Our view: Which lesson will stick with GOP and Democrats?
There is opportunity in crisis, as the saying goes. And for Republicans, Roy Moore’s stunning loss in Alabama’s special Senate election is a chance to focus on a nagging question: If they can’t win in Alabama, where can they win?
It is also a chance for the Republicans to address their growing electoral conundrum — with a manifestly unfit president, a party base besotted by firebreathers, and a Congress determined to pay off its debts to the wealthy by borrowing from the young and taxing many in the middle class.
There is much work to be done and, with the loss in Alabama, plenty of motivation to take it on.
Democrats face a less obvious threat: the growing temptation to take a midterm victory for granted.
The election of former prosecutor Doug Jones in the deep red state of Alabama wasn’t a fluke, but Jones’ party can’t depend on running against a slate of relatively poorly funded pedophiles in 2018. Democrats won’t often run against the likes of Moore, a Constitution-trashing former judge accused of predatory sexual behavior by at least nine women. Nor will they often have a fundraising advantage in the last couple of months of more than five to one.
They should not look at their Alabama success and plan for a House majority next November. They should not assume that their senators running in red states will float to re-election on an anti-Trump blue tide. And they should not count on pickup wins in Nevada and Arizona driven by demographic shifts.
The truth is, Democrats still have work to do in convincing millions of Americans that they speak their language and understand their issues. The Democratic Party should stay hungry, even desperate, and try to find a message that resonates with voters beyond its base.
Neither party has said much of late beyond opposing their partisan counterparts. For eight years, Republicans did little but vilify President Obama. And now Democrats are in danger of defining themselves simply as the party that does not include President Trump and Roy Moore.
They won’t get far with that message. American voters know full well that Democrats do not like Trump, and that they have been purging their pols accused of sexual harassment while the GOP has been praising theirs. Every minute spent on that point is time not spent on reintroducing themselves to middle America.
The Alabama election has many messages. It will be interesting to see whether either party will take them to heart.