OPINION: Roy Moore Loses Alabama Senate Race

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By Bruce Ditata

In a historic special election to choose a United States Senator, the people of Alabama responded decisively against reactionary politics as well as racism by voting, albeit narrowly, for Democratic candidate, Doug Jones over embattled Roy Moore.

In the latter stages of the contentious battle for US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vacant senate seat, nationwide surrogates poured into Alabama, offering helping hands and robo calls to both Moore and Jones, with high profile politicking (for Jones) by former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden ; sitting President Donald Trump and former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon (for Moore.)

Apparently, Jones benefitted more from the esteemed carpetbaggers as he eked out a close senatorial victory.

Much has been written and said about the monstrous accusations of pedophilia against the twice elected and twice deposed former Alabama judge Moore. Undoubtedly, much more will be written and said about what role the sexual predatory accusations played in this historic defeat.

Alabama, perhaps more than any other state in the Deep South, has been steeped in rabid anti-Democratic voting traditions dating back to the early 1960s. Conservative, evangelic bible-toting voting proclivities have kept a Democrat (before Doug Jones) out of the US Senate since Richard Shelby won a seat in 1992.

Shelby has since been re-elected numerous times as well as having switched his party affiliation to Republican. The senior senator from Alabama, also, engaged in politicking that favored Jones by his famous election eve statement that he “… couldn’t…wouldn’t … and didn’t” vote for twice ousted Alabama Judge Moore.

The electorate of Alabama had to weigh many factors in the Moore-Jones heavyweight bout, held in Alabama, but viewed and analyzed by an entire nation.

Ultimately, it is impossible to know for sure what finally, inexorably, turned the decision in Jones’ favor. Was it backlash against Trump and Bannonism, Moore’s bashing of blacks, gays and Muslims? Was it the credible and preponderance of pedophilia allegations against him?

Much ink and cable TV punditry will be spilled trying to find answers to these questions.

For my part, the best assessment might be one great boxing champion/civil rights activist,Muhammed Ali, offered ahead of a massively hyped title fight with Joe Frazier.

“Frazier will come out a-smokin’… I’ll come out a-poppin’ and a-pokin’… then I’ll put out that smokin’ and I’ll retire Joe Frazier.

Judge Roy Moore, certainly, came out smokin’ as he pummeled all of his liberal enemies, especially those in the Washington, DC beltway. But Doug Jones, who once prosecuted successfully those who murdered children during the civil rights era in Alabama, also, managed to come out a-poppin and a-pokin… winning the senate race and, presumably, retiring Roy Moore.

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