Roy Moore Defeat: Democrat Doug Jones Wins In Alabama Senate Upset

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42333712

The fight back against Trump is now well under way. If the Democrats can win in a place like Alabama, they can win anywhere.

[albaqwerty]

not too sure about 'the fight-back being well under way' but I was glad to hear the result.

[emmie]

Trump isn't going anywhere soon surely?

[beso]

I don't think anti-Trump can be read into it.

Alabama Republicans had the same problem the Democrats had in the Presidential vote. Many people just couldn't stomach the candidate they put up. And rightly so.

[mikey4444]

Here are the things that Moore believes in....is it any wonder that anyone voted for him at all ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41417203

[Khandro]

mikey; //If the Democrats can win in a place like Alabama, they can win anywhere.// Do you know anything about Alabama?
The Republican wins in Alabama are a very new phenomena, only since 2010 when Republicans took large majorities of both chambers of the state legislature, giving them control of that body for the first time in 136 years.
So it's really business as usual.

[emmie]

they are very perverse people in USA, certain sections love all that stuff about homosexuality being an abomination, and so forth, no idea why he would get elected but look at Trump, who would have thought he would be President some day.

[mikey4444]

Khandro....it was said on the news just now, that Alabama hadn't voted Democrat in this manner, for 25 years.

A little over 12 months ago, Trump won Alabama with a vote of 62.1%, against Clinton's 34.4%. What do you think has happened in the intervening 12 months ?

[jno]

the last Democratic senator in Alabama retired 20 years ago, I believe

[mikey4444]

Emmie....the Electoral College handed Trump the White House in 2016......more people voted Democrat. I realise that this is how the overly complicated method of choosing a President works in America, and until that changes, there is no point in crying over spilt milk.

But this new result in Alabama has now given Trump severe problems getting his legislation through.

Imagine this had happened in Britain....how many votes do you think a candidate would get, if they said that "There's no such thing as evolution."

[naomi24]

Mikey, //What do you think has happened in the intervening 12 months ? //

A candidate with views too extreme to be acceptable to the majority has been fielded?

Bearing in mind the narrow margin between winner and loser, I wonder what would have happened if a different candidate had been in the running?

[ichkeria]

Alabama is staunch Republican territory. So an unusual result and good news. Moore makes Trump look almost respectable.

[Bazile]

Given his previous pronouncements views and actions , I'm pleased he lost

[mikey4444]

Its the arrogance of the Republican Party that stuns me in this matter.

Even if you leave out the latest, unproven allegations against him, given what Moore has already said, as outlined in the BBC link, did the Party really think that the man was a suitable candidate to represent them, even in a backward place like the Deep South ?

[mikey4444]

Bazile....I think we all are !

[naomi24]

//did the Party really think that the man was a suitable candidate to represent them//

Apparently ... and he came a close second so he was clearly the choice of a lot of people. I don't think you can claim with any justification whatsoever that this is a 'fight back against Trump'.

[emmie]

i don't think so either.

[mikey4444]

Emmie....the evidence is there. Trump will now find it more difficult to get his plans through the Senate.

[jim360]

"...did the Party really think that the man was a suitable candidate to represent them..."

Well, no they didn't. But the people of Alabama chose Roy Moore as their (Republican) candidate and then he refused to step down, trapping the Republican Party between a rock and a hard place. They couldn't force him to step down. They could only barely afford for him to lose. And at the moment US politics is so partisan that openly backing the Democrat candidate would be politically impossible.

Trump ended up backing Roy Moore to the hilt, and so that *does* link this victory somewhat to a rejection of his support. Funnily enough, this is now the second time Trump's preferred candidate has lost in Alabama this year -- he didn't back Roy Moore as candidate in the Primaries.

Still, at least -- unlike Moore, at least as I type this -- Trump has come out with a sensible and respectful tweet, congratulating the winner while promising to fight back in the next time Alabama's senate seat is up for election (2020 I think).

[mikey4444]

Jim....yes you are right....Trump could have just stayed silent, but instead, backed Moore to the hilt, despite all the evidence that he was an unsuitable candidate.

So, this is a personal defeat for Trump, as well as Moore.

[jim360]

It's bad for Trump, no doubt about that -- but it's pretty obvious that Roy Moore was not the sort of candidate you'd want to have running for you in the first place. Trump backed him because he was the Republican candidate and Trump needed his vote, but whether he would have supported him personally given all the allegations in a less precarious position I don't know.

I think I'd probably say that a win for Moore would have been a win for Trump, but a loss for Moore was his alone.