there is an actual name but i prefer this one). People were embarrassed to admit they were voting trump, so polls hugely understated trump votes. I expected that to happen here too.
Like you, I don’t see how democrats keep this seat though. Even with a candidate as shitty as Moore, he still did not lose by that much. Moore was, and is, a crazy religious fanatic, a racist, a history denier and a sexual predator of children, and he still almost won. I feel like if he just wasn’t a pedophile, he would have won EASILY. The children aspect was just a bridge too far.
I am not poll expert, but CNN, ABC and CBS say the exit polls are suggesting Moore’s problems were not their highest factor. I guess when we know the number of write-ins though that will be clearer. My understanding is teh write-ins are a lot higher than usual.
But I do know this… it’s harder to unseat an incumbent.
After the Supreme Court bullshit, some outright craziness like not seating Jones at ALL doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.
As Joy Ann Reid just pointed out: Alabama’s population is 26% black.
They made up 30% of the vote tonight.
Knocking off an incumbent Senator when your party holds the WH is not easy. I’m not saying I’m in love with Jones’ chances, but the headwinds will probably be pretty strong.
Valid point. I still think he’s a dead candidate walking, but tonight has shown I can still be surprised by the electorate and I hope Alabama pulls off a repeat performance in 2020.
As Charmtrap notes, if your party holds the White House, defeating an incumbent from the other party is difficult as hell.
Remember: 13 months ago, 2018 looked like a flaming wreck for the Democrats in the Senate. Tester, Heitkamp, Manchin, Donnelly, McCaskill, Casey…all looked vulnerable. Now? All but McCaskill seem overwhelmingly likely to hold.
And everyone thinks of Oregon as a locked blue state, but we’ve had Republican senators for years. We could easily swing that way again, probably not under Trump or Pence but someday. He could earn their trust.
Oops.