Judge Dreadful
Why the GOP won, the day Roy Moore lost
Judge Roy Moore rode in to vote on Tuesday morning on a horse named Sassy. In his black Stetson and brown suede jacket, he looked like an ageing urban cowboy. Sassy was tied up near the Gallant, Alabama, fire station while Moore went in, presumably to vote for himself.
By the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Alabama shook with the news that Moore had lost to Democrat Doug Jones in a state that hadn’t seated a Democratic senator in nearly a quarter century.
Milking the final moments of his time on the national stage, Moore subsequently released a video statement railing against (among other things) abortion, transgender and gay people, gay marriage, the lack of prayer in schools, and (ironically) judges who don’t uphold the Constitution (he was twice expelled from the bench for doing just that). ‘‘Immorality sweeps over our land’’ he warned viewers.
Now it is Sunday, and cantankerous to the end, the good judge still hasn’t conceded the race, suggesting that military and other late-counted ballots could swing things back his way. This is highly unlikely, according to the Alabama Secretary of State (a Republican), tasked with certifying the results.
Although it leaves a razorthin single seat majority in the Senate, the non-election of Judge Roy Moore was – on balance – a bullet dodged by Republicans. The sexual assault allegations against him – including some where the girls involved were as young as 14 – would have been poisonous baggage in Washington DC, not only for Moore, but for others accused of sexual impropriety – most notably, President Donald Trump.
Roy Moore’s presence in DC would have been like a magnifying glass to an ant in a shaft of sunlight, heating up calls for an investigation into Trump’s conduct.
Understanding this, Democrats have stuffed their quivers with more arrows as the glow of their victory begins to fade. Knowing that the magnifying glass won’t be resident in Washington, they are now targeting vulnerable Republicans up for election in 2018 for their failure to speak out against Judge Moore. They are positioning him as the intolerant ghost of Christmas past as they look to next year’s mid-term elections. One ad proclaims: ‘‘Roy Moore doesn’t think women should run for office. And Dean Heller (the Nevada Senator up for reelection next year) said NOTHING.’’
They will use this same strategy, replacing Moore’s gaffes for Trump’s insults, against other incumbent Republicans in the House and Senate in the year ahead. Consider Trump’s racial slur against Senator Elizabeth Warren, his insinuation that New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand exchanged sexual favours for political donations, or his claim that the women who accused him of sexual assault are too ugly for it to be true. Few Republicans pushed back against these comments. Democrats will hold them to account for their silence.
And it appears that some Republicans are finally figuring that out. Rumours started flying in the past couple of days that House Speaker and Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan would not seek reelection. Ryan has denied the reporting. But he faces a strong challenger from Democrat Randy Bryce (known as ‘‘Iron Stache’’ – a tribute to his job and his facial hair), a blue-collar union ironworker and legitimate ‘‘working man’’ who launched a challenge to Ryan in June.
Democrats will characterise Ryan as a technocrat, out of touch with regular Americans. He will also be maligned as a leader who kowtowed to Trump, who didn’t push back when Trump ravaged his political enemies with insults and smears, denigrating the dignity of the presidency.
But Democrats should be careful. Even with Trump at historically low approval ratings, using him to tar and feather Republican opponents will not be enough. They will have to propose solutions to Americans on taxes and healthcare and develop platforms on issues that rarely sway political races but that have become issues of national interest in the age of Trump. These include, among other things, protections for national parks, free and fair access to the internet and allowing transgender people to serve in the military.
Reminding Americans of Trump’s offensiveness is a start, but Democrats will need real solutions to win back America.