Thank you, Alabama!
You rebuffed not only Roy Moore, you rejected Trump and Bannon.
You rejected racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and all the other appeals to hatred and disunity.
Doug Jones brought together whites, African Americans, Latinos in a spirit of dignity and respect.
I have been hearing from family members tonight who say their faith and hope for the future is renewed.
Thank you, Alabama, and Thank you, Doug Jones, for renewing our hope.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Can we get a re-vote on Secretary of Education? (Or would replacement be worse?)
LikeLike
Amazing
Sent from my iPhone
>
LikeLike
As happy as I am about this, I have to admit I didn’t expect it. I owe the voters of AL an apology!
LikeLike
I am surprised but totally relieved. I echo you, Diane. Thank you, Alabama!
LikeLike
Now, thank goodness, I won’t be receiving six-eight-ten emails a day asking for money for Doug Jones.
LikeLike
LOL! Well, there is that.
LikeLike
I will be relieved when the final vote count is in certified and can not be put into a recount paid for by deep pockets.
LikeLike
I know what you mean, Laura, because I don’t trust them.
But as far as I can tell, there are specific restrictions in Alabama on when recounts are triggered and when they cannot be done.
LikeLike
Moore can pay for a recount, but the margin is not small enough for an automatic recount. So said the Alabama Secretary of State to CNN last night. He also said the recount won’t change many votes.
LikeLike
I could see the Kochs paying for a recount on Moore’s behalf, though.
LikeLike
The Secretary of State said that seven years ago, the governor’s race came down to less than 200 votes. The recount changed only 3 or 4 votes.
The military votes have not been counted but apparently there are not enough to change the result
LikeLike
Yeh, I saw that the Secretary of State didn’t think it would make any difference.
But Roy Moore just may want to be a butt head about the whole thing.
LikeLike
Having lived in AL for 21 years, I have to say that I’ve been very upset about this election. However, my faith in AL has been restored. I actually cried tears of joy when I heard Doug Jones won.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, that this win suggests that many, many voters will be coming to the game in 2018; mid term elections have a notoriously low turnout.
LikeLike
The Trump “wave” of reaction against meanness and stupidity will keep building until it blows up these pandering Neanderthals out of office.
LikeLike
Midterm elections usually have a low turnout. Special elections have an even lower turnout.
But guess what? The voters turned out in Virginia, and the voters turned out in Alabama.
And in 2018, we will turn out the crooks and frauds who are destroying our government and our democracy.
They must be trembling in DC, as they rush to pass a fraudulent tax plan for the benefit of the Koch brothers and the Trump family and other wealthy donors to GOP campaigns.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Democrats have proven that they can beat a racist , homophobic , pedophile backed by an unstable demonic fascist. That is great . If they now think that is a winning formula, I worry the racist they face in the future will be cloaked in different garb. Trump is an existential threat to the American democracy . But the Republicans are by and large and have been an existential threat to the working and middle class . A threat whose racism is cloaked in economic policy. And whose racism is expressed in dog whistles not overt statements . Trump is just the end product of many years of Republican lunacy dating back to at least Reagan and Nixon’s Southern strategy .The starting point has shifted further right with each cycle . If the Democrats run as Republican light IMHO it will not be a winning formula. They may remove Trump from power in 2020, sweep the House and the Senate . But without real change it will be short lived. .
LikeLike
Even without the sexual harassment “allegations” Moore was not worthy of the title of Senator. When questioned about the good old days he thought we were better off pre Civil War when people got along and there was a sense of community (despite the slavery issue). He also thought we should limit our amendments to the first ten, where only white men were allowed to vote not minorities and women.
Those two comments alone should be enough to defeat a candidate. Although I’m sure his one Jewish lawyer “friend” considered voting aye before casting his nay.
Alabama, I’ve revised my opinion about your state. 👍
LikeLike
This song now has some new meaning…
LikeLike
As a son of the South, I have always resented this song. (Notwithstanding, that I am a big fan of Neil Young, going back to his performances with the Buffalo Springfield).
Not all Southerners are racists. (I was in an interracial marriage). We are not all three-toed inbreeds from “Deliverance”. We do not all live in trailers, and have broken washing machines on our front stoop.
This song is an out-and-out ethnic slur. (BTW- Neil Young is a Canadian)
LikeLike
I was thrilled to get up and see the headlines! Alabama came through in the right direction. [Glad I don’t have to sweat about it anymore.] Hope this bodes well for our future. At least it gives some hope.
LikeLike
This is the first breath of fresh air in over a year. Have you read Hillary Clinton’s book? If she can be hopeful and survive, we can too.
LikeLike
I don’t have much use for centrist democrats, especially those who support privatization of education in whatever form….so I am not all that enthused about Jones………..but………..he is good enough to have put a horribly dangerous thought into the overall republican psyche……….not all democrats are terrible animals, unfit to be allowed to hold any office, anywhere.
Without that segment of the voters, Moore falls short of 40%.
The GOP has a huge challenge in demonizing Jones to the extent necessary to remain a strong national party.
My money is on their ability to do so.
LikeLike
Jones offers not much that is different from the Obama-Gates-Duncan stuff…..cover of vagueness for letting aggressive corporate forces. “We must invest sufficient resources to ensure that our educational system provides the skills, knowledge and tools necessary for our children to succeed in a 21st century economy. Further, we must focus on lifelong training and education that meets the needs of employees and employers as the economy continues to grow and change. Providing a quality education to all children is the key to a long-term thriving economy.”
We reached out to Jones’ campaign to get a better sense of his approach to K-12 policy, but didn’t hear back—we’ll update this post if we do. (education week–not always the greatest source).
McCaskill is about the same. Education has been a factor—even in Alabama—-keep the pressure on the media to recognize public education as a subject worthy of discussion—vagueness from democrats is unhealthy on education issues.
LikeLike
Moore, who was once again serving as the Alabama Supreme Court’s chief justice, likened the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that legalized same-sex marriage to the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that also legalized separate-but-equal facilities by race. (Plessy stood until the court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954.) Moore argued that both were illegitimate mandates from the U.S. Supreme Court and could be subsequently ignored. ——-I am not sure what education week meant, but Moore is gone, thank goodness. Jones had important support from people who have respect for education…..keep reminding him.
LikeLike
Jones has not yet been bought by the privatizers. Maybe they will come calling now.
LikeLike
Yesterday, Vice News devoted their news show to the Alabama election Like everything they do, they got up close and personal with people on both sides. Moore’s supporters were mostly elderly right wing Christians, and the African American community was strongly backing Jones. No surprise. The most interesting interview was one of Moore’s accusers, a former accountant. One of the women in their office had get documents signed by Moore, and the women drew straws each month to see who had to face the serial groper. She said if Moore wins, Alabamans can no longer claim they are better than Mississippi. Fortunately, Alabama is still ahead.
LikeLike
As encouraging as this is, I think we shouldn’t let ourselves get overconfident about 2018; there’s still a lot of work to do. It would also be prudent to take a cue from Danica Roem: rather than gloat, demonstrate how to win gracefully.
LikeLike