Let’s not presume that Trump and his political ilk are beaten quite yet

I’m just as eager as anybody else who was appalled by the 2016 presidential victory of Donald J. Trump to believe that the electorate will come to its senses and dump Trump the first chance it gets.

Alabama provided nation with encouraging boost

But knowing what I do of the quirks of electoral politics makes me realize there are so many things that can occur that can throw the whole process out of whack. Consider that Trump “won” despite getting some 3 million votes less than his Democratic opponent.

WHILE I GOT some joy (shock was more the truthful reaction I felt) from the electoral victory last week of Douglas Jones, a federal prosecutor, over right-wing crackpot judge Roy Moore for a U.S. Senate seat from Alabama, I’m trying not to get too overly optimistic about there being any lasting political trend.

Particularly all the talk about how the African-American vote, particularly from black women, were the key to Jones’ victory.

I don’t doubt the black vote was significant in keeping Moore and his “10 Commandments” kick from becoming a part of the U.S. Senate. Exit polls showed black voters went in excess of 90 percent in support for Jones. Largely because they detested the idea of a Trump-type getting elected to yet another government post.

Some are already speculating that similar turnouts in future election cycles will further undermine the influence of those people who think Trump should be taken literally when he wears his silly red “Make America Great Again” cap.

WHAT I FEAR could happen is that those people will feel motivated to make sure they turn out in force in future election cycles.

As it is, we’ve already seen from 2016 that they can win even if a majority of people want somebody else. This is the “46 percent” president we’re talking about.

For all I know, those people who think there was a past version of this country that was an ideal that we’ve got away from, the lesson they may want to learn from the Alabama special election is that the black vote needs to be controlled.

Alabama election just another step, and not the whole journey, to a progressive future

Either overwhelmed by a white vote, or perhaps they fantasize of the days when things such as poll taxes and other racially-motivated tactics kept people who couldn’t be counted on to vote reliably from actually being able to cast ballots.

MY POINT IS that I expect a backlash from that element of society who seriously believed Roy Moore and his desire for teenage girls was somehow more in line with moral values than any possible Democratic Party candidate.

They’re going to go about thinking that Moore was deprived of what should have rightfully been his seat in the U.S. Senate. This was the man whom polls showed leading by about 22 percent until the tales of his involvement with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 became publicly known. He wound up losing by about 1.5 percent.

Just as they’re going to go about thinking that Trump’s victory was the salvation of our society, no matter how many stupid and nonsensical things he says or does while in public office.

I suspect the people who voted for Trump will go to their graves convinced they did right for all of us – even if we, the majority of society, are too ignorant to appreciate that fact.

Would Barry Goldwater have been offended by Moore?

SO WHEN I think of upcoming elections, I’m keeping in mind that it ultimately turns out to be an issue of turnout.

It becomes a matter of which campaign can get its followers most worked up to show up at the polling place on Election Day to cast their ballots.

As for the black vote in Alabama, it was good to see that segment of the electorate (as much as 77 percent turnout in heavily-black counties) decide to make a priority of voting.

But if we’re going to truly restore some sense of sanity to our society, it’s going to take a strong turnout from many more segments that make up our masses to overcome that outspoken minority that wishes we still lived in the 19^th Century.

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How some can rationalize anything to benefit their own political partisanship

We as a society are going to learn something about ourselves Tuesday, regardless of the outcome of the special election in Alabama to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy from that state.

MOORE: Will one-time 22 point leader prevail?

That, of course, is the one in which Republican Roy Moore (a one-time judge of right wing sensibilities) ought to be the favorite to win. Yet the disclosures of Moore’s past attractions to teenage girls extending well into his adult years have some wondering/hoping/praying that Democrat Doug Jones can prevail.

WHICH WOULD HELP Dems extend their efforts to undermine the amount of Congressional support President Donald J. Trump can count on for his goofy whims of political fantasy.

Trump is fully aware of that, which is the reason why he has publicly endorsed Moore – saying the need to keep a congressional seat Republican is more important than any repulsion that one may feel toward Moore’s attraction to a 14-year-old girl back when he was 32 (he’s now 70).

Just as “the whole world is watching” back in 1968 when protests in Chicago became violent due to police behavior, the world will be watching Alabama on this day to see whether the political party that usually likes to think of itself as overly moral (it’s not, but that’s a debate for a future day) will back someone who, if he’d been caught at the time, could have faced statutory rape charges.

Considering he was an assistant district attorney in his home county at the time, that would have made it particularly repulsive. Moore ought to have comprehended the law well enough to know better.

WE’RE GOING TO see how intense political partisanship is over any true sense of morals amongst the portion of our society that lives in Alabama.

As it stands, the Birmingham News reported Monday on two polls – both of which show Moore with solid leads. A Trafalgar Group report shows 51 percent of people planning to or leaning toward voting for Moore, compared to 46 percent siding with Jones.

JONES: Can former KKK prosecutor overcome?

Another poll by Gravis Marketing showed 49 percent for Moore compared to 45 percent for Jones.

We’ll know by the end of Tuesday how close these polls are to reality, particularly since the ideologues most likely to put partisanship ahead of morals are more willing to cite a new poll done for the Fox News Channel – one that shows Jones leading Moore 50 percent to 40 percent. Which strikes me as a large number of undecideds still; and whose intent most likely is to scare right-wingers into turning out to vote for Moore!

MY OWN EXPERIENCE in watching government and politics is that every now and then, public officials and voters surprise us by doing the right thing. Putting aside their own personal interest and doing what is for the good of the people.

But those moments truly are rare and come as a surprise. So I’m not about to predict how Moore will do in Tuesday’s vote down in the Cotton State. As much as I’d like to think Alabamans would like to put an end to the number of nasty stories about how intolerant their region of the nation is, I’m sure some will be more than willing to add to it by giving Moore an electoral victory.

Now some in Washington, D.C., have said they consider Moore to be unfit to serve in Congress. Perhaps that has some thinking that even if Moore wins, he’ll be rejected and this vote is about deciding which political party will get to pick his replacement.

Although I’d argue that continuing to back someone like Moore (who with all the right-wing nonsense he’s spewed throughout the years was unfit for office even before all the stories about young girls started cropping up) shows Republican leadership in Alabama is unfit to have any say on the issue.

OTHERS, I’M SURE, have their own odd rationalizations. Such as one I read in a public comments section of the Birmingham News.

Are Alabamans eager to add to list of absurdities built up during Civil Rights era?

One reader says everybody needs to vote for Moore because a vote for a Democrat is just too harmful to our societal morals. “Pedophilia will be legal if Democrats have their way! It will become a Civil Right and be protected by Title IX,” one wrote.

Now if one looks up the definition of pedophilia, one learns that it relates to people who have sexual attraction to children 12 and under. Which means that for them, Moore’s okay because his attraction was to girls 14 and up. He's in the clear, morally!

That’s quite a rationalization some are willing to make just to win an election with an unfit official. One whose stain will be smeared over the nation as a whole if he prevails on Tuesday.

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