As we've all heard by now, Roy Moore was defeated in the Alabama Senate Special Election. The seat went to a Democrat for the first time in many years and following numerous Democratic wins in November, the Corporate Media is unanimous in claiming a groundswell of anti-Trump sentiment. Incidentally, this same Media Establishment was also nearly unanimous in predicting a Moore victory.
In reality, neither this election nor November is much to be concerned about. The MSM is going to proclaim a setback for Trump regardless of any other factor. The November Elections, for example, were mostly Democrat wins in Democrat-dominated areas. As for Alabama: Moore was a colorful and controversial candidate---but he was not a strong candidate. The President originally supported his opponent, Luther Strange and the GOP Establishment also was lukewarm towards Moore at best. And still Moore lost by only about 1% in spite of this lack of official support.
Moore appears to have lost for the same reason that Hillary Clinton did. Both are political celebrities who have a strong and loyal base; but they can't sway voters outside of that base easily. That was one of the reasons why the DNC chose Obama over Clinton in 2008: they realized that Obama could reach Independents whereas Hillary Clinton's support would plateau. That assessment proved quite accurate in 2016.
If any trends seem to be apparent from 2017, it is that voters are rejecting candidates who seem to be on the 'fringe', so to speak. An example from November would be the open race for Seattle Mayor. In that ultra-Liberal city, an Establishment Democrat was pitted against a Sanders Democrat and the Establishment candidate won by a near 2:1 margin. And yes: the Media got that Election wrong too.
Roy Moore was a favorite among the Tea Party Republicans and some of the Alt-Right. It could very well be that 2017 is showing that voters are choosing candidates who are not hard-line ideologues. This may not necessarily be a bad thing. The Trump Administration is showing that Government can work---and work efficiently. The day and age when candidates can run against the System and 'shake things up' seems to be drawing to close. If the Government is doing its job, there is no need for radicals or outsiders any more.
Electorally, this race isn't going to change things much. Doug Jones can't afford to veer too far Left if he hopes to keep his seat in a state like Alabama. Most likely, he'll be a Blue Dog Democrat like Howell Heflin---the last Democrat Senator from Alabama who typically sided with Presidents Reagan and Bush. The balance of power in the Senate isn't affected much either.
The lessons for the GOP in 2018 are very simple: support what the President is doing; focus on that. Stress the candidates' qualifications to do the job and avoid negativity and mudslinging. Since Trump was elected, indications are that voter anger and pushes for radical change are subsiding. Now it's about reform and getting the job done.
Nice analysis. But let's not forget a corrupt bipartisan elite collective who'll move hell and the pit to stop the reform DJT threatens. I mean to say, who wants to vote themselves out of power and wealth?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the positive feedback! What you say is true; but I think that the Deep Statists are on the defensive now. I suspect they have visions of repeating Watergate and bringing down Trump, but:
Delete1. Nixon actually did something illegal and Trump hasn't;
2. The Media had much more credibility with the public in 1973 than now;
3. The Deep State/Swamp Creature Establishment really can't come up with a convincing argument to put them back in power. They're bashing Trump a lot, but not giving anybody a reason why things were actually better when THEY were running things. Remember how Trump turned Hillary's argument about her political experience into a negative?
I think that another factor that defeated Moore was his alignment with Alt-Rightists in a state with a huge Black vote. A lot of Blacks actually like and support Trump but I agree with Matt Drudge that Luther Strange probably would have carried the swing-vote.