# Can the Democrats win the Alabama senate special election in December? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 13, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504 "2017-08-13T00:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/621 "2017-11-14T04:06:18Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Ms. Nelson’s statement today was rough to watch. I wonder if that has turned the tide against Moore. I imagine this pushed Cruz to do what he did. I personally didn’t need her statement. Moore’s own words on Friday were enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/622 "2017-11-14T04:11:58Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I personally didn’t need her statement. Moore’s own words on Friday were enough for me. Ok. I’m curious at what point Moore will drop out. If that point exists. He really seems to enjoy playing the persecution card. And his followers seemingly eat it up. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/623 "2017-11-14T04:24:41Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m curious at what point Moore will drop out. My dismal prediction is he will stick it out and end up squeaking out a close win :(. It’s Alabama. IMHO nobody opposed to him should get overly optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/624 "2017-11-14T04:31:42Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > My dismal prediction is he will stick it out and end up squeaking out a close win :(. It’s Alabama. IMHO nobody opposed to him should get overly optimistic. I’m about 65-35 thinking they aren’t bluffing about the refusal to seat him if elected. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/625 "2017-11-14T04:46:33Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I’m about 65-35 thinking they aren’t bluffing about the refusal to seat him if elected. They need all the votes they can get to pass the tax overhaul. If he wins, they’ll let him in the club. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/626 "2017-11-14T04:47:37Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I’m about 65-35 thinking they aren’t bluffing about the refusal to seat him if elected. Let’s say Moore is elected keeping the 52-48 split. 48 Dems voting to expel him leaves only 19 Republican votes needed to make 67. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/627 "2017-11-14T04:53:44Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Jeez. Erick Erickson. Yeah, just the voice we needed to hear from. > > The scary thing is, he’s what passes for an intellectual in that crowd. And most of the people on this board could run circles around the guy, intellectually and literally. Well, he has more substance than some on the right. Look at it this way: Which would you rather have: North Korea nukes L.A., or Roy Moore goes to Congress? Presumably there are things worse than a child molester, circumstances in which Roy Moore is logically the better choice. Extreme circumstances? Sure, but that’s what we’re talking about. That’s the kind of argument he is making: “I don’t like child molestation at all actually, but what am I supposed to do? Vote for a _liberal_? Moore is accused of one thing; liberals are guilty of all things. It’s still a no-brainer.” It is a crappy argument that seems to reduce the word “liberal” to name-calling, but maybe people really hate liberals worse than child molesters. Maybe people think this pesky Constitution is getting in the way of public 10 Commandments monuments and oppressing gays for being gay, &etc. Many figures on the right are just dodging, which I take as having no substance at all. Easier to side with The Left of course, run Alabama and the nation guided by, oh I don’t know, math and science and precedent and justice instead of religious fundamentalism. But I don’t live there and I guess they like it the way it is. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/628 "2017-11-14T04:59:49Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Let’s say Moore is elected keeping the 52-48 split. 48 Dems voting to expel him leaves only 19 Republican votes needed to make 67. Which gives me an evil idea of the GOP having a “Contract with Alabama.” Have 19 GOP Senators sign the contract pledging to expel Moore. However, it is too late to get his name removed from the ballot, and we don’t want a Democrat! So, vote for Roy Moore and you have our pledge that you are not really voting for Roy Moore, but Luther Strange. “If I vote for Moore am I voting for Moore? No. It’s Strange.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/629 "2017-11-14T05:08:59Z")
So what happens if Moore wins and the Senate expels him? The Gov of Alabama appoints the replacement and we get a GOP replacement? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/630 "2017-11-14T05:15:48Z")
The one drawback about expelling Moore is that it keeps this story dragging on. It’s not like the Senate is going to expel him 5 minutes after he’s sworn here. They’ll have to be hearings, I’m sure the Democrats would insist on that, before an expulsion vote could be taken. So, that’s a series of hearings that will likely take place in January, right after the holidays and brings the story right back into the news after the lull of the holidays Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/631 "2017-11-14T05:25:03Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > …Which would you rather have: North Korea nukes L.A., or Roy Moore goes to Congress?.. Wait. _One_ nuke? And not a thermo-nuke, just regular? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/632 "2017-11-14T05:25:54Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The one drawback about expelling Moore is that it keeps this story dragging on. It’s not like the Senate is going to expel him 5 minutes after he’s sworn here. They’ll have to be hearings, I’m sure the Democrats would insist on that, before an expulsion vote could be taken. So, that’s a series of hearings that will likely take place in January, right after the holidays and brings the story right back into the news after the lull of the holidays > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Not Dems. They’re certainly not going to stand up and fight to keep a pedophile in the Senate if Moore wins. At that point and for their purposes, one (R) is no different than another. No, it’ll be the State of Alabama, led by the Bannonites, who will fight the Senate over why the expulsion decision should be allowed over the Will of the People of the Great State of Alabama™. Should keep Moore in the spotlight right through the mid-term election cycle. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/633 "2017-11-14T05:33:44Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Not Dems. They’re certainly not going to stand up and fight to keep a pedophile in the Senate if Moore wins. At that point and for their purposes, one (R) is no different than another. > > No, it’ll be the State of Alabama, led by the Bannonites, who will fight the Senate over why the expulsion decision should be allowed over the Will of the People of the Great State of Alabama™. Should keep Moore in the spotlight right through the mid-term election cycle. 🙂 Moore would be very different. He would be a gift to the Dems. They could use him to tar every Republican running in 2018 and 2020. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/634 "2017-11-14T05:49:12Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Cue the Pelosi card. Sessions is seriously considering a Special Counsel to investigate Clinton on basically everything under the sun (email servers, Comey’s investigation, collusion with Russians over uranium, Clinton Foundation, etc) which I’m sure is just the sort of distraction the administration is looking for. Knocks “Child molester senator” off the front page and rallies the troops into mindlessly chanting “Lock her up” instead of paying attention to what their own party is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/635 "2017-11-14T06:29:53Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Sessions is seriously considering a Special Counsel to investigate Clinton on basically everything under the sun (email servers, Comey’s investigation, collusion with Russians over uranium, Clinton Foundation, etc) which I’m sure is just the sort of distraction the administration is looking for. Knocks “Child molester senator” off the front page and rallies the troops into mindlessly chanting “Lock her up” instead of paying attention to what their own party is doing. Yes, read about that. It was kind of interesting to me, actually, how Sessions handled it. No fan of Sessions I, but his pursuit seems less than fulsome. [Session Looking Into Special Counsel for Clinton Issues](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-clinton/sessions-looking-into-special-counsel-for-clinton-issues-media-reports-idUSKBN1DE07E) (Reuters) > [@](#): > > The Washington Post and New York Times cited a letter from the Justice Department to the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Robert Goodlatte, responding to his request for the appointment of a special counsel to look into various matters. > > The letter quoted Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd as saying that Sessions had “directed senior federal prosecutors to evaluate certain issues raised in your letters,” according to the Post, which first reported the story. > > Those prosecutors would then make recommendations **“as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be opened, whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, or whether any matters merit the appointment of a Special Counsel,”** the letter said. (Bolding mine.) Not the most enthusiastic referral. Sessions is already in serious legal jeopardy. I don’t think he wants to garner any more obstruction charges than he already may face. To me, it seems more like a non-compliance compliance. Obviously I could be wrong (and often am!). ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/636 "2017-11-14T06:46:38Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Sessions is seriously considering a Special Counsel to investigate Clinton on basically everything under the sun (email servers, Comey’s investigation, collusion with Russians over uranium, Clinton Foundation, etc) which I’m sure is just the sort of distraction the administration is looking for. Knocks “Child molester senator” off the front page and rallies the troops into mindlessly chanting “Lock her up” instead of paying attention to what their own party is doing. Really? The only thing they could prove her guilty of is being an absurdly shitty campaigner. I’m not sure how that is going to knock “Child molester senator” anywhere, much less off the front page. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/637 "2017-11-14T07:09:39Z")
[Interesting snippet from a 2002 story about Moore.](https://twitter.com/peterjhasson/status/930236865524961281) “At the Etowah County Courthouse, some of those who worked with Moore roll their eyes when asked about him but keep their mouths shut. There are plenty of stories to tell, the longtime secretaries parole officials and lawyers said, but not on the record and not now, while Moore sits atop the state court system and controls its purse strings.” ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/638 "2017-11-14T07:28:44Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Not Dems. They’re certainly not going to stand up and fight to keep a pedophile in the Senate if Moore wins. At that point and for their purposes, one (R) is no different than another. > > No, it’ll be the State of Alabama, led by the Bannonites, who will fight the Senate over why the expulsion decision should be allowed over the Will of the People of the Great State of Alabama™. Should keep Moore in the spotlight right through the mid-term election cycle. 🙂 Democrats don’t need to defend Moore, they can just say they want all the truth to come out and how it is important to let these women be heard. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/639 "2017-11-14T08:28:40Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Let’s say Moore is elected keeping the 52-48 split. 48 Dems voting to expel him leaves only 19 Republican votes needed to make 67. Of course, even if the Republicans could meet such a bar, the Democrats could choose to trump them and vote _against_ his expulsion to prevent a scheme like that from working. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/640 "2017-11-14T10:47:37Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Yeah, I don’t think so. Roy Moore doesn’t sound at all like a man about to step down. In fact, I’m beginning to think his ego and narcissism may rival that of our President. [Moore released a fundraising appeal](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/us/politics/roy-moore-alabama-senate.html) to Alabama voters headlined “Mitch McConnell’s plot to destroy me.” > > [Here is a Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1918173478198628&set=a.691807780835210.1073741825.100000179835928&type=3&theater) by his wife where she says > > Sounds to me like someone gearing up for war, not like someone about to drop out. And if you click that link, the comments are equally disturbing. One tweet I’ve seen in response: > [@](#): > > Maybe Mitch can meet you in the schoolyard for a fight; you’ll be there anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=33)