# 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:** 67
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1321 "2017-12-13T07:15:33Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Oh, man, I didn’t see this video clip before. Spokesperson for Moore didn’t know you don’t have to be sworn in using a Christian Bible when you become an elected official. Sits there mouth open for at least 5 sec. flabberghasted that this is the case. > > [Roy Moore Spokesman Briefly Dies on Live TV After Learning Politicians Don’t Have to Take the Oath on a Bible | GQ](https://www.gq.com/story/moore-spokesman-swear-oath-on-bible-jake-tapper) TRIGGERED! (If you don’t get my reference, don’t worry about it. It isn’t worth spreading here. His facial expression is… suggestive of a certain alt-right meme, that’s all.) On a more SDMB note, that dumbass is the absolute archetype of the Roy Moore Supporter. He is the biggest stereotype I could possibly imagine. He’s the Broad Comedy version, the newspaper political cartoon version, the National Lampoon version of the Ignorant Southern Xenophobe. He is, in short, the personification of everything all intelligent people south of the Mason-Dixon Line have been trying to dig themselves out from under since King Cotton and Stats Rats. (And fuck that yahoo and people like him for turning “Merry Christmas” into a xenophobic dog whistle.) ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1322 "2017-12-13T07:45:09Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > TRIGGERED! > > (If you don’t get my reference, don’t worry about it. It isn’t worth spreading here. His facial expression is… suggestive of a certain alt-right meme, that’s all.) > > On a more SDMB note, that dumbass is the absolute archetype of the Roy Moore Supporter. He is the biggest stereotype I could possibly imagine. He’s the Broad Comedy version, the newspaper political cartoon version, the National Lampoon version of the Ignorant Southern Xenophobe. He is, in short, the personification of everything all intelligent people south of the Mason-Dixon Line have been trying to dig themselves out from under since King Cotton and Stats Rats. > > (And fuck that yahoo and people like him for turning “Merry Christmas” into a xenophobic dog whistle.) Fully agreed! And if you never knew what slack jawed looked like, well, there ya go. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1323 "2017-12-13T09:37:15Z")
When I went to bed last night (a little after 9pm), it was still very much a tossup. What great news to wake up to!! I’m gonna be dancing all day. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1324 "2017-12-13T10:08:23Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Oh, man, I didn’t see this video clip before. Spokesperson for Moore didn’t know you don’t have to be sworn in using a Christian Bible when you become an elected official. Sits there mouth open for at least 5 sec. flabberghasted that this is the case. > > [Roy Moore Spokesman Briefly Dies on Live TV After Learning Politicians Don’t Have to Take the Oath on a Bible | GQ](https://www.gq.com/story/moore-spokesman-swear-oath-on-bible-jake-tapper) Holy. Fucking. Shit. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1325 "2017-12-13T10:10:44Z")
Holy shit! I went to bed with Moore up by 40,000 votes. In fact, it was when it shot up to up by 50,000 votes when I gave up. I just woke up to wallow in the misery of Moore’s win to see that Jones pulled out. I repeat: holy shit! This is fantastic. Not only does it throw a senate seat to the D’s but we now have one more boat anchor to hang onto the Donald. The guy backs nothing but losers. 2018 midterms can’t get here soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1326 "2017-12-13T11:52:20Z")
Before celebrating Alabama’s recovery from stupidity and racism, or revising your Neil Young playlist, be aware that _**Moore got more than four (4) times as many votes as Jones among white males who didn’t graduate college.**_ His margin among uneducated white women was 3 to 1. _ **Among all whites Moore beat Jones 68% to 30%.** _ While this level of deplorability is not quite at, well, Alabama levels, it is still pretty deplorable. Jones won due to higher-than-normal black turnout. Blacks voted Jones by a 96 to 4 margin. ---
**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 13, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1327 "2017-12-13T12:35:56Z")
I’m thrilled to have predicted wrong. Congrats to the good people of Alabama. My hope is that Jones proves to be a hardworking Senator in his half term and Alabamians see that having a Democrat in office is not as bad as they feared. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1328 "2017-12-13T13:48:49Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Tapper was great. He called him on it, pointed out that he was an idiot, let him sit there in silence, and then cut the interview. Great sense of comedic timing there. Ha! “Comedic timing,” so Fake News! Fake News!1!. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1329 "2017-12-13T13:54:25Z")
One pundit did predict this election successfully: > [@@realDonaldTrump](#): > > I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1330 "2017-12-13T14:15:29Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > One pundit did predict this election successfully: So, by my math, that means that he backed the wrong candidate twice. Or perhaps the two candidates did not lose despite his endorsement, but because of it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1331 "2017-12-13T14:26:55Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Fully agreed! And if you never knew what slack jawed looked like, well, there ya go. 😃 I think I saw some flies fly into his open mouth. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1332 "2017-12-13T14:38:16Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m thrilled to have predicted wrong. Congrats to the good people of Alabama. My hope is that Jones proves to be a hardworking Senator in his half term and Alabamians see that having a Democrat in office is not as bad as they feared. It could never be that bad. He won’t be mandating abortions or prosecuting Klan members. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1333 "2017-12-13T14:53:04Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Holy shit! I went to bed with Moore up by 40,000 votes. In fact, it was when it shot up to up by 50,000 votes when I gave up. I just woke up to wallow in the misery of Moore’s win to see that Jones pulled out. I repeat: holy shit! You really needed to check out the NYT’s election tracker, which for most of the night correctly guessed Jones was going to win, even when Moore had more votes. The early Moore lead was an illusion; rural counties reported before urban ones, so Moore was naturally going to get more of the early votes. The analysis was that he wasn’t winning those counties by a sufficient amount to overcome the inevitable Jones win in the cities, and that analysis proved correct. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1334 "2017-12-13T14:55:44Z")
“The State of Alabama invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative” – Ghost of Winston Churchill Dems, be not too proud. You did everything right, and the Republicans fielded the worst conceivable candidate ever, and he only just barely lost. If the Democratic Party is going to follow up to this, they’re going to have to really step up engagement and strategy, while being prepared for the inevitable shitstorm of official and unofficial voter suppression which will follow. Because out there in the countryside, there are White Alabamans who are thinking it’s time to dust off their hoods and their nooses. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1335 "2017-12-13T14:59:35Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It could never be that bad. He won’t be mandating abortions or prosecuting Klan members. But it won’t matter. He could spend the next four years legislating 14 miles to the right of Jim Inhofe, and as long as he keeps the (D) by his name, he’ll lose against any (R) candidate (that doesn’t have a record of child molestation). ---
**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 13, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1336 "2017-12-13T15:32:05Z")
> [@Bruiser1036](#): > > Roy Moore is going to fucking win this election tonight, the hyperventilating about the danger of this man’s “extreme” views from ultra-liberal zealots notwithstanding… You were saying…? > [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I’m reading that, if Moore loses, Bannon will blame McConnell. I think we may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the GOP… Often predicted, as recently as Obama’s big 2008 win, but I’m not holding my breath. > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > I’m guessing he tries to memory-hole the embarrassment (“Luther Strange, who I ALWAYS supported, would have won this easy! Insiders stabbed him in the back! Sad! DrainTheSwamp!!!”). Not too far off the mark: [http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/13/politics/donald-trump-senate-race/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/13/politics/donald-trump-senate-race/index.html) > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > And there’s the rub: Does he spend that money on a recount or on candy and gas for the van? Heheheh. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1337 "2017-12-13T15:43:34Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > On a more SDMB note, that dumbass is the absolute archetype of the Roy Moore Supporter. He is the biggest stereotype I could possibly imagine. He’s the Broad Comedy version, the newspaper political cartoon version, the National Lampoon version of the Ignorant Southern Xenophobe. He is, in short, the personification of everything all intelligent people south of the Mason-Dixon Line have been trying to dig themselves out from under since King Cotton and Stats Rats. > > (And fuck that yahoo and people like him for turning “Merry Christmas” into a xenophobic dog whistle.) Agreed 100%. My favorite part of the full interview which is all gold (and there’s plenty of stupid before the part about swearing on the bible), is that he twice says Merry Christmas which he clearly thinks is some kind of big victory for saying it while on CNN. However, holy smokes, the fact that this person was an elected official and in some kind of leadership role in our country is incredibly disconcerting. Sheesh. ---
**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 13, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1338 "2017-12-13T15:45:19Z")
> [@Bruiser1036](#): > > He’s a solid Christian conservative Is it normal for solid Christian conservatives to prey on teenage girls? ---
**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:** [December 13, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1339 "2017-12-13T15:52:57Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Is it normal for solid Christian conservatives to prey on teenage girls? Would you expect him to prey on boys? Sheesh, he’s not a papist. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504/1340 "2017-12-13T16:00:39Z")
[A blast from the past](https://aclj.org/us-constitution/delay-in-seating-ma-senator-outrageous-) from one of the Dotard’s brilliant legal minds: > [@Jay Sekulow](#): > > Here’s the troubling reality: It’s been nearly one week now since Scott Brown was elected to the U.S. Senate by the voters of Massachusetts. And, Senator-elect Brown has not yet been seated. He is not yet a member of the U.S. Senate and can’t participate on the work currently underway in the Senate itself. > > In my view this is an unacceptable delay tactic on the part of the Senate leadership a tactic that disenfranchises the voters of Massachusetts who sent a strong message in the election of last week. > > Theres absolutely no reason to wait to seat Senator-elect Brown and with each passing day he is prevented from participating in the legislative process… > > Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he wont swear-in Scott Brown until the certification process is completed which could take another week. > > But the election outcome is clear… > > Its outrageous that Senator-elect Brown is not yet seated… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-democrats-win-the-alabama-senate-special-election-in-december/793504.md?page=68)