A Series of Unfortunate Events

It pains me to say that liberals have had their Scott Brown moment now that Democrat Doug Jones has narrowly defeated his Republican opponent Roy Moore in the Special Senate Election in reliably Republican Alabama to finish the remainder of Jeff Sessions’ term; making Jones the first Democratic Senator to represent Alabama in more than two decades.  Ironically, the last Democrat to win a statewide Federal election in Alabama still sits in the Senate today.  Richard Shelby, Alabama’s Senior Senator who refused to vote for Moore in the special election, won re-election to a second term in the Senate in 1992, before switching parties after the 1994 “Republican Revolution.”  High turnout in the urban areas of the state propelled Jones to victory.  It appears as if many Republicans decided to stay home, vote for Jones or support a write-in candidate.  That decision did not come without consequences.  As Bill Mitchell put it, “You stay home, the bad guys win.”   

 

In 2010, Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election to fill the vacant Senate seat held by liberal icon Ted Kennedy in reliably Democratic Massachusetts. Unfortunately, Doug Jones is way more of a liberal than Scott Brown was a conservative.  Brown ultimately lost his bid for a full term to ultra-liberal Elizabeth Warren in 2012.  Jones’ victory reduces the Republican’s Senate majority from 52 to 51; which could present a problem for the Trump agenda since the Senate has had a hard time passing major legislation with the already razor-thin margin of 52 votes.  Let’s take a look at the series of unfortunate events that led to the election of pro-abortion Democrat Doug Jones to the United States Senate.

 

Jeff Sessions’ appointment as Attorney General initially seemed like a good idea.  Sessions became the first member of the United States Senate to endorse President Trump.  Both agreed on the importance of cracking down on illegal immigration.  But then Sessions made a huge mistake by recusing himself from all things having to do with Russia’s involvement in the 2016 Presidential Election.  I’ll have a little more on that later.

 

Alabama’s Republican Governor Robert Bentley appointed the State’s Attorney General Luther Strange to fill Sessions’ vacant Senate seat after his confirmation as Attorney General.  Bentley announced that a special election would be held concurrently with the 2018 General Election in a effort to save money.  At the time of the appointment, Bentley faced impeachment for violating ethics and campaign finance laws by using state resources to conceal an extramarital affair.  Many believe that Strange had slow-walked the investigation into Bentley so that the embattled Governor would appoint him to the Senate.  This decision did not reflect well on Strange at a time when many Americans want to #DraintheSwamp.       

 

Bentley resigned the governorship on April 10, 2017.  His successor, Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey decided to move up the special election to December 12, 2017; with primaries taking place on August 15 and a runoff, if necessary, taking place on September 26.  As the date of the Republican Primary grew closer, two other major candidates entered the race.  Strange quickly became the establishment’s choice, with unpopular Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell going all in on his behalf.  Roy Moore, the State’s Former Supreme Court Justice, and Rep. Mo Brooks also entered the race as more anti-establishment figures.  The Republicans’ failure to repeal and replace Obamacare less than three weeks before the August 15 primary certainly worked in the anti-establishment candidates’ favor. 

 

 

In May 2017, President Trump decided to fire FBI director James Comey, who both parties had become disgusted with.  During an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, President Trump cited the Russia investigation as one of the reasons for dismissing Comey. After his firing, Comey got one of his friends to leak a conversation he had with the President where he allegedly told the Former FBI Director “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go”; referring to the investigation into his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.  Since Sessions had recused himself, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided to appoint Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, a close friend of Comey, as a special counsel to look into Russia.  The special counsel investigation has served as a major distraction, much to the delight of the media and the left, as the President works to Make America Great Again.      



When August 15 came around, Roy Moore and Luther Strange finished in first and second place, respectively.  As no candidate cleared the 50 percent hurdle, a runoff would have to take place.  President Trump endorsed Strange while his former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon endorsed Moore.  Moore won the September 26 runoff and the President promptly endorsed him.

 

In early October, the career of Hollywood Producer Harvey Weinstein came to an end after The New York Times published a story describing the Tinseltown Titan’s horrendous treatment of women over the years.  Weinstein faced a mountain of damning evidence against him, especially a conversation he had with model Ambra Gutierrez.  The #Metoo movement that result from the Weinstein expose initially seemed like a good thing but it has since led some people, especially feminists, to adopt a Salem Witch Trials-era mentality, where one sexual assault allegation can destroy a man’s life.     

 

Then, on November 9, one year to the day after President Trump surprised everyone by winning the 2016 Presidential election, The Washington Post published a story detailing a series of decades-old sexual assault allegations against Moore; most notably that he had inappropriate contact with a fourteen-year-old girl.  These allegations came as quite a surprise; since Moore had won several statewide campaigns in the past and this information had never come out before.  Many establishment Republicans who hated Moore to begin with immediately called on him to step aside.  The National Republican Senatorial Committee withdrew its support for Moore.  Even if Moore dropped out, his name would remain on the ballot, as the deadline for his removal from the ballot had already passed.  Governor Ivey could have decided to delay the special election but she ultimately decided not to.  Another option involved asking Strange to resign his Senate seat immediately, which would have then triggered a new special election.  Ultimately, none of these scenarios played out.     

 

For his part, Moore vehemently denied the allegations and gave an interview with Sean Hannity that many people found unconvincing.  In response to the allegations, the White House released a statement saying that “Like most Americans, the President believes that we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a person’s life.  However, the president also believes that if the allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.”  After mostly staying silent on the Alabama Senate race, the President gave Roy Moore a formal, yet tepid endorsement last week and held a rally in Pensacola, Florida; less than an hour away from the Alabama border.  He never enthusiastically came out in favor of Moore, instead choosing to focus on how Jones’s election to the Senate could stall the Make America Great Again agenda.       

 

For now, Alabama has elected a Schumer/Pelosi puppet to replace conservative icon Jeff Sessions.  Strange will remain in the Senate until after Christmas vacation, which means that Republicans may still have a shot at passing tax reform; although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who still holds quite a bit of power thanks to filibuster rules, has said that he hopes that Republicans will postpone the vote on tax reform until after Jones takes his seat.  Jones will have to face re-election in deep red Alabama in 2020.  Mo Brooks, the favored candidate of Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity should start his campaign to unseat him as soon as his unexpected battle with prostate cancer comes to an end.