Roy Moore’s crushing loss last night reminds me of an old comedy routine by Pat Paulsen on the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” when he ran several facetious races for President in the 1970s. He would appear on camera after the election looking obviously hung-over. (This was back in the days when getting drunk was considered funny, youngsters.) Then he said, “Many people have asked me what it was like to go to bed on election night thinking that I had been elected President of the United States only to wake up several days later.…”
Judge Roy Moore must have that same feeling today. (BTW, why is he called Judge Roy Moore? He was removed not once but twice from the Alabama Supreme Court by his own Republican Party.) He lost a race in a state that has not elected a Democrat statewide for over 25 years. He had the endorsement of the President of the United States, the off-and-on endorsement of the Republican National Committee, and he handily beat a primary opponent who also had the endorsement of the President and the RNC. Most of all, he had Corey Stewart and Cynthia Dunbar from Virginia in Alabama aggressively campaigning for him. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, what went wrong was that Roy Moore is behind the times. He didn’t keep up with what is happening in the Deep South:
-Donald Trump is about as popular as loud flatulence in church.
-The Republican Southern Strategy is deader than Jim Crow.
-Democrats have an equal claim on God, guns, and family values in the South.
-You can’t balance the Federal budget by raising taxes on the middle class and cutting entitlements spending.
-Most voters are a lot smarter than the average politician thinks that they are. That is why 40% of them are Independents and will not blindly vote for the Republican or Democrat without reason.
Yes, Roy Moore is behind the times and his political life is most probably over. The same thing can be said of the Republican Party of Virginia if they don’t wake up and join the 21st century.