In the last week, we have seen people and elected officials begin calling for his resignation. The more "winning" that Trump has, the more people are going to distance themselves. We saw that with perfunctory gestures and lip service in this election from Republican officials of Alabama distancing themselves from Moore and by extension Trump.
Now that this R loss for Senate is national headlines, it could and should be the beginning of a wider remission of Republican influence and strength. People are more aware of their hypocrisy and double standards. We cannot sit idle and let elections happen and not press to get out the vote. Regardless of who you vote for, the more that vote means a more accurate and representative election of the will of the people.
It's not that simple because their base is linked with Trump's base. They are afraid that if they cut ties with Trump then they will lose the racists. They need the racists to win.
Trump managed to back not one, but two losing candidates in a single Senate election, both going in with higher odds of winning than their opponent (first Strange as the incumbent in the primary, then Moore in a heavily red state).
It's only a matter of time before most Republican politicians do the math and realize how toxic Trump is.
I'm happy as hell that Jones won but let's be clear here. He only won because they ran a pedophile, even then it was close. It's encouraging that this might mean that what was a close district before is now in reach but don't expect huge upsets like this next year
That's the key reason, but there's more to it. For instance, the overall backdrop of Trump presidency is big in motivating Democrat voter turn-out.
They won in Alabama of all places, which was unthinkable just a few months ago (Sessions won the same seat uncontested, and Trump carried the state by 28%.
That said, Democrats still don't have a clear strategy (e.g. a message like that of Sanders to win over the working class), and largely continue the same weaknesses that led to their defeat in 2016. Their success is mostly thanks to Trump being so spectacularly ineffective.
I'm not sure that's really the case. Moore's numbers did improve with Trump's endorsement at the end. Being associated with Trump isn't the massive boost other presidents might have been in certain cases, but at the end of the day people who identify with a party are going to go along with what the leaders of their party say.
Standing up to him would imply they want him to stop. Most of the people complicit in Trumps rise are likely as bad as Moore and his supporters, but smart enough not to out themselves.
They all need to go down -- every single complicit R that didn't vote against his appointments or batshit policies or condemn him for being a vile smarmy manchild. The R's fucked us with Ajit Pai and Neil Gorsuckit and the list goes on and on. Their civil impotency and disregard for public service are what allowed this shit stain run amok in the White House. Fuck em all!
Many Republicans up to this point have been more scared of the primaries than the general. Now, with Alabama's general being dangerous, Republicans may need to rethink their strategy. I'm sure many will write this off as being an anomaly, but it shows it's possible.
Damn right! It's honestly surreal to see Americans finally recognizing us as a voting bloc.
It's time to start putting fear in Trump's heart. Me and many other black women like me did it in Alabama yesterday with our vote. Let's carry this momentum forward into every state. Black women like me will turn out to vote wherever there are elections. I guarantee it! We can't afford not to.
They always have seen us as a bloc. It’s not the 20’s anymore so they can’t lynch us and beat us into not going to the polls. What we need to tackle now is gerrymandering.
This has the potential to be a change in history, when the south went blue, imagine that, the beating heart of the GOP all blue across the map. I’d probably get emotional seeing that.
Roy Moore lost about 10% of those who consider themselves Republicans. Black voters were almost entirely unified but probably were already and id be surprised if the side-switchers (who ultimately made the real difference) were all black.
The full break down paints a more complex picture.
It would be oddly satisfying if Trump’s impeachment was the first truly bi-partisan effort in years, and opened the door to more reasonable discussion and discourse.
Trump will have been right, he IS a unifier, in that both parties came together to eat him alive.
What they're afraid of is Primaries, and while it's true that Trump picked the loser in the Primary as well, Bannon is the one that actually knows how to rile up Trump's base in the Primaries.
I can't believe it's almost 1 year and Trump has basically nothing to show for his time in office. Any republican senator in his position would have done as much or more without tarnishing the dignity of the office.
The representatives that don't live in districts/states with a lot of black people can easily ignore this and still fear Trump. If there were no black voters in Alabama, Roy Moore would have won in a landslide according to exit polls.
I doubt the Republicans will stand up against Trump. They have shown to be spineless and will continue to be until absolutely forced by a Democratic majority.
They have to ram their agenda through while they can.
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u/highsnturd Dec 13 '17
They did more than that.
They proved that Trump's minions are not all-powerful, even in red states. His time of power is waning.
What representative in his or her right mind is going to belive Trump can hurt them any longer? They will all start standing up to him now.