Just Like That, Jones Defeats Moore In Alabama Special Election

This is the forth entry into the ‘Thoughts from the Gentleman’ series which will consist of analysis and editorial content of all things relating to politics and culture. The first entry can be seen here, the second here, and third here. This entry highlights the Alabama Senate race between Doug Jones and Roy Moore.

A Unique Campaign

Roy Moore has been the center of controversy over the past decade, originally gaining fame in conservative circles for installing the 10 Commandments outside of an Alabama courtroom, a move which led to his removal as the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. However, after Moore defeated Republican establishment darling Luther Strange during the primary, others parts of his past came to the forefront. Numerous accusations against Moore of sexual misconduct and assault began to cloud his chances of winning now Attorney General Jeff Sessions vacant Senate seat.

As the election drew near, Moore earned even further critique after making a radio show appearance on Focal Point w/Bryan Fischer and making what many deemed to be anti-Semitic remarks. The quote in question was made after a discussion after Fischer stated felons would be most likely to vote Democratic:

...I don't know what registered felons would do. There's different types of felonies. I'm not saying some shouldn't have the opportunity to vote. Some shouldn't. It just varies with the crimes and the people involved. But I don't think you can predict how anybody's going to vote, but Soros is certainly trying to alter the voting populous and if that's true, he's pushing an agenda. His agenda is sexual in nature. His agenda is liberal and not what Americans need. It's not our American culture. Soros comes from another world I don't identify with. I wish I could face him directly and I'd tell him the same thing that no matter how much money he's got, he's still going to the same place that people who don't recognize God and morality and accept his salvation are going. And that's not a good place.

Moore further damaged his campaign by making racially insensitive remarks at a campaign rally. Responding to a question about when he thought the last time the United States was great, "I think it was great at the time when families were united — even though we had slavery — they cared for one another.... Our families were strong, our country had a direction.” During the rally he would also refer to Native and Asian Americans as “reds and yellows.”

The Democratic National Committee, which is currently undergoing an internal reworking, stayed publicly quiet on the race, however, they spent $1 million and sent 30 aides to Alabama to work on the Jones campaign, according to Politico. While MoveOn.org sent $250,000 to Jones and BlackPAC disclosed spending $450,000 on the race. The outside contributions allowed the Jones campaign to make over 1 million calls and knock on approximately 325,000 doors and had the help of outside politicians who came to the state to campaign for Jones. Doug Jones was able to quietly execute an efficient ground game which allowed him to get in front of the voters he needed.

The Results

With the narrow victory of Doug Jones, he becomes the first Democratic Senator from the state of Alabama since Howell Heflin who retired after three terms, leaving office in 1997. Despite, the Democratic Party not having spent resources in Alabama for state and federal elections for decades, Jones was able to create a winning coalition in the state. According to Washington Post exit polling, Jones received 96% support from African-American voters (29% of the voters) and defeated Moore among women 57-41.

Jones also was popular among Millennial and post-Millennial voters (18-29) defeating Jones 60-38. With older Millenials and Generation X voters (30-44) 61-38. These demographics of voters are what carried Jones to a near 21,000 vote victory.

Response On Social Media

On Twitter, Doug Jones' official account published several quotes from his victory speech:

During his speech, Jones made reference to several communities Moore made insensitive remarks towards during the campaign. He would thank his friends in the African-American, Jewish, and Latino communities. However, he did not remark on the sexual misconduct and assault allegations made against his defeated opponent.

Analysts, Commentators, Entertainers, Journalists, and Reporters also gave their comments after Jones was declared victorious:

In one of the most stinging responses of the night, Host of Think Tank and producer of The Young Turks online new program, and Huffington Post Contributor, Hannah Cranston had a poignant response to Moore stating that he will not concede the race:

Analysis

Roy Moore becoming a Senator of the United States would have been a stain on the institution and what it's supposed to represent. His treatment of women, open bigotry, disregard for the Constitution, and his malice towards non-Christians is not the spirit of this nation - nor should they acceptable traits for those who represent us at a federal level.

However, the closeness of the election is concerning. Doug Jones was helped by his career prosecuting members of the Ku Klux Klan and the numerous scandals coming from the Moore campaign.

If the Democratic Party wishes to replicate this result in 2018 across the nation, their candidates will need to focus on economic populism as there probably won't be another candidate as problematic as Roy Moore on a ballot.

While some are pushing the party to run on a referendum against Donald Trump, ongoing Russia investigation, and his general fitness for office - appealing to voters immediate health and financial concerns will provide far greater results.

Candidates who acknowledge the problems with the Trump administration, yet run their campaign on Medicare-for-all, close the income wage gap, cleaning up the corruption in government, and funding social programs which help middle and working class families around the country are the candidates who can win anywhere in the country.

The elections in 2018 will be a statement on the direction of the Democratic Party and if they can defeat opponents in traditionally Republican areas, who are not as polarizing as Roy Moore.

To keep up with Walter’s journalism you can follow him @GentlemansHall on Twitter