Alabama’s Election Should Scare You

At first glance the Doug Jones’ victory in Alabama yesterday is a triumph for Democratic Party. For the first time in decades, a Democrat will hold an Alabama Senate Seat, and Jones will be one of two Democratic statewide officials in the Deep South. However, putting aside the obvious consideration of a reduced Republican majority, Alabama’s election was frightening, and it’s outcome, while the most favorable that could have been achieved, is alarming. The story last night should have been that Jones’ victory was not a forgone conclusion. The story should have been that a theocratic, homophobic alleged sexual predator who had to be removed from his post twice was a few thousand votes away from a seat in the Senate.

Roy Moore represents the worst aspects of the Republican Party. He’s homophobic, Islamophobic, fanatically anti-immigration, and wants to enforce his extreme version of Christian law on the country; he is almost comically far-right; he is the id of the Republican base. For years this id was suppressed, but it was released with Donald Trump. Before Donald Trump, Roy Moore wouldn’t have stood a chance in a Senate race. He would have been shunned by the party establishment, donors, and operatives. But now that Trumpism has been released, candidates like Roy Moore can not only win primaries, but come within a percent of winning a Senate seat. No longer is the the id of the party relegated to rural House Seats. The former subconscious now has a shot at being the brains of the Republican Party. Of course, none of this originated with Roy Moore, or even Donald Trump. It started with Birtherism and the Tea Party, two movements Roy Moore was heavily involved in. But the fact that Roy Moore came close to winning, and the fact that his loss is attributable not to his policies but the allegations of sexual abuse against him, show that the march of the far-right is far from over, even if it was briefly halted in Alabama.

However appalling Roy Moore’s policies are, the allegations of attempted sexual assault and abuse made against him cannot be ignored. The fact that a man accused of sexual assault came within a mile of winning an election would be shocking if it hadn’t happened last November. But it still remains relevant, and necessary, to say. Roy Moore was accused of attempting to grope and date teenagers; he was found to have signed their yearbooks and hung around high school football games; he had to banned from the mall. And yet, over 650,000 people voted for Roy Moore yesterday. 650,000 people were willing to put aside sexual assault allegations and vote for Roy Moore. To be clear, the same applies to Democrats. It is better to vote for a Republican than a Democratic sexual predator. This used to be commonly accepted; it is no longer.

The fact that Roy Moore had a shred of a chance of winning is truly frightening. Doug Jones should have won by double digits, instead he barely won by 1%. Something truly frightening has occurred within the Republican Party. The id has been released, and it cannot be contained. 2018 may be a good year for the Democrats, but until the Republican Party has managed to control its base, or died trying, the threat of the far-right will stay alive. Alabama’s election only confirm this truth.