# 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:** 43
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/841 "2017-12-04T00:54:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Because- you _did_ help Moore. I seriously doubt ANYTHING posted on the Dope is going to move the special election numbers either way, considering the considerable dearth of attention that this message board probably garners from anyone in Alabama, except maybe the three (number pulled from my butt) Dopers who live in that state. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/842 "2017-12-04T02:07:57Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I seriously doubt ANYTHING posted on the Dope is going to move the special election numbers either way, considering the considerable dearth of attention that this message board probably garners from anyone in Alabama, except maybe the three (number pulled from my butt) Dopers who live in that state. Sure, maybe not here. But experts say the “Fake news” materially helped Trump win that last election. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/843 "2017-12-04T02:29:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Look, Clinton has been out of office for almost 200 goddamn months, So \*why the fuck \*did you pick this month, the month when the critical Alabama election is coming- the month where it just so happens the GOP is spreading whataboutsisms like crazy mad? > > I mean, why not next month? Or 10 years ago? or sometime where it might have been … oh what’s that word…_relevant_? > > Franken is at least current news. But Bill Clinton? :dubious::rolleyes: > > So, do you want to help the GOP elect Moore? Straight answer. > > Because- you _did_ help Moore. I hear that **RTF** spit in the ocean the other day, too. He just added to rising ocean levels!!! We need to charge him with the murder of people in Bangladesh. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/844 "2017-12-04T04:25:20Z")
You know, I’ve never thought about leaving this state before, mainly because I have family here and great job, but since the election I’ve had a hard time living here. Electing a child molestor might just push me out. My workplace is filled with military veterans that love Trump and defend Moore. My best bud, we had a long talk about Moore, and it really infuriates me that he or anyone else turns a blind eye to this guy’s past. I feel like I’m in bizarro world where the only source of news is right-wing radio and Fox. I walk into work everyday and pass by our chain of command wall with Trump’s portrait at the top. This is insane. I keep saying this proves the multi-verse theory of quantum mechanics and I’m stuck in one of the weird universes that someone in a sane universe uses to describe a bizarre universe. I feel like I’ve walked into a cult meeting and I’m the only one who realizes it’s a cult. I mean, I’m sure conservatives exist everywhere, but to be surrounded by it day in and day out is maddening. Doug Jones winning is about my only hope of keeping my sanity. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/845 "2017-12-04T04:33:57Z")
We’re with you, **nate**. Be strong and know you’re not alone! And in any event, be wary of any polls in the race: [Is Roy Moore winning? Don't ask the pollsters - POLITICO](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/03/roy-moore-alabama-polls-274628) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/846 "2017-12-04T10:20:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Look, Clinton has been out of office for almost 200 goddamn months, So \*why the fuck \*did you pick this month, the month when the critical Alabama election is coming- the month where it just so happens the GOP is spreading whataboutsisms like crazy mad? > > I mean, why not next month? Or 10 years ago? or sometime where it might have been … oh what’s that word…_relevant_? > > Franken is at least current news. But Bill Clinton? :dubious::rolleyes: > > So, do you want to help the GOP elect Moore? Straight answer. > > Because- you _did_ help Moore. Not only have I _spit_ in the ocean, I’ve _pissed_ in it! _ **FU, Bangladesh!!** _ 😃 😃 😃 I explained my motivation in the OP of the Clinton thread. To quote: > [@](#): > > in the past few weeks, I’ve encountered numerous Doper comments to the effect that Bill Clinton almost surely committed sexual assault or sexual harassment. > > However, when making these claims, nobody’s linked to any definitive revisiting of the evidence against Clinton. What I was too polite to say in that OP was that I was goddamned tired of Dopers, fercryinoutloud, just saying that Clinton had committed sexual assault or harassment, without giving the least support for saying so. I was running into that shit in every thread that had any connection to these topics. My thread was basically saying, “put up or shut up” to the people making those offhand claims. IOW, it was _already_ being revisited. _Frequently._ I didn’t bring this shit up out of the blue; I really had no interest in it. I was just tired of running into it, here on the Dope, every damn time I turned around, _as if Clinton’s guilt was true, proven, and so well known a fact that it didn’t even need any sort of cite._ (The italicized bit there is the part that _really_ got under my skin. We’re the Dope, dammit.) So it feels really weird, being told that **I’m** the guy who resurrected this topic. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. There: that was my motivation. You asked. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/847 "2017-12-04T13:26:25Z")
I like how Moore hit the trifecta of Conservative accusations in one breath: “They’re liberal gay socialists!!” Is this approach becoming transparent to anyone else out there? Anyone at all? Then goes on to rail against “the establishment.” Hey buddy, you know the one thing the GOP establishment lives and breathes for? Tax cuts for the wealthy, and you are seeking to join them. Will Alabama voters be big enough suckers to be diverted by all this into voting for a child molester… FOR JESUS!!? Stay tuned… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/848 "2017-12-04T13:45:46Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I was goddamned tired of Dopers, fercryinoutloud, just saying that Clinton had committed sexual assault or harassment, without giving the least support for saying so. Same here, and you could add the continuing hatred for Mrs. Clinton into it. That’s been disheartening, seeing how \*many \*people who should damn well know better, who have \*zero \*excuse, have actually bought into the long-con personal defamation campaign that one of our party’s has instead of an actual governing philosophy. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/849 "2017-12-04T15:09:05Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > …Will Alabama voters be big enough suckers to be diverted by all this into voting for a child molester… FOR JESUS!!? Stay tuned… Short answer? YES. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/850 "2017-12-04T15:50:54Z")
Not so much suckers as haters, though. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/851 "2017-12-04T17:18:22Z")
[President Trump fully endorses Roy Moore for Senator](https://apnews.com/0b693961af1e4917b54a81b054bbefdc/Trump-offers-full-support-for-embattled-Republican-Roy-Moore). Links to Twitter are at the AP story: > [@Trump's Twitter](#): > > Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet! > [@Trump's Twitter](#): > > Putting Pelosi/Schumer Liberal Puppet Jones into office in Alabama would hurt our great Republican Agenda of low on taxes, tough on crime, strong on military and borders…& so much more. Look at your 401-k’s since Election. Highest Stock Market EVER! Jobs are roaring back! > [@](#): > > Shortly after Trump’s tweet, Moore responded on Twitter: “Thankful for President Trump’s support. The America First agenda will #MAGA. Can’t wait to help him #DrainTheSwamp.” Is anyone surprised by this endorsement? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/852 "2017-12-04T17:43:59Z")
Luther Strange might be. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/853 "2017-12-04T17:55:03Z")
Not I. Here’s CNN’s coverage of it: [http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/politics/trump-moore-endorsement-twitter/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/politics/trump-moore-endorsement-twitter/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/854 "2017-12-04T18:27:03Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Not only have I _spit_ in the ocean, I’ve _pissed_ in it! _ **FU, Bangladesh!!** _ 😃 😃 😃 > > I explained my motivation in the OP of the Clinton thread. To quote: > What I was too polite to say in that OP was that I was goddamned tired of Dopers, fercryinoutloud, just saying that Clinton had committed sexual assault or harassment, without giving the least support for saying so. I was running into that shit in every thread that had any connection to these topics. My thread was basically saying, “put up or shut up” to the people making those offhand claims. > > IOW, it was _already_ being revisited. _Frequently._ I didn’t bring this shit up out of the blue; I really had no interest in it. I was just tired of running into it, here on the Dope, every damn time I turned around, _as if Clinton’s guilt was true, proven, and so well known a fact that it didn’t even need any sort of cite._ (The italicized bit there is the part that _really_ got under my skin. We’re the Dope, dammit.) > > So it feels really weird, being told that **I’m** the guy who resurrected this topic. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. > > There: that was my motivation. You asked. Sure, then why not refute those points in those threads? Do you think that when those posters brought up Bills trangressions they could have been suckered into doing to by the GOP misinformation machine? ---
**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:** [December 4, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/855 "2017-12-04T23:07:47Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [President Trump fully endorses Roy Moore for Senator](https://apnews.com/0b693961af1e4917b54a81b054bbefdc/Trump-offers-full-support-for-embattled-Republican-Roy-Moore). Links to Twitter are at the AP story:Is anyone surprised by this endorsement? :dubious: I think a lot of Republicans realize that it’s best for the Party if Moore loses. But Trump has to really be worried about a change in Congress. If the House goes Dem, there’s a good chance he’ll face impeachment. If that happens, he’s gong to need every vote he can get in the Senate. But he also doesn’t want either chamber of Congress it initiate more investigations concerning him. His calculus, as usual, is what’s best for Trump. He’s not worried about the country (that’s not even a factor), but he can’t even be arsed to worry about his own party. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/856 "2017-12-04T23:32:37Z")
[One of Moore’s accusers](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/363198-moore-accuser-shares-scrapbook-with-new-evidence-of-their-relationship) found a scrapbook, with more contemporaneous evidence against him. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/857 "2017-12-04T23:43:17Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > [One of Moore’s accusers](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/363198-moore-accuser-shares-scrapbook-with-new-evidence-of-their-relationship) found a scrapbook, with more contemporaneous evidence against him. But remember that Moore had the permission of the girl’s mother, so what’s the problem? (that was sarcasm, btw) ---
**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:** [December 5, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/858 "2017-12-05T12:43:34Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But remember that Moore had the permission of the girl’s mother, so what’s the problem? (that was sarcasm, btw) That’s right. Every time he fucked a teen, he got mama’s blessing first. Truth doesn’t matter anyway, something like 70% of Alabama Republicans don’t believe the accusers. If Jesus came down and told an Alabamian something, they’d have to check with Roy Moore first before believing it. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/859 "2017-12-05T13:07:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I think a lot of Republicans realize that it’s best for the Party if Moore loses. It might be best in the sense that they would rather just not have to deal with him, but what his victory really means is that the Senate will become a high-profile stage for outlaw right-wing politics. Thought Ted Cruz was a disruptive first-term senator? Wait until Roy Moore comes to town. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > But Trump has to really be worried about a change in Congress. If the House goes Dem, there’s a good chance he’ll face impeachment. He might face impeachment, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be successfully removed from office. It takes 2/3 of the senate to remove him, and having Roy Moore might in some ways make him more immunized against a prosecution. If you’re Trump and if you’re worried about impeachment, then you want a brutal partisan like Moore. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/860 "2017-12-05T14:28:09Z")
It would be very unhelpful to McConnell to have one fewer vote to lose, unless he wasn’t planning on doing anything next year anyway, which is possible. It also wouldn’t help appearances going into an election year to lose what should have been the safest possible seat to a Democrat. So I don’t doubt he’s made his peace with Moore. Trump’s endorsement killed Strange; now will it kill Moore too? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=44)