Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

No one could have predicted…

Everybody saw this coming.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

You cannot shame the shameless.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Open Thread: And There Will Be Much Rejoicing!

Open Thread: And There Will Be Much Rejoicing!

by | 321 Comments

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.

CONGRATULATIONS, SENATOR JONES!

… The upset delivered an unimagined victory for Democrats and shaved Republicans’ unstable Senate majority to a single seat.

Mr. Jones’s victory could have drastic consequences on the national level, snarling Republicans’ legislative agenda in Washington and opening, for the first time, a realistic but still difficult path for Democrats to capture the Senate next year. It amounted to a stinging snub of President Trump, who broke with much of his party and fully embraced Mr. Moore’s candidacy, seeking to rally support for him in the closing days of the campaign.

Sue Bell Cobb, a former chief judge of the Alabama Supreme Court, said Mr. Jones had overcome a culture of “toxic partisanship,” reaching out to Republicans and electrifying restive Democrats.

“Never has there been this level of civic engagement,” said Ms. Cobb, who is planning to run for governor next year. “Never has it happened.”

She was drowned out by a raucous cry from her fellow Democrats, and clasped her hands to her face as she saw on a massive projection screen that Mr. Jones had pulled ahead. Mayor Randall Woodfin of Birmingham, a newly inaugurated Democrat standing just feet away, beamed as returns from his city helped put Mr. Jones over the top….

The election is a painful setback for Republicans in Washington, who have already struggled to enact policies of any scale and now face even tougher legislative math. Mr. Moore’s success in the Republican primary here, and the subsequent general-election fiasco, may deter mainstream Republicans from seeking office in 2018 and could prompt entrenched incumbents to consider retirement.

But there is also a measure of relief for some party leaders that Mr. Moore will not join the chamber, carrying with him a radioactive cloud of scandal. A number of Republicans, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, had indicated that Mr. Moore would face an ethics investigation if he were elected, and possibly expulsion from the Senate….

Yeah, I’m not buying that line, either. If you read the whole article, there’s an obvious tension between the genuine reporters and the NYT head office’s determination to stenograph the new GOP talking points — that they had Moore forced upon them by that parvenu Trump, who isn’t even really a Republican, after all. It’s not gonna convince many Democrats, and somehow I suspect Republican voters aren’t liable to be persuaded, either.

But tonight is OURS!

Reader Interactions

321Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    Tonight’s award for Excellence In Chutzpah goes to Cory Gardner:

    [email protected] Chairman @SenCoryGardner: “Tonight’s results are clear – the people of AL deemed Roy Moore unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate..I hope Senator-elect Doug Jones will do the right thing and truly represent AL by choosing to vote with the Senate Repub Majority.”

  10. 10.

    Marcopolo

    Enjoying the fact that Trump’s gonna be up all night gnashing his teeth. Can they keep him away from his phone? Ha ha ha!

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jon Favreau‏Verified account @ jonfavs
    Democrats flip Arizona and Nevada, we take back the Senate. No more Trump agenda. No more Trump judges. No more Trump nominees.

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    @dmsilev:

    I hope Senator-elect Doug Jones will do the right thing and truly represent AL by choosing to vote with the Senate Repub Majority.

    What? He was elected to vote with the R party?

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    @Karen: A quick Google search says that the threshold for an automatic recount in Alabama is a margin of 0.5 percent or less, so if Jones is sitting at 1.something, he’s well above that threshold.

  15. 15.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    It was nice to hear unabashed, positive liberalism with a southern drawl.I actually got a little emotional about it – I had missed it.

  18. 18.

    ??‍? Martin

    Alabama makes clear where America’s moral compass is, and it sure as fuck isn’t white Christians. The black community have done a great service today. Thank you.

  20. 20.

    jl

    I read depressed turnout by GOP voters was important part of Jones’ victory. Part of that is due to Moore being particularly toxic. But some of it must be due to massive betrayal of Trump voters by GOP Congress and Trump himself. I read that the depressed GOP turnout in Alabama was similar to Virginia election.So, that part of the problem isn’t going to get solved. Unless the Congressional GOP decides to completely rewrite their tax bill. Or maybe not even then.

    GOPers tomorrow are going to have to recalculate their chances next year with more evidence of severely depressed GOP vote and hypercharged Dem vote. The planned voter suppression will have to be terrific and the best to get them out of that jam.

  22. 22.

    Yarrow

    Oh. My. God! My neighbor texted me the news while I was coming back from picking up someone at the airport. Doug Jones won? Doug Jones won! I can hardly believe it. How exciting!

  23. 23.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    I smell the stench of rodent carnality. AL SOS website has Moore up 7,000 votes with 66 0f 67 precincts reporting.
    Link

  26. 26.

    hellslittlestangel

    Funny, Moore got thoroughly smeared with The Orange Better One’s shit, but it didn’t make him filthier than he already was.

  28. 28.

    Steve in the ATL

    I’ve been in bargaining since this morning with a 0% chance of getting a contract, so this is a nice bit of unexpected good news.

  29. 29.

    Caphilldcne

    So pleased. And proud of Jones. What a great campaign. I donated just cause I wanted to go down swinging (and didnt want my Alabama family represented by Moore). Paid off in gold!!

  30. 30.

    lamh36

    per Heilemen on MSNBC…the #MeToo movement was a big factor, but I disagree, 65% of White Women in Alabama still voted for Moore…sure the climate made the media cover it in a different fashion, but I can’t really see any numbers saying that it made a difference with enough Republican white women…

    I’m not sure if the #MeToo movement can even make inroads into that voter block

  31. 31.

    B.B.A.

    @Corner Stone: Well, it’s a permanent Republican seat that can only change hands with the approval of the NRSC chairman. It’s in the Senate rulebook somewhere, and totally not made up on the spur of the moment, no fooling, hey look over there!

  32. 32.

    PsiFighter37

    @jl: That’s a good point – despite the massive voter suppression tactics in play, Jones still pulled it off.

    Get people registered, get them the right kinds of ID, and let’s fucking kick ass and take some names.

    So pumped.

  37. 37.

    Immanentize

    Tomorrow’s DKos Headline:
    “Sanders supporters call for primary challenge to ‘neoliberal Jones'”

  39. 39.

    The Moar You Know

    Holy fucking shit. I am blown away. This is huge. And I have never in my life been happier to be wrong.

  41. 41.

    Adam L Silverman

  43. 43.

    Ken

    @lamh36: Shades of Mitt Romney.

    Come to think of it, wasn’t there a huge delay last November because Trump hadn’t prepared even one speech for election night?

  47. 47.

    BC in Illinois

    @Corner Stone:
    @dmsilev:

    Asinine quote of the day, from the head of the National Republican Senate Committee:

    I hope Senator-elect Doug Jones will do the right thing and truly represent AL by choosing to vote with the Senate Repub Majority.

    Let me offer an alternative. Senator Jones should spend his time in the Senate doing things that the vast majority of the American people desire: health care, voting rights, tax laws that do not enrich the already rich, investigation into Russian interference with our elections, protection of the environment, equal justice for all.

    You know — represent Alabama and serve his country, by opposing anything that comes from Trump, McConnell, and Ryan.

  51. 51.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Villago Delenda Est: That’s because they also tried to pull this scam. Has Cernovich, Posobiec, and Chucky Johnson written all over it:
    https://www.axios.com/schumer-calls-cops-after-forged-sex-scandal-charge-2517019807.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twsocialshare&utm_campaign=organic

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he was the victim of a fake news hit on Tuesday, and has turned over to Capitol Police a document that purports to detail lurid sexual harassment accusations by a former staffer.

    Why it matters: This was an apparent effort to dupe reporters and smear a senator — both symptoms of an amped-up news environment where harassment charges are proliferating and reporters have become targets for fraud.

    The former staffer told me in a phone interview that she did not author the document, that none of the charges ring true, and that her signature was forged.
    She said she had never heard of the document before Axios took it to Schumer’s office for comment on Tuesday.
    Matt House, Schumer’s communications director, told me: “The document is a forged document and every allegation is false. We have turned it over to the Capitol Police and asked them to investigate and pursue criminal charges because it is clear the law has been broken.”
    House continued: “We believe the individual responsible for forging the document should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to prevent other malicious actors from doing the same.”
    The backstory:

    A password-protected PDF of the 13-page document was shopped to Axios and other outlets. The document, which is dated 2012 and has the file name “Schumer_Complaint,” looks like a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
    One of many red flags: No lawyer for the staffer is named.
    The woman named in the document was a legislative staffer for Schumer from 2009 to 2012, and is now a career employee of the federal government.
    The former staffer said she took the matter to Washington, D.C. police on Tuesday. She said the police told her they were unsure of their jurisdiction in the case. She said she now plans to go to Capitol Police.
    She told me in a statement: “The claims in this document are completely false, my signature is forged, and even basic facts about me are wrong. I have contacted law enforcement to determine who is responsible. I parted with Senator Schumer’s office on good terms and have nothing but the fondest memories of my time there.”
    Axios agreed to her stipulation that she not be named, because she said she is the victim of a crime.
    A source close to Schumer said the document is full of errors:

    “The document contains an allegation of inappropriate behavior on September 16th 2011 in Washington, but Schumer was in New York City.”
    “It contains an allegation of inappropriate behavior by Schumer on August 25th 2011 in Washington, but Schumer was in France.”
    The source tells Axios that reporters from the Washington Post, CNN, BuzzFeed, The New Yorker and ABC all inquired about the document Tuesday.
    Be smart: Look for more hits like this, aimed at victimizing both reporters and public figures.

  52. 52.

    Anne Laurie

    @oatler.:

    Did we win the Civil War then?

    Looks like we may finally be ready to start putting down the revanchist uprising, please Murphy the Trickster God!

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    The irony of Pence swearing in Jones is both precious and luscious.

    Or will he cheaply, crassly wimp out and assign it to a surrogate?

    Upon taking office, senators-elect must swear or affirm that they will “support and defend the Constitution.” The president of the Senate or a surrogate administers the oath to newly elected or re-elected senators. The oath is required by the Constitution; the wording is prescribed by law. Source

  54. 54.

    Kay

    In other good news, Texans hate Ted Cruz.

    Subscribe to My Newsletter‏Verified account
    @mattyglesias
    2m2 minutes ago
    More
    A lot of AZ-SEN talk but Ted Cruz’s numbers are really bad.

  58. 58.

    Sloegin

    Congrats to black turnout putting this thing in the win column. I’d say baby steps, but you know… Phrasing!

  59. 59.

    hedgehog mobile

    Huge thanks to the black community from this white woman. Thanks to Charles Barkley for speaking truth.

    Gonna finish my cranberry cider then break open the Breckenridge bourbon. I’m off this week so I can.

  60. 60.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Marcopolo: OT: Saw you reply to my comment this morning. Had racked out. I’m tracking on what you said, but wasn’t offering because I figured you wanted to use them/to try to get you to use them. Rather because treating them properly for long term storage preserves them and therefore their value in case you decide to pass them on to a family member as a family keepsake or sell them. And given what you’ve described you’ve got at least one very valuable rifle, if not three.

  61. 61.

    Ruckus

    @BC in Illinois:
    Let me offer an alternative. Senator Jones should spend his time in the senate doing what the people who elected him desired. And that quite apparently was not be Roy Moore or a republican.
    So, as Doug Jones, Democratic Senator from Alafuckingbama, might just be an slightly nicer person or perhaps a much better politician than me, let me say, go fuck yourself, Cory Gardner.

  65. 65.

    Caphilldcne

    PS congratulations to all the Good balloon juicers who also donated. Most importantly congratulations to the people of Alabama who won big tonight!

  68. 68.

    cmorenc

    Hey Roy: “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on!”

    What delicious irony that this isn’t merely a figure of speech.

  70. 70.

    oldgold

    USA Today usually has very tepid editorials. But, in tomorrow’s paper they let Trump have it big time.

    “A president who’d all but call a senator a whore is unfit to clean toilets in Obama’s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush’s shoes.”

    THE EDITORIAL BOARD | USA TODAY

  72. 72.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Throughout this campaign, I have thought how important it is that he prosecuted the Klan for the deaths of those four young girls. I thought more should have been said about it. But maybe that’s just my age showing.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    As for those who habitually refrain from civic participation because “My vote doesn’t count”…

    …efgoldman ’em.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    AL SoS inviting Moore supporters to come to his office at 11 PM to discuss the steps to delay certification and get a recount, per Moore flunky at his rally. Can that be true?

  75. 75.

    Ken

    This is good news for Roy Moore. It means he can spend his full time clearing his name of those horrible accusations.

    (I meant that facetiously, but I just realized – if his victims were planning any civil suits, those can still go forward and his life might get even worse. Cue tiny violins.)

  77. 77.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Corner Stone: Alabama Secretary of State has indicated he expects to certify results between 27 and 29 DEC. The actual required deadline is 3 JAN 2018. This, however, is the larger question:

  79. 79.

    Raoul

    Moore camp talking about military ballots not in, AL s.o.s. process.

    And now the Bible from this sh*theel. Gaaaaah

  82. 82.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: African Americans are 26% of Alabamans. The African American turnout today was no less than 30%. This wasn’t about write ins or even absentee ballots.

  89. 89.

    Corner Stone

    @Steve in the ATL: Apparently I should not have said “first born” or some other term? I am mystified, personally. But am sure Anne has a really good explanation for what happened.

  90. 90.

    Suzanne

    Thank you to the African-American community of Alabama for ONCE AGAIN building a solid foundation for this country.

  91. 91.

    lamh36

    Of course Roy Moore won’t concede and talking bout a recoutnt…and now CNN on with Alabama SoS…FUQ’ers

  92. 92.

    pepper

    my daughter is a freshman at the university of alabama. turned 18 this past may and cast the first ballot of her life for doug jones. roll tide.

  93. 93.

    Ken

    @Raoul:

    military ballots

    Didn’t Moore brag in his autobiography about sleeping on sandbags for fear of being fragged? I’d call this ironic, but irony was strangled and buried in an unmarked grave a couple of years ago.

  94. 94.

    MCA1

    What an undignified, horseshit sour grapes delusional Not Concession speech that was by Moore. Keyriced, what an asshole.

  95. 95.

    trollhattan

    They call me Deacon Blue.

    Channeling Our Lady of the Magic Dolphins, “Let us savor.”

    Tomorrow we fight.

  96. 96.

    misterpuff

    Roy Moore is a Dead-Ender…we are going to get a look at what Drumpf would have done if he had lost.

  97. 97.

    GregB

    This morning Roy Moore rode his horse in to polls to vote and tonight Doug Jones rode his ass out of town.

  98. 98.

    Ruckus

    My pie list will not even stay while I am online and in the same session.
    Help!
    mac, 10.13.2, FF ver 57.0.1

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Sounds like a direct response to what the Moore flunky said (the threat he made?) on stage

    Natasha Bertrand‏Verified account @ NatashaBertrand
    AL Secretary of State says he’s “not comfortable” with meeting w/ Moore or anyone else in his campaign tonight. “The people of Alabama have spoken.”

  111. 111.

    catclub

    @Adam L Silverman:

    1% or more and no automatic recount.

    I look at that and wonder how soon before there is a request for a NON-automatic recount. That probably takes extenuating circumstances – like a Democrat won in a state wide election.

  112. 112.

    japa21

    If the GOP in Alabama does some skullduggery and gets the results thrown out and have Moore winning, there will be hell to pay in Alabama.

  119. 119.

    ArchTeryx

    You know, I figured that by this time, Obamacare would be dead and so would I.

    Instead, it – and I – live. And I lived to see a Democrat that WASN’T a Dixiecrat elected to a seat in Alabama. He may only be a seat warmer for a few years, but…this is a HUGE symbolic victory. And a practical one: McConnell has one less vote in the Senate for a whole lot of things. Jones won’t vote with the Ds on every vote, but he may oppose McConnell on a few crucial ones – like the tax bill.

    Suck on it, you cocksucking, blood-drinking ghouls. You LOST.

  120. 120.

    Cheryl Rofer

  122. 122.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: Once he sees the news coverage on Morning Joe about how he and Bannon blew this. How they inserted themselves and cost the GOP an easy/safe seat, he’s going to lose it big time.

  124. 124.

    jl

    @japa21: Jones has over 20,000 vote lead, more than 1.5 percentage points. Can they throw that out?

    Anyway, good news. For the GOP, betrayal of their base may be priceless, in the sense that they can’t buy their way out of it. And in the sense of the hilarity of the consequences. And a bonus is that Moore won’t be around to take the focus off of Trump’s own long and predatory history of harassment and assault.

  125. 125.

    The Dangerman

    @??‍? Martin:

    She just got a lot of leverage to vote against the tax bill.

    Tax Bill just got a JATO strapped to it. No way that thing waits for Jones.

    ETA: +2

  129. 129.

    Marcopolo

    Everyone here w/ a R senator—call their office tomorrow and demand they give the Jones special election the same treatment as Scott Brown’s. In 2010 McConnell insisted there be no further votes/progress on the ACA until Brown was seated. The R’s should halt progress on their tax bill until Jones is seated.

  132. 132.

    clay

    Robert Costa is getting all squeamish over strong words in a USA Today editorial. Not “bad” words. Just strong, true words about how horrible Trump is.

    Costa, you’re not a horrible reporter, but wake the fuck up. The time for timid suggestions is over.

  133. 133.

    Corner Stone

    @??‍? Martin: Are you kidding? Think they are going to wait? That thing is going to get reverse crammed through like an explosive enema plug. They *HAVE* to have this. They don’t GIVE A SHIT.

  137. 137.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The unspeakable Nazi filth of the alt-right are already whining about “vote fraud!”.

    Well, they’re right. It’s obvious there was vote fraud.

    There just wasn’t enough to get Moore elected.

  139. 139.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @clay: Costa, you’re not a horrible reporter, but wake the fuck up. The time for timid suggestions is over.

    I think he’s a good reporter, but he came to the WaPo from the National Review. I get a strong Nice Catholic Boy vibe off him

    @Corner Stone: I’m wondering if Ryan will try to cram through the Sente version now

  140. 140.

    Face

    @jl: The AL SoS van do whatever he wants. Do you really think the DoJ would actually investigate the sudden discovery of 20,001 military votes, every one of them for Moore?

    A recount is where the shenanigans starts, Im afraid.

  142. 142.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah. I saw a really nasty tweet takedown of Bannon. Can’t remember it. Decided not to post it here because that’s not how I roll. But Trump will see it or something like it.

    It seemed to me that if Alabamians don’t like outsiders telling them how to vote, Bannon’s campaigning for Moore wasn’t the smartest idea. Plus now he gets blamed. Love it.

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    @catclub: Moore’s asking for a recount. I presume somebody with deep pockets will pay for it. I don’t know how they do it if only digital records exist and some have been destroyed, as it was ruled they could do.

    But it’s entirely possible the bastards find some way to just make up a Moore win.

  147. 147.

    Adam L Silverman

    @catclub: Actually I mistyped. It is .51% margin of victory or better and no automatic recount. Right now Jones is leading by 21,000 votes with 99% of precincts reporting. So unless there’s 21,001 absentee ballots that haven’t been counted, this is a done deal.

    From what is being reported, the attempt by Moore to overturn this with dirty tricks by the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office/Secretary of State isn’t going to happen.

  148. 148.

    Shalimar

    @Adam L Silverman: Merrill was the asshole saying as late as 2:30pm that turnout would be around 25%. It turns out to have been almost 40%, and more than 25% had already voted by the time he said that. I’m not sure what his goal was with that statement, he had to have better information already, but I still don’t trust him. Slime even by Alabama Secretary of State standards, which are not high.

  155. 155.

    TS

    The republicans are all saying Doug Jones has the opportunity to be bipartisan in the senate – hahahahaha – they know they’re on the way out – and they know WHO stopped any bipartisanship in the senate & it sure wasn’t the democrats

  158. 158.

    Corner Stone

    @Anne Laurie: That was not an attack on Steve. He knows what it was. Look at his reply. We can still banter about golf or anything else. Your trigger finger was a big miss here.

  160. 160.

    lamh36

    this afternoon twitter thread from Al Giordano on the GOTV efforts that were going on underneath the surface of the Trump driven media…tells the tale of what happened tonight in Alabama!!!

    @AlGiordano
    Following Following @AlGiordano
    More
    1.Just spoke with a source in the Mobile (AL) County NAACP. Here are some things that are happening today on the ground in Alabama that did not happen in the 2016 election. Thread:

    https://twitter.com/AlGiordano/status/940657094050615297

  164. 164.

    Mike J

    Rob Flaherty‏ @Rob_Flaherty 24 minutes ago

    The difference: 21,000 votes

    The write in: 22,000 votes

    Voters reached by @prioritiesUSA’s write in program: 345,000

  167. 167.

    NotMax

    Unless I’m gravely mistaken*, Jones will not have the credentials to present at the Senate in order to be sworn in until after the Alabama Secretary of State certifies the results and provides the appropriate documents.

    *Has happened once or twice. :)

  170. 170.

    Ken

    @Cheryl Rofer: And we already know where Shelby stands…

    This may be another instance of the GOP break. What remains of the old establishment knows they can easily get this seat back in 2020 with any halfway decent candidate. The lunatics want their way NOW.

  172. 172.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Anne Laurie: appreciate the support, but honestly that, even if he weren’t being facetious, was far less offensive than what was said to my face, in person, by a union today, a union that wants me to give their members a bunch of money.

    And as I told the union, “I have a wife and two daughters—there’s nothing you can say to me that’s worse than what they have said!”

  173. 173.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Shalimar: I’m not suggesting he’s a stand up person. He’s made it clear his job is to make it as hard as possible for people of color/Democratic voters to vote in Alabama. He’s also a Putinphile.

  174. 174.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36: Just listened to the victory speech. Seemed like once he thanked family and staff, etc, the first thing he did was thank the african american community. I was very glad to see that.

  175. 175.

    Shalimar

    @Cheryl Rofer: That statement from the AL GOP chair makes it sound like Jones needs to vote with Republicans to shore up his support for 2018. He doesn’t actually face voters again until 2020, so has a little more leeway than that implies. In addition to the voters who put Jones in office overwhelmingly hating Trump and Republicans and not wanting compromise.

  177. 177.

    clay

    I think we have to give it up for Tom Perez. He said he would organize and focus on down-ticket races and state-party-building, and it’s paid off enormously thus far.

  183. 183.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: Correct. The Alabama SoS has indicated they expect to be able to certify between 27 and 29 DEC. He’s required to certify no later than 3 JAN 2018. Given that Congress will go on Christmas vacation around 23 DEC or so and be out till about 3 JAN 2018, Jones won’t be seated until sometime in the first week in January.

  185. 185.

    Corner Stone

    @Steve in the ATL: Sir, mayhap I engage in fruitful discussion with thy self? Thou and thy family should partake in the most glorious of fairpole and merriwether celebrations! I’ve dedicated my finest rooster for sacrifice unto thy Lord. Best to you, and Glory to thine above!

  187. 187.

    NotMax

    Tomorrow’s Sarah Sanders tonight:

    “The President’s obvious joshing in those tweets has been once again misinterpreted by the malicious media; now that it is wintertime he was urging Americans to vote with their wallets and wear more corduroy.”

  189. 189.

    Yarrow

    @Kay:

    In other good news, Texans hate Ted Cruz.

    Beto O’Rourke’s campaign was really quick out with an email titled “Next up, Texas.” Text:

    Friends,
    Doug Jones made history tonight. His election to the U.S. Senate is due to grassroots supporters like you, in Alabama and across the country — supporters who put principle, values and the very future of our country ahead of party.
    Tonight, the eyes of the nation were on Alabama.
    Tomorrow, Texas and 2018.
    Donald Trump won Alabama by 28 points in 2016. He won Texas by 9. If you weren’t sure if our campaign to take on Ted Cruz was possible, you have to know it is now.
    Next stop, Texas 2018.
    Thanks,
    Team Beto

    I took out the fundraising sentence. Glad to see them responding quickly to Jones’ win.

  192. 192.

    mike in dc

    We need to win big next year. Then, every day after January 3rd, 2019 should be slow torture for 45. Investigations, subpoenas, forced vetos, stonewalling appointments, etc. Ultimately leading to impeachment, or, in the alternative, a landslide defeat in 2020.

  195. 195.

    Ian G.

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Oh please, let Morning Joe stick it to Trump and Bannon big time. Let the proud Alabama alum let loose with full broadsides. The shitgibbon meltdown will be epic.

  198. 198.

    Regine Touchon

    Hey you juicers we volunteers here in Alabama never gave up. Not till the last phone banking call was made tonight . We had an army of workers in Lee County, home of Auburn University, and we hit it out of the park. Onward to 2018. A lot of Representatives have a bulls eye on their back. The Resistance is real!!!

  199. 199.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: Kormacki on MSNBC has reported there is only about 1,500 to 2,000 absentee ballots out. Jones has a 21,000 vote lead. Even if all the absentee ballots are for Moore, there’s no way he can win and no way he can get to the automatic, and therefore free, recount. He’s done. Despite the ongoing temper tantrum we’re going to see.

  201. 201.

    lamh36

    @JamilSmith
    15s15 seconds ago
    More
    Voting in America, for black folks and other marginalized communities, is often an act of self-preservation. It’s worth noting how patriotic it is that they keep working to improve a nation that not only subjugates them on a daily basis, but cries foul whenever progress is made.

  207. 207.

    Uncle Cosmo

    How long would a recount take? Long enough to make it worthwhile for some wingnut bazillionaire to spring for one to keep Jones from being certified while the looting of the Treasury continues?

  208. 208.

    NotMax

    @Davebo

    Doubtful that the number is statistically significant yet can’t help but wonder how many Puerto Ricans may have relocated to Alabama.

  209. 209.

    tobie

    @Regine Touchon: Thanks so much for the fighting spirit through to the end of this race. Hats off to you and your friends. Yes, we’re all jacked up for the 2018 races and all in! So much people power on display tonight. Great to see.

  210. 210.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Corner Stone: thou art too kind!

    Now that Alabama has done the right thing for the first time in decades, it’s up to you and your neighbors to take out Ted Fucking Cruz

  215. 215.

    WaterGirl

    @Shalimar:

    That statement from the AL GOP chair makes it sound like Jones needs to vote with Republicans to shore up his support for 2018.

    I hope Doug Jones doesn’t fall for that. The Republican party would never support a democrat for senate, no matter what Doug Jones did.

    edited

  216. 216.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Jones won’t be seated until sometime in the first week in January.

    Does Moore have any avenues to do to Jones what Coleman did to Franken in 2008? i.e. keep him out of the Senate for 9 months?

  220. 220.

    scott (the other one)

    If Murkowski, Collins and Gardner (his phenomenally asinine statement tonight nowithstanding) have any political savvy—and I suspect they do—they’ve got to see tonight results, combined with last month’s in Virginia, and realize their best hopes of reelection lie in running the hell away from Trump as unambiguously as possible.

    Alabama just elected a Democrat to the Senate. You think rolling the dice and seeing if the people Maine or Alaska, never mind Colorado, are going to be more conservative than Alabama?

  221. 221.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Villago Delenda Est: I’m aware. Charles Johnson was tweeting about Rage Furby’s text message fight with Roger Stone. The screen cap of the texts was from Rage Furby. He’d posted it on his website. Click on Charles Johnson’s tweet to see the whole sad pissing match between Rage Furby and Stone.

  222. 222.

    NotMax

    These are unofficial results (Alabama SoS has not posted official results yet), but some might be curious about who got the write-ins (slightly edited for clarity, no breakdown by name available yet).

    [Total] 22,859 1.70% Write-In

    Candidate Write-in Lee Busby

    Candidate Write-in; (Independent) Eulas Devlin Kirtdoll, Sr.

    Candidate Write-in; (Independent) Arlester “Mack” McBride

    Candidate Write-in; (Independent) Chanda Mills Crutcher

    Candidate Write-in; (Republican) Mac Watson

  223. 223.

    TS

    Throwing up – on tweety & friend want Jones to vote with republicans – he is probably not going to win in 2020 – voting for trump will just make EVERYONE vote against him. They just keep saying he has to vote with republicans – if he did that why did people come out and vote for the democrat???

    Lovely lass – not idea who she is – calling them out.

  232. 232.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: Almost none. Almost all of them have come to Florida. Which is going to radically reshape the politics here next year. They are pissed at the President and the GOP over how the island has been treated and how that has forced them into exile in the continental US.

  236. 236.

    Cacti

    @TS:

    Throwing up – on tweety & friend want Jones to vote with republicans – he is probably not going to win in 2020 – voting for trump will just make EVERYONE vote against him. They just keep saying he has to vote with republicans – if he did that why did people come out and vote for the democrat???

    The librul media definition of “bipartisan”:

    Both Republicans and Democrats voting for what Republicans want.

  238. 238.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Viva BrisVegas: Doubtful. The most he can do is pay for a recount. But with a 21,000 vote margin and only 1,500 to 2,000 absentee ballots outstanding, he’s not going to get very far with a recount. Also, given that the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the lower court order to preserve all ballots/records of votes, I’m not sure what there actually is to recount. It may be more of a recertification based on each machine by precinct depending on what type of voting machines they’re using. And since by Alabama law the results have to be certified by 3 January 2018, he can’t really hold things up for very long.

  239. 239.

    Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ

    @lamh36: they can’t make inroads because those white women have their entire worldview resting upon their position in regards to men like Roy Moore. So long as they are weak in relation to men like Roy Moore they cannot see past that. Free them in other ways so they are not dependent upon men like “Roy Moore” and they will start to vote independently. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs through the eyes of Stockholm syndrome.

  241. 241.

    WaterGirl

    @Adam L Silverman: Adam, I have a friend who is from Puerto Rico, here while her husband gets his PhD, and their families are (obviously) still in Puerto Rico, many without power, etc. She was telling me about the villages up in the mountains where no one can get in or out – no food, no anything – and they have rigged a pulley system with a grocery cart to get things in and out. It made me wonder whether people here would be interested in a guest post from her, if she was willing.

    Would you post something like that if she was interested in doing it?

  243. 243.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cacti: The blonde woman on in the segment with Michael Steele and Joy Ann Reid? If so she’s a local reporter in Alabama.

  246. 246.

    Adam L Silverman

    @WaterGirl: Sure, if you send it across to me I’ll put it up. Also, if you email me the places she’s talking about with points of contacts in them, including phone #s if possible, I’ll push that directly to the Chief of Staff for the US Army Task Force on site. He’s my former student and a good friend. He’ll make sure they get a resupply ASAP.

  247. 247.

    Matt McIrvin

    @TS: This happens every single time: whenever a Democrat wins anything, there are people claiming it was some kind of unfair fluke and saying Republicans deserve some kind of concession or voluntary representation from them. Appoint some Republicans, vote with Republicans, whatever. When it’s the other way around, nobody even bothers suggesting that.

  248. 248.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    And – somehow managed to leave one name out of the copy and paste. Corrected version (assumption is the order is by highest number of write-ins to lowest):

    [Total] 22,859 1.70% Write-In

    Write-in; (Libertarian) Ronald Hubert “Ron” Bishop, Jr.

    Candidate Write-in Lee Busby

    Candidate Write-in; (Independent) Eulas Devlin Kirtdoll, Sr.

    Candidate Write-in; (Independent) Arlester “Mack” McBride

    Candidate Write-in; (Independent) Chanda Mills Crutcher

    Candidate Write-in; (Republican) Mac Watson

  268. 268.

    lamh36

    Still catching up on things, but after watching a bit of Tweety, best thing to come out of tonight’s win in Alabama, for Dems is for GOP strategist like the last guy on Hardball to advice their clients that the win wasn’t about energized African American vote thanks to Dem GOTV, and instead try to say it was ONLY cause Roy Moore was cray

    I think I saw somewhere that the African American portion of Doug Jones win was like 1/2 of his total victory! sure, white turnout was down and 1.7%voted write in, but White voters in Alabama STILL overwhelmingly voted for Roy Moore….if Moore wasn’t the candidate, i suspect tonight would not have been close, but at the very least it should give Dems a heads up about what a good GOTV efforts geared specifically to their most loyal base can do

  269. 269.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam L Silverman:

    And since by Alabama law the results have to be certified by 3 January 2018, he can’t really hold things up for very long.

    I understand why people like Julia Ioffe and Masha Gessen get really freaked out by current events, but I also think they don’t understand how much of this stuff is actually legally required. Trump and the Republicans have been breaking a lot of norms and customs, but so fat they haven’t run up against any actual laws with their shenanigans.

    I know they get freaked out about the possibility of Trump canceling elections and so forth but, IIRC, the current Congress ends on January 19, 2019, and there is no provision in US law for it to be extended. Any attempt to cancel elections would run into 50 different states’ election laws, plus federal election laws. How would it even work?

  271. 271.

    TS

    @Matt McIrvin:

    When it’s the other way around, nobody even bothers suggesting that.

    Republicans elected in NY, NJ & California always seem to vote with Republicans – the rules are always different for the GOP

  272. 272.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: Was that the guy on with Corrine Jean Pierre? He’s an old GOP/movement conservative hack. But Tweety likes him so he brings him on.

  274. 274.

    tobie

    @Cacti: I turn off the TV whenever Tweety is on. I figure this lowers his ratings, which is supposed to be the be-all and end-all when it comes to programming decisions at major networks. He’s insufferable, and his take on the Kennedy’s is just so stupid. Listening to him, you’d think Bobby Kennedy was a regular blue collar guy, who worked nightshifts and on weekends went to his corner bar, not a patrician fellow with a classical education who enjoyed citing Aeschylus.

  278. 278.

    Kent

    I’ve been clicking through some of the county by country results on the NYT web site. Took a look at Tuscaloosa County because I visted there a couple years ago on a college visit with my daughter (she ended up going to Arkansas). The place struck me as extremely white and conservative at the time. The blonde student campus tour guides wore skirts and heels in the 100 degree August heat and talked about when the Yankees burned this or that campus building in 1864. In 2016 Tuscaloosa County went for Trump over Clinton by 70% to 29%.

    Last night Tuscaloosa voted for Jones over Moore 57% to 40%.

    That is one hell of a swing. If we can keep some of those young southern college student types in the D column there is hope.

  281. 281.

    NotMax

    @Mike in NC

    It isn’t his weight that makes him a loathesome person, it’s himself that makes him a loathesome person.

    /avoirdupois-enhanced person

  282. 282.

    AxelFoley

    @oldgold:

    USA Today usually has very tepid editorials. But, in tomorrow’s paper they let Trump have it big time.

    “A president who’d all but call a senator a whore is unfit to clean toilets in Obama’s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush’s shoes.”

    THE EDITORIAL BOARD | USA TODAY

    Fuck that editorial. They of course had to badmouth Obama as they ripped into Trump.

    Fuck ’em, as a certain elder statesman here likes to say.

  284. 284.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: I think they are right to be concerned. The President is interested in destroying every other power center. Not just those that can challenge him. And McConnell, despite his ability to stand in front of a camera and say with a straight face that he’s all about preserving the historic uniqueness, norms, and traditions of the Senate while actually shredding them in pursuit of power, will be willing to go along with a lot if it gets him what he wants. Ryan is just in over his head. Imagine Eddie Haskell with a developmental disability.

    But that said, Gessen and Ioffe grew up in a very different society and culture. Americans, at the best of times, aren’t joiners. We don’t go along to get along. We don’t like being told what to do. Sure, about a third of Americans are authoritarians/accepting of/desiring authoritarianism, but even they don’t like to be told what to do. There’s a lot of socio-political, socio-cultural, socio-religious, and socio-economic acculturation in the US that makes it hard for the President or his supporters to recreate here what Putin has recreated in Russia. Russia had a brief, partial, stalled, and ultimately failed experience with liberal democracy and free market economics. Prior to that Soviet Russia was Communist totalitarian. Prior to that it was a very conservative, absolute monarchy totalitarian state and society. There’s nothing inherent in Russians as people that prevents them from understanding or accepting liberal democracy and some form of market economics. But they are differentially socially organized into an acculturation that is accepting of totalitarianism. It takes time to overcome that type of socio-cultural learning.

  289. 289.

    frosty

    @ArchTeryx:

    You know, I figured that by this time, Obamacare would be dead and so would I.

    Glad to see you here. And to channel AnotherScott, Keep fighting!

  291. 291.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: Part of Putin’s rise was he promised to protect both Yeltsin’s family once he died, but also to make sure the money that had been offshored by/on behalf of Yeltsin and his family were safe so that the Yeltsins would never have to want for anything ever again.

  292. 292.

    Chet Murthy

    @AxelFoley:

    This isn’t about the policy differences we have with all presidents or our disappointment in some of their decisions. Obama and Bush both failed in many ways. They broke promises and told untruths, but the basic decency of each man was never in doubt.

    Oh, c’mon. That’s pretty mild criticism, and very evenhanded.

  299. 299.

    Corner Stone

    @Hovercraft: Ha! Fell for it, I see! Seriously, people have been asking about you. I think the pie turns as it must.
    But those other people. they are a little strange, if you ask me.

  301. 301.

    1000 flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @Davebo: Damn Martians! Now we know why Our President and Dear Leaser is so set on that mission to Mars! We must return those criminals to their own planet! ICE in spaaaaace!

  302. 302.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: Jon Braebender. He and Tweety are buddies, so he gets booked even though he’s got nothing to really contribute.

  303. 303.

    JudyinSD

    @Adam L Silverman: I read earlier this evening that in regards to Moore paying for a recount, that provision only applies to State and Local elections, not Federal contests, therefore it will not be an option should the margin remain at 1.5%.

  304. 304.

    Radio One

    this feels better than that one time in 2008, when we won Dennis Hastert and Roger Wicker’s congressional seats in special elections.

  305. 305.

    frosty

    @Regine Touchon: Let me add my thanks to your work. I’ve knocked on hundreds of doors and it’s awful work for an introvert. Thanks for getting out there and helping to swing the election. This is a Big Biden Deal.

  306. 306.

    cain

    @Raoul:

    @Adam L Silverman: Senator Gardner has a firm handle on the direction of the wind in Colorado. It isn’t blowing towards Trump here.

    We got our sights on that guy. I attended a local democratic holiday party and met a number of people running for state wide elections. The interest is high. Colorado is going to be turning blue real soon now.

  314. 314.

    Canadian Shield

    As a Canadian I am an outsider but I have interest in your politics as, to paraphrase the current Canadian Prime Ministers late father, we are a mouse sharing the bed with an Elephant.

    The Abortion thing is a huge wedge issue that enables the red states to stay with team R. Why is there no dialog on “they have the Presidency, the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and they are not trying to do anything about abortion. You are being played. Team D wants to minimize abortions by making available parental planning services, education, contraception availability, etc. Team R talks about banning abortion to get your vote and then does nothing but kill the aformentioned programs that reduce abortions, spending all their time and energy on tax cuts to the wealthiest and corporations.” I think there should be a way to tackle this wedge issue, if it worked the Repubs would be down to the minors for a few seasons to rebuild. What am I missing?

  315. 315.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    @Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ: @Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ: Hey, I’ve had some thoughts on Mallow’s hierarchy of needs along with Graham’s hierarchy of argument. I’d like some people to look at it an make sure I’m not spiraling into some personal spiral of insanity that ends up in 200 pages of densely written text that would require a computer to untangle. Talk to me at nwi,th.ers,[email protected],co.m. Remove the commas and dots. I’d like to keep my spam to a minimum.

  316. 316.

    AxelFoley

    @Chet Murthy:

    Oh, c’mon. That’s pretty mild criticism, and very evenhanded

    Nope. I heard someone reading quotes from it on SiriusXM on the way to work (I forget if it was CNN or MSNBC), but the editorial also said that Obama was a terrible President. That’s all I need to hear to dismiss it.

  318. 318.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    @Canadian Shield: Here is a massively simplified answer, multiple libraries in the USA have entire wings on this problem. Of course, this is my personal, non-objective overview.

    The near term problem is that, to the intelligent people of our country, with a few small exceptions, ALL the major media conglomerates (5 and dropping rapidly) are focused on what will provide profit for the next quarter rather than what will make the country better.

    The longer term problem, is that there is a simmering disagreement on the best path forward in this country, dealing with slavery, that starts with the founding of the USA.. It came to war (you might have heard of the Civil War in America), and although one side won, the other side never really accepted defeat. This argument, and the arguments that spin off of it, are a massive part of the political evolution of the United states.

    One side believes that Tradition and Hierarchy will make the country prosper, they are commonly labelled as Conservatives (Conservative and progressive are better labels these days due to the shift in the 30s-90s). The other side believes that consensus and Inclusion will make the country prosper, they are commonly labelled as Progressives. There is a third side, commonly called the moderates, which over the past 20ish years has played both sides against the middle for personal gain, which, until recently, has had out sized power to their actual population.

    The Moderates, to maintain their power, made a false bargain with the conservatives. Give us votes, and we will bring forth your issues, because the Progressives threaten our power in ways you don’t care about. the Moderates did not really care about the conservative issues, but were threatened by progressive concepts. This false bargain for power is starting to fall apart in terrifying ways.

    Because of this, Abortion has been important [hierarchy] for about 20-30 years now. Contraception is next, once power is established. One of the main reasons that “The Handmaidens Tail” is so resonant in America is that for all too large a part of the country, the highlights are not a warning but a blueprint. I’d suggest googling up “Christian Dominionist”, “Prosperity Gospel” and “Quiverfull” if you feel a reason to not sleep at night.

    I’m sorry that your Southern neighbor seems politically insane, but we are a long way from sane right now, WAY worse that Britain.

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