The Republicans really blew it in Alabama!
Congratulations, Steve Bannon, you elected a Democrat in Alabama
BY MARC A. THIESSEN Special to The Washington Post
BRYNN ANDERSON
Steve Bannon speaks in support of U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore during a campaign rally Mondayin Midland City, Ala.
Steve Bannon and his alt-right movement have helped accomplish something no one in a quarter-century has been able to do: get a Democrat elected in the state of Alabama.
Alabama is one of the most reliably Republican states in the country. The last time a Democrat was elected was in 1992, and no Democrat has won more than 40 percent of the vote in a Senate race there since 1996. The closest election in recent memory was in 2002, when Jeff Sessions won re-election by a razor-thin margin of 19 points. Sen. Richard Shelby has won his last three elections by 35 points, 30 points and 28 points, respectively. So it takes a special kind of stupid to pick a candidate who can lose to a Democrat in Alabama.
Not just any Democrat, but an uncompromising pro-abortion Democrat. Alabama is one of the most pro-life states in the union. According to the Pew Research Center, 58 percent of Alabama voters believe that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while only 37 percent disagree. And yet the Democrats won with a pro-abortion extremist on the ballot. How extreme? In September, “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd asked Jones what limitations he would support on abortion. He could not name one. “I am a firm believer that a woman should have the freedom to choose what happens to her own body,” he said, “and I’m going to stand up for that and I’m going to make sure that that continues to happen.” When pressed if he would support a ban on late-term abortions after 20 weeks, Jones said, “I’m not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right and her freedom to choose,” adding that he supports the right to life “once a baby is born … That’s where I become a right-to-lifer.”
Yet despite these radical views, Jones won in pro-life Alabama. Why? Because Bannon and his allies forced Alabamians to choose between a pro-abortion Democrat and an alleged sex predator. Ban-non helped nominate a man who was credibly accused of pursuing and sexually molesting teenage girls – and then stood by him when his loathsome alleged conduct was exposed. Bannon counted on distrust of the mainstream media and conservative voters’ repulsion at the Democrats’ pro-abortion views to put his man over the top. It didn’t work. Because while the state’s evangelical Christian majority is appalled by abortion, they are also appalled by grown men who prey on high-school girls.
Now Bannon wants to replicate his disastrous Alabama strategy in Republican primaries across the country. He has announced that he is seeking Moore-like challengers to take on every GOP incumbent except Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas. Bannon is busy taking the GOP back to the glory days of 2010, when Republicans nominated such terrible Senate candidates that they lost very winnable Senate races in places such as Delaware and Nevada – losing the chance to retake control of the Senate. The difference is, back then, the stakes were not so high. Barack Obama was president, and unless Republicans could win 60 votes, a few more GOP Senate seats would have made little difference.
But today, a few GOP Senate seats can make all the difference, because Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House. President Donald Trump was already struggling to get his agenda passed with a narrow 52-seat GOP Senate majority. Thanks to Bannon, that majority has been whittled down to 51. That makes it harder for Trump to advance any of his remaining agenda next year and complicates his ability to confirm judges and get other nominees through the Senate.
Jones’s victory also put the Democrats within striking distance of taking back control of the Senate in 2018. If that happens, the Trump presidency is over. The “resistance” will control Congress, and Trump’s ability to pass conservative legislation and continue appointing conservative judges – especially another Supreme Court justice – will be gone. Moreover, Democrats will run the Russia investigation and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as majority leader, will have unbridled subpoena power. Trump could face impeachment proceedings.
That is the future if Trump does not learn the lesson of Alabama and tell Bannon to back off. The goal in 2018 should be to expand Trump’s governing majority, not lose it. Instead of targeting vulnerable Democrats and strengthening the Trump presidency, Bannon is busy destroying the Trump presidency. Trump may want to suggest he stop.
Marc A. Thiessen writes a weekly column for The Post on foreign and domestic policy and contributes to the PostPartisan blog.
There is also evidence of illegal voting. And the armed force ballots are still not all counted.
WaPo good for flushing down the toilet of propaganda and fake news.
Putin is standing for re-election in Mar 2018.
Here’s his first press re-election conference:
I cant imagine a single politician in the west that would do what Putin did in that meeting.
Answering questions that were articulate and precise, he invited people that really understood issues to meet with himself and relevant officials to assist in improving situations.
(Imagine Tredeau answering a question and saying “geez, you know what your talkin about why dont you meet with myself and the fisheries minister on Tuesday?)
He answered a wide variety of questions from fish to the americans/isis/n korea, Trump health care, he was on top of all of it without missing a beat.
The guy is something else.
Guess Im a fan. lol
Net neutrality is now officially on life support. Here’s what happens next.
https://www.vox.com/2017/12/14/16774148/net-neutrality-repeal-explained
Another victory for Team Republican
Jones won because Moore was a poor choice. Our county has voted 65% Repub for 20!years. This time they didn’t. It was about the man and not the Party. Jones has a good reputation as an US Prosecutor and Moore had a not so good reputation as a State Chief Justice.
David, that’s how it always should be you vote for the man not the party, it’s nice that party lines didn’t interfere. DT
David:
Good to hear from someone from Alabama with the local’s thoughts. Glad for your State that Moore isn’t headed to the US Senate. Thanks for your part in achieving that.
PS: Not sure Bannon would back off even if trump ask him to. Not really sure who runs who in that marriage.
lots happening today. Report John McCain deathly ill and SEN Thad Coceran also quite old aand in hospital. Gen Kelly throws balck repub woman Amarosa out of white house. She says she will write a tell all book. Gian Palo the broklynn astrologer looks like a genius. Usually i discount astrologers But ……. Pray for peace and stability . Scott
Sorry Big Al — but you have sunk to a new low in mouthing the Rockefeller Republican/Establishment line here.
Mr. Temple, The Washington Post is a paper of record. The real question of record what. I could tell, but not in polite company. How quickly Bezos can trash institutions.
The rot was long before Bezos
I think Al has made it obvious for some time how he thinks on events etc.
Everyone get an opinion and a vote.
The whole world is going to pot:
DENVER (AP) — Denver authorities shut down 26 legal marijuana businesses Thursday and arrested 12 people suspected of illegal distribution of pot after a yearlong criminal investigation.
Potential charges relate to marijuana sales exceeding limits set in state law, police said. Colorado allows people 21 and older to possess an ounce or less of marijuana under a measure approved by voters in 2012.
The city department that regulates marijuana businesses issued the order to close the businesses based on the police investigation, spokesman Dan Rowland said. It marked the first time the city has issued an open-ended suspension to any legal marijuana business since sales began in 2014, he said.
And so it goes…….
The WaPo has been a propaganda organ for the Deep State for many decades.
The only good thing about the Washington Post was the Washington Post march written by Sousa over a century ago. They are as truthful as Pravda.
That’s quite harsh, Temple. Big Al has been fair on both sides for years. I wonder how he could be so forgiving of Obama while he was in office, but that’s better than vitriol.
For years we’ve wondered as a nation what would happen if a non-politician ever got to the White House. Well, now we know. It’s been a full-court-press by not only the Communist Progressive Democrats, but the Fascist War-hawk Republicans as well as the Communist Utopian media. Mr. Trump is starting to look like Herbert Hoover more and more, and I personally fear the neo-FDR that comes after him.
But Mr. Trump also has his own Republican party leadership fighting against him, trying to keep the old paradigm for the last 50-60 years ongoing.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Devastating California wildfires this year — and expectations of more to come under the extremes of climate change — prompted regulators Thursday to toughen rules for utility companies to keep power lines clear of brush and tree branches that can easily spark into flames.
Public Utilities Commission president Michael Picker called the regulations adopted unanimously by the board “a major rewrite” of the state’s fire-prevention rules for utilities as climate change drives up wildfire risks in much of California.
This is exactly the same Bill that Governor Moonbeam has vetoed the last 2 years.
RUSSELS (AP) — European Union nations bickered over migration policy Thursday in an east-west divide centered on several nations that refuse to accept refugee quotas.
The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia announced that they planned to spend around 35 million euros ($41 million) to beef up EU borders after the four countries — known as the “Visegrad Four” — were criticized for failing to show solidarity with the rest of the bloc.
This what happens when entrenched EU Bureaucrats are in charge and live in oppulent enclaves, overpaid in work and in retirement. SCUM, who don’t care about anything but power retention.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. attorneys in Utah prosecuting a multimillion-dollar opioid drug-ring are moving quickly to sell seized bitcoin that’s exploded in value to about $8.5 million since the alleged ringleader’s arrest a year ago.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah cites the digital currency’s volatility in court documents pressing for the sale. The bitcoin cache was worth less than $500,000 when Aaron Shamo was arrested on drug charges, but the value of the digital currency has skyrocketed since then.
Bitcoin was created as a digital alternative to the traditional banking system, and is prone to swings in value based on what people believe its worth.
For federal prosecutors in Utah, sales of seized assets like cars are routine, but bitcoin is new territory, spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said Thursday.
This is not a fair assessment. D’s pulled out all the stops including bussing people in to vote and canvas. This coupled with poor turnout for Moore after being sand bagged by the media (we still don’t know for certain that any of these accusations are true yet author writes as if they are fact; to say otherwise is still an assumption) and Moore no longer had a chance. I get the impression that the author is an establishment republican which might explain his anti-Bannon (Read: anti-populist) bias?