A Democrat has won in Alabama. I’ll check the skies for signs of the apocalypse later but right now it's time for some hard truth: The GOP isn't going to repeat this mistake. Roy Moore got nominated, largely on a "piss off the SJW's" platform. Had they nominated basically anybody else, those write-ins from the less psychotic Republicans would not have happened. Pro-lifers would not have stayed home.
In other words, the far right Internet trolls whose only desire is to piss off “snowflakes” are going to have less of a say. The adults, such as they are, will take charge from the 4chan crowd that cost them Virginia and now Alabama. What do we do then?
1. Find people who motivate minority turnout
I’m not just talking about nominating random minorities for the sake of being the “first” something or other. Novelty only gets you so far. Even Republicans can do that. I’m talking about people with history in these communities. Doug Jones might not have been black, but he has a deep history in the black community. Even as half his state was probably sending him death threats, he went after those KKK bombers.
There are people who have done great things (though perhaps not quite as movie-worthy) to advance the cause of civil rights all throughout America. Get em on the ballot.
2. Address minority issues all year round every year
Though black people caused the upset in Alabama, a lot of minorities do feel like Dems only reach out during the last two months of elections. I’m not saying this is wholly true, but I can see why this perception exists. We’ll talk endlessly to working-class whites who will still vote GOP because they’re askeered of white genocide or some paranoid conspiracy bullshit but we won’t talk to black women until we need them on election day. Hint: Nominating a woman who once called black people super predators or a guy whose base dismisses talk of civil rights issues as “identity politics” might not be good plans.
3. All minorities matter
I know this is a digression from the topic of black turnout but African Americans aren’t the only group of people who turn out for Dems in a big way despite Dems failing them repeatedly. Beyond that, there isn’t much I can say that about black turnout black writers here won’t say better from a position of personal experience in the next 5 hours. So let’s talk disabled people for a couple paragraphs.
They were showing up big at the Trumpcare debate, putting their bodies on the line, and getting arrested. Yet, it was only recently that the Democratic Party added support for the Disability Integration Act to their platform (and only after activist arm twisting). The gist of the act is that most Medicaid/Medicare dollars will be spent on getting disabled people into homes in their communities rather than nursing homes (the majority of which are abusive shitholes). Right now, nursing homes get the most money and community programs get leftover scraps. You can see why this is the biggest priority of disabled people since the ADA. Still, most Dems have not co-sponsored it.
Speaking of the ADA, we have about a dozen House Dems supporting a Nazi-led effort to make enforcing said law nearly impossible to make life easier for a bunch of business owners who don’t want to be bothered for flouting a law that they have had 27 years to follow. Fix that. Primary these Nazi-sympathizers. Twist their arms to get them to remove their names, whatever you have to do, do it.
4. White people: Get over your damn selves
I get it. We own sliiiiiiightly less of America. Bummer. Get over it. Seriously, I have nothing else. The fact that white people as a whole would largely vote for a guy who was removed from the Alabama Supreme Court more than once for deciding that laws were a cafeteria affair is a bad sign on its own but then you factor in the child molestation. I am floored that I share skin color with these people.
I’m sorry some college kid was mean to you and said that the Civil War was caused by slavery. Maybe someone called you a Nazi on Twitter. If that’s the worst thing that happened to you today, you have had a better day than 90% of people in the world. Perspective. Get some, please.
And maybe, just maybe if being called a Nazi is so offensive to you, stop voting for people who are endorsed by literal Nazis. That is a thing you’re allowed to do. I promise you it’s way easier than you think.
Conclusion
After Virginia and Alabama, it increasingly looks like Trumpism may be a fluke. Trump could only win because someone at Hillary’s HQ didn’t understand basic e-mail security. The GOP isn’t going to keep nominating these clowns.
We have to get our shit together. We expect minorities to show up for us. We need to show up for them after the election.