As we write this, various political commentators are (and have been all day) picking apart the election held yesterday in Alabama to fill the Senate seat opened by the departure of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as he took the post of United States Attorney General. Republican Roy Moore lost to his opponent Democrat Doug Jones by a razor thin margin. Moore has not conceded and states that he will request a recount.
The Republican primary for this election was won by Judge Roy Moore. With a Republican poised to give Republicans 52 seats in the Senate, the Democrat smear machine kicked into overdrive. within weeks it was found that Moore in his 30s apparently had a taste for romancing teenagers who were older than Alabama's legal "age of consent" of 16. Then and under dubious circumstances a woman was found who claimed she had been "sexually assaulted" by Moore when she was 14 years of age. Although the criminal and civil statutes of limitation have since expired, such an act would have been considered a serious felony under Alabama law.
All hell broke loose.
We will not here recount every last detail of this story as we are sure it has been discussed to death. But it has been our position here at the Alexandria Daily Poop that since there had been no outcry for 40 years until Moore looked poised to take a seat in the Senate, this fact alone in our opinion puts this woman's story in grave doubt. Moore's admission of his penchant for teenagers as a 30 year old however gave just enough credence to the story to add fuel to the fire. The Democrat hatchet men went looking for more stories.
Some of these stories were quite salacious, but most were false involving for instance an incident in a parking lot which parking lot never existed. One woman however claimed Moore had signed her high school yearbook and had written some semi-sleazy comment there. When Moore denied having done this and when Republicans began demanding an independent handwriting analysis, famous political ambulance chaser and professional public spectacle Gloria Alred inserted herself into the case.
Despite Alred's interference, the woman was forced to admit she had forged Moore's writings beneath his signature. This event in our opinion put the stake in the heart of this smear. But the Democrats found an ally in - of all people - a Republican.
Senator Richard Shelby, concerned about the "child molestor' label that Democrats would hang on every Republican who supported Moore urged Alabamans to write in "a Republican" without naming any one specific one. This quote found its way into ads by Democrat front groups, some purporting to be "concerned Republicans". When the votes were tallied, the margin of victory closely matched the write-in votes.
One Senate seat can be of enormous consequence. This election was isolated and this enabled the full force of the Democrat political machine to be concentrated on one state. Even so, the only reason Roy Moore is not the Senator-Elect today is because the Democrats got the other Republican senator scrambling to avoid a perceived stain on the reputation of the Party.
We believe that to avoid Senate elections which become public circuses, the 17th Amendment to our Constitution ought to be repealed and Senators rather be elected as prescribed originally: by the State legislatures, who would had this been in effect yesterday been able to recall an errant Senator at will. Smear campaigns would be less effective and the general public would have more incentive to take an interest in their State legislatures. It is damn time that it be made much more difficult for people from out of state to whip the residents of a state into a frenzy in order to get a Senator more to the liking of any one national group into office..
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