Tag Archives: Alabama

Is this graphic really all we need to know about American or Alabama politics?

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Like many of you, I initially despaired when reading exit poll results from the Alabama senate election. It seemed unbelievable that over 63% of white women would vote for a man who was credibly accused of molesting young girls. My first reaction was, “we won this by a hair-breadth, but we have a lot of work to do”. Then I realized that this not the whole story: A very interesting piece of data from Alabama exit polls: While White women overall voted for Moore 63 to 34, when you break out evangelical vs non you get evangelical white women 76 … Continue reading →

What will it take to defeat Ted Cruz in 2018?

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Before last night, this is what the Senate looked like: Notice the sea of red stretching from North Carolina to Texas? It’s now got one unexpected kink in it, Alabama. There are three senate seats that will be contested across that belt in 2018 (yes, I’m going to totally ignore Florida). An open seat in Tennessee (Bob Corker’s retiring), Mississippi (Roger Wicker) and Texas (Ted Cruz). A lot of attention will be focused on Tennessee, where Corker’s open seat creates a lot of possibilities. A Democrat has not represented Tennessee in the Senate since 1995. I’m going to ignore Mississippi But I want … Continue reading →

Roy Moore’s small hometown knew something the rest of us didn’t, in 2012.

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

In 2012, Bob Vance came within four points of beating Roy Moore in a state-wide race for an Alabama Supreme Court seat. Democrats didn’t run against four of the other judges on the ballot, but they did run against Roy Moore. Because he was considered beatable. In an interview with POLITICO, Vance described how he almost toppled Moore five years ago: by combining strong turnout from African-Americans energized by President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign with aggressive outreach to what he called “reasonable conservatives” put off by Moore’s hard-line politics — outreach that was unusually successful in Alabama’s most-educated suburbs, according … Continue reading →

CHIP & Alabama & turnout

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

A good, but infuriating, piece by David Dayen. I hope that Democrats get their acts together enough to do something about CHIP. Obviously Republicans will be difficult to impossible to negotiate with, but Democrats have to try. Really try. For This Congress, Children Come Last As lawmakers prepare to pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy, nearly 20 million poor Americans are needlessly at risk of losing their health insurance. In five states (Arizona, California, Minnesota, Ohio, and Oregon) and the District of Columbia, what funding remained for CHIP will run out by the end of December. Federal officials found … Continue reading →

Doug Jones can win, but it requires reversing two decades of party decline in 4 weeks.

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

The polls are close, and Doug Jones has a real chance to win the Senate seat in Alabama. Most pollsters have the race tied or leaning towards Jones. Which means it’s now a turnout game. Here’s the problem though. The Democratic party in Alabama is so weak, it doesn’t even know who to turn out. The senate campaign is trying to reverse decades of entropy within four weeks. In recent decades, the state Democratic Party has been known more for its dysfunction than for decisive victories, with the party’s influence now mostly limited to some local governments, including mayor’s offices … Continue reading →

What is a fair wage for a prisoner’s labor?

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

​   Samuel Sinyangwe visited Louisiana a few weeks ago, and wrote about how conscript labor is used there in the state legislature and across government facilities. Some background: Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the *world.* Within that, black people are locked up at much higher rates. pic.twitter.com/Wcc85JCOwM — Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) May 19, 2017 I thought I understood racism and mass incarceration. But nothing prepared me for what I saw in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (1/x) — Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) May 19, 2017 The thread is worth reading, and Sinyangwe was particularly affected by the sight of prisoners … Continue reading →