Alabama rebukes Trump
The Democrat’s Jones wins election to the Senate in one of the most conservative states in the US in backlash against a pedophile candidate
Alabama, at the very heart of the US conservative South chose on Wednesday morning to elect a Democrat senator for the first time in 25 years. Doug Jones caused a sensation when he was proclaimed winner in a tense election which has left President Donald Trump and the Republicans in a delicate position after a resounding backlash.
In a typical year, elections in Alabama would provoke almost no interest but these are not normal times in the US. Donald Trump is in the White House, the extreme right has taken over the Republican Party, and Roy Moore, the Conservative candidate, a bible-bashing pastor and former judge was accused of sexually harassing teenagers.
The planets were aligned to create the perfect scenario for the Democrats. The high Afro-American voter turnout was the key: 96% supported Jones, a mobilisation not seen in the state since the first election of Barack Obama.
The second pillar of the victory was the female vote, the result of women nation-wide mobilising against chauvinism and the wave of sexual abuse allegations in every sector of US society. Amid that outrage, the Republicans proposed Moore as candidate and while some tried to reverse the nomination, Trump himself dug his heels in and backed the candidate.
The loss for the Republicans is a catastrophe in nationally and in Alabama which sees a 27% advantage whittle away to nothing. For Democrats, the result is a dream come true as they now are only one seat away from a tie in the Senate and the possibility that moderate Republicans may cross the floor on Trump’s more radical legislation.