# 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:** 40
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/781 "2017-11-19T18:54:12Z")
Doubtless, an embraceable ewe… ---
**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 19, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/782 "2017-11-19T18:57:14Z")
Speaking of which, does anyone know the national anthem of New Zealand (according to folks from Australia)? ---
**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 19, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/783 "2017-11-19T19:10:03Z")
> [@computergeek](#): > > With Moore, they don’t want a Democrat to get in because that guy is against all the things they are for (namely abortion it seems). Also, I think another big reason they don’t like Doug Jones is that he successfully prosecuted 2 KKK members for bombing a church and killing 4 little girls. It seems that this horrible prosecution of 2 good old boys was antithetical to Alabama Republican morality. ---
**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 19, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/784 "2017-11-19T19:12:58Z")
Looking at this strictly from party politics, the GOP would be best served by Moore losing. If he wins, the party is going to have deal with him for 6 years, at least. They still keep their majority in the Senate even if he loses, but life will be much, much simpler for anyone else running in the next few elections without that millstone around his neck. It’s bad enough they have Trump… ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/785 "2017-11-19T19:21:21Z")
Plus, since Moore is so old for a freshman senator, he can feel free to be a complete pain in the ass to the Republicans. He’s not running for president, he’s not building seniority in the Senate to get a power base. He’ll be all over the Sunday news shows and cable news he’s elected. Every Republican running for reelection will see ads that say, “Senator xxxx voted with Roy Moore 998% of the time…” The Republicans love to nationalize races by tying every Democrat to Nancy Pelosi and this will give the Democrats the same ammunition. ---
**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 19, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/786 "2017-11-19T19:28:10Z")
The smart move would be to encourage a write-in campaign. As I understand it, it’s too late to take Moore’s name off the ballot, so worst case, the vote is split and the Dem wins, which is an overall better deal for the GOP. He’ll get booted in the next election, unless Moore wins the nomination again. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/787 "2017-11-19T19:48:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > If [Moore] wins, the party is going to have deal with him for 6 years, at least. Nitpick: just 3 years. The winner next month will be filling the remainder of Sessions’ term, which ends in January 2021. It’ll _seem_ like \>6 years, though, especially if you’re Mitch McConnell. 😉 ---
**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 19, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/788 "2017-11-19T19:52:14Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Nitpick: just 3 years. The winner next month will be filling the remainder of Sessions’ term, which ends in January 2021. Thanks for the correction. It still takes us through the next 2 elections, though. > [@](#): > > It’ll _seem_ like \>6 years, though, especially if you’re Mitch McConnell. 😉 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/789 "2017-11-20T04:00:34Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/790 "2017-11-20T04:54:07Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > …Every Republican running for reelection will see ads that say, “Senator xxxx voted with Roy Moore 998% of the time…”… Your percentages are _the best_. Everyone says so. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/791 "2017-11-21T00:42:53Z")
[McConnell is going all-in to try to get Trump to push for a delayed election.](http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/politics/trump-mcconnell-moore-alabama/index.html) And so the US’s sad, sad descent into becoming a banana republic picks up more steam. I can’t imagine how anybody would approve of this, except the Republicans who are desperately trying to rig this seat now that there’s a non-zero chance that Doug Jones might win. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/792 "2017-11-21T02:03:42Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > [McConnell is going all-in to try to get Trump to push for a delayed election.](http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/politics/trump-mcconnell-moore-alabama/index.html) > > And so the US’s sad, sad descent into becoming a banana republic picks up more steam. I can’t imagine how anybody would approve of this, except the Republicans who are desperately trying to rig this seat now that there’s a non-zero chance that Doug Jones might win. Hey, it worked last year when they screwed Merrick Garland out of a Supreme Court seat, and there was little fuss over it. McConnell would just be going back to the same playbook. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/793 "2017-11-21T03:33:12Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Hey, it worked last year when they screwed Merrick Garland out of a Supreme Court seat, and there was little fuss over it. McConnell would just be going back to the same playbook. Exactly. Don’t think for a moment that Repubs are taking some sort of stand on virtue; they still have utter contempt for democracy. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/794 "2017-11-21T08:19:20Z")
If the Republicans start to and get away with openly altering elections whenever their favored candidate isn’t winning… then I actually won’t be surprised. A year of Trump headlines has really desensitized me to hearing the ever escalating insanity. Enjoy the bananas America. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/795 "2017-11-21T12:51:29Z")
Does anyone have any insight to what’s happening over at Predictit? Despite polls showing Jones out ahead, Predictit has Moore : Jones at 62 : 41 I don’t know how Predictit’s track record is, but that seems awfully lopsided for someone who should be fighting for survival ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/796 "2017-11-21T14:06:31Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Does anyone have any insight to what’s happening over at Predictit? Despite polls showing Jones out ahead, Predictit has Moore : Jones at 62 : 41 > > I don’t know how Predictit’s track record is, but that seems awfully lopsided for someone who should be fighting for survival That’s pretty close to a coin flip (50-50). It’s fluctuated from a slight advantage to Jones (55-45) to around 60-40 for Moore. I don’t think bettors are confident either way – history says Alabama goes red no matter what, but bettors don’t know how turnout will go, so they’re going either way. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/797 "2017-11-21T14:16:55Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > [McConnell is going all-in to try to get Trump to push for a delayed election.](http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/politics/trump-mcconnell-moore-alabama/index.html) Trump can pressure Mitch all he wants but the decision is solely Kay Ivey’s, and she has been rather emphatic that the election is going ahead on December 12 come hell or high water. ---
**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 21, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/798 "2017-11-21T14:26:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Trump can pressure Mitch all he wants but the decision is solely Kay Ivey’s, and she has been rather emphatic that the election is going ahead on December 12 come hell or high water. Just to be clear, Trump has no actual authority to change the election date, right? He can pressure the state officials, but I just can’t imagine the president having authority over what is entirely a state decision (unless there is some national emergency or something). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/799 "2017-11-21T14:30:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just to be clear, Trump has no actual authority to change the election date, right? He can pressure the state officials, but I just can’t imagine the president having authority over what is entirely a state decision (unless there is some national emergency or something). Correct. Even having a Democrat with a realistic shot at winning a seat in a deep red state doesn’t constitute a national emergency. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/800 "2017-11-21T14:34:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Correct. Even having a Democrat with a realistic shot at winning a seat in a deep red state doesn’t constitute a national emergency. Seems good for a statewide outbreak of the vapours, though. The fainting couch business must be booming down there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=39) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=41)