# 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:** 33
**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, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/641 "2017-11-14T10:57:18Z")
I wonder if the events described at the beginning of [this article](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/23/roy-moore-alabama-senate-resurrection-215639) will be re-examined. His license was challenged twice, and he ended up leaving the state and then the country for a while. And he was “still a pariah by the time he returned.” I know local politics can be vicious, but was all of that _really_ because of his “challenges to the local establishment”? ---
**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, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/642 "2017-11-14T11:07:39Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > because of his “challenges to the local establishment” Is _that_ what they’re calling it now? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/643 "2017-11-14T11:18:01Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Is _that_ what they’re calling it now? Technically, “swearing at the mall cops throwing you out for harassing teenaged girls” totally counts as a “challenge to the local establishment”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/644 "2017-11-14T11:18:11Z")
> [@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. Why doesn’t he investigate Chester A. Arthur instead? At least _that_ historical figure got to wield presidential power! ---
**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, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/645 "2017-11-14T12:37:16Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Why doesn’t he investigate Chester A. Arthur instead? At least _that_ historical figure got to wield presidential power! Shhhh, don’t give the Fox distraction machine any ideas. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/646 "2017-11-14T14:26:09Z")
Yesterday, all the wingnuts were urging that people smash their Keurig coffeemakers to bits because they have stopped advertising on Hannity. Saw [this](https://twitter.com/fakemikemulloy/status/930210256763813888) on Twitter this morning: > [@](#): > > Wow, Dick’s is pulling its ads from Hannity, everyone run outside and smash your dick with a hammer to own the libs. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/647 "2017-11-14T14:50:10Z")
Volvo, too, pulled its ads. Can’t wait for all the accidents! ---
**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, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/648 "2017-11-14T14:57:35Z")
23AndMe pulled their ads – I guess Hannity’s fans will need to irradiate themselves and scramble their genes. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/649 "2017-11-14T15:10:02Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Volvo, too, pulled its ads. Can’t wait for all the accidents! Well then, wingnut women should smash their vulvas in protest! ---
**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, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/650 "2017-11-14T15:34:12Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > 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.” Pretty much. Mo Brooks (R-AL): _“Who will vote in America’s best interests on Supreme Court justices, deficit and debt, economic growth, border security, national defense, and the like? Socialist Democrat Doug Jones will vote wrong. Roy Moore will vote right. Hence, I will vote for Roy Moore.”_ Senator Isakson tried to have it both ways but his intent is clear: _“As a member of the Republican Party and an elected Republican, there’s no circumstance under which having a Democrat would be better… That said, anybody who violates the moral code of ethics and decency should not be serving in the United States Senate.”_ > [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m not sure how that is going to knock “Child molester senator” anywhere, much less off the front page. You have far, far more faith than I in the ability (or interest) of the typical person to hold more than one headline in their brains at a given moment. Especially when one headline is a week or more old. ---
**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, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/651 "2017-11-14T16:09:09Z")
Sessions says he has no interest in his old job. Per Weekly Standard: > [@](#): > > Attorney general Jeff Sessions has told political allies in Alabama that he is not considering running for his old Senate seat as a write-in candidate in next month’s special election. That’s according to a spokeswoman for Sessions at the Department of Justice, Sarah Isgur Flores, who also tells me that Sessions is telling Alabama Republicans he is not considering being appointed to the seat if Roy Moore wins and is either not seated by or is expelled from the Senate. ---
**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, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/652 "2017-11-14T16:25:20Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > So has the RNC dumped Moore yet? [Evidently not](https://www.gop.com/volunteer-for-roy-moore/) (as long as this link remains live). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/653 "2017-11-14T16:32:28Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > 23AndMe pulled their ads – I guess Hannity’s fans will need to irradiate themselves and scramble their genes. Do we really want Hannity fans breeding without knowledge of their genetic relatedness? I demand that 23AndMe continue advertising on _Hannity_ as a public service to the country! ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/654 "2017-11-14T17:24:43Z")
Add Sessions and Ryan to the “anti-Moore” crowd. What I wondering though, is, what’s in it for Moore if he drops out? His worst case scenario is that he stays in and loses to a Democrat. Dropping out would pretty much be him admitting that he was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/655 "2017-11-14T17:48:43Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > what’s in it for Moore if he drops out? A Fox contract. Pays better than the Senate, too. ---
**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, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/656 "2017-11-14T18:52:25Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A Fox contract. Pays better than the Senate, too. The problem is that their budget for paying off sexual harassment claims is already busted to hell and gone. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/657 "2017-11-14T20:58:56Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > … For a non-negligible number of Alabamians, apparently, child molestation in the form of “parent-sanctioned” teenage girl/adult man relationships **is** something they’re in favor of. … Religious fundamentalists (Alabamian or otherwise) may well look with approval on adult men taking teens as wives or even concubines. But it’s clear that that’s not what Moore was doing. As more victims have come forward, and as we learn about such facts as Moore having been banned from a local mall because of his pursuit of young girls, it’s become obvious that what Moore was doing was making use of a string of teens for the purpose of getting his rocks off. Fundamentalists like marriage and procreation. For them to excuse this _other_ thing requires some fairly blatant doublethink. Beyond that: men who use a succession of young girls for the purpose of reaching orgasm almost certainly are also users of pornography. Moore is an arrogant guy. The odds are good that there is underage-girls porn in his possession—paper or electronic—_right now_. ---
**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, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/658 "2017-11-14T23:16:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 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. Vote against expulsion and _keep_ Roy Moore, R-AL? Democrats? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/659 "2017-11-14T23:18:04Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Moore is an arrogant guy. The odds are good that there is underage-girls porn in his possession—paper or electronic—_right now_. I’d pretty much guarantee it. And I’d also guarantee that it would not make one bit of difference to his supporters now. I’m sorry to be vulgar, but Roy Moore could rape a 13 year old in front of them, and they would be disgusted, but still vote for him because “at least he’s not a Democrat”. That’s how far the Republican party has sunk. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/660 "2017-11-14T23:49:53Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’d pretty much guarantee it. And I’d also guarantee that it would not make one bit of difference to his supporters now. I’m sorry to be vulgar, but Roy Moore could rape a 13 year old in front of them, and they would be disgusted, but still vote for him because “at least he’s not a Democrat”. That’s how far the Republican party has sunk. I think you’re right about those particular depths. But a big part of the ‘we’ll wait and see’ prevaricating from big-name Republicans has rested on the unlikelihood of Moore being convicted of any crime stemming from his actual activities with little girls. Statutes of limitations, too many years passed for victims and witnesses to seem credible, etc. Convicting him of current possession of unlawful materials (underage porn) seems more like something that’s a real possibility. And if that were to occur, then the hemming and hawing by the GOP would become moot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=34)