re: Roy Moore vs. Doug Jones

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He's absolutely a charlatan, but don't underestimate him. He's also an incredibly skilled candidate (note I said candidate, not leader or ever official). If you've ever been around him at an event, he can work a room with the best of them. He also is amazingly astute at reading the climate and picking the right time to strike. The only time he's really messed up was with his Ten Commandments rock. That was going to be his springboard to the governor's mansion. It would have worked, but he played is hand 6 months too soon. If he'd waited until the election was less than a year away he would have won easily.

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I don’t underestimate him or the stupidity of Alabama voters. I’ve seen him defeat a list of experienced politicians and the fact that he’s survived being removed from office twice is a testament to his resolve. That doesn’t excuse his ignorance. I’ve also seen this state elect some real idiots so nothing surprises me at this point either.

It was pretty clear early on that Luther and his staff underestimated Moore.

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As a Senator, Moore is 1 out of 100 votes. There's little to no real damage he can do to the state. As the Governor, he could have burned the whole place to the ground. Let's assume he wins one full term in November 2018. When that ends, he'll be 78 years old and at or very near the end of his public presence. So Roy, go to Washington, vote on some judicial nominations, make a few speeches, and just please don't come back to Alabama very often.

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This is the silver lining of the whole ordeal.

The following is what I wrote on the poli board last night regarding Moore, and it still holds true.

Oh American Christianity, look at what you have wrought. 

Roy Moore is a cancer born of the weird hypocritical, blasphemic, and sacreligious ideology that is American Christianity. A weird amalgamation of blind patriotism, capitalism, and cherry picked pieces of Christianity. Falwell's Moral Majority did far more to hurt the Church and this country, than it ever did to help. 

I am a Christian from a background in conservative holiness. Specifically Nazarene. My dad was a pastor, and I have been a youth pastor. I have spent a lot of time in the Bible and in prayerful thought to make these statements with 100% conviction. Christianity has been been completely subverted for power. I mean, 

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I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America. and to the republic for which it stands.

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We are Christians, our allegiance should be to Christ. Yet the "Christian Right" acts like the flag, national anthem, and pledge of allegiance are as holy as the Bible. Literally, that isn't hyperbole. They've been so conditioned to see America as a theocracy, that they can't separate it from the Church. 

The Church is a global entity. We should care about individuals in North Korea as much as we do our own family. We should respond with love, and grace to all we come in contact with. We should hug BLM and Antifa protesters, talk with them and get to know what drives them to do what they do. Same with KKK. And everyone to the right, left, up, down, and in between of both sides. Christ, Paul, and the early Church taught us to be pacifists, unless people were claiming to work for God to use his name for profit or power. Not to hoard weaponry and ammunition threatening to start another civil war because we disagree with those next to us. 

We can't legislate morality trying to send sin into hiding. We have to go out into a world of sin with grace and love to create followers of Christ. 

Now, politically, my beliefs are different. The above are my views regarding the Church. You may be an atheist, deist, mormon, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, or follow the teachings of the spaghetti monster church. That is your decision, and I respect that. 

My dad spent years working for the Republican party in the 80's. I am, and always will be, a conservative. However, I'm not a Republican or Democrat. I'm not even Libertarian. It would be more accurate to call me an Anti-Federalist. If a state wants gay marriage, great. If a state to their east or west doesn't, great. That is up to the people of each state to decide. Don't like your state? Move, or start a political group to educate and change the minds of voters to create the change you want to see in the world. We were given basic protections to ensure the same minimum rights for all. And even with the expansion of power from the many of amendments that followed the Bill of Rights, many of the supposed national "rights" decisions by supreme court are not specifically enumerated anywhere. Meaning these things should belong to the state. 

Now that the rant is over. 

With Moore winning, I will be heavily researching Doug Jones in the next few weeks. To see if he is worthy of consideration as the Democrat's candidate. If not, I will not be voting, or will write in someone else. I absolutely cannot vote for Moore in good conscience. He has used Alabama and the people of this state to grandstand for the purpose of putting money in his own pocket, and his name in headlines, too many times. I am severely disappointed in the people of this state, but I am not surprised. 

It doesn't help that the other option was Luther Strange. I don't like him by any means, just dislike him less than Moore. 

I'm so fricking tired of politics in Alabama. How we have gained the trust of so many internal manufacturers to bring jobs to this state I will never know. 

After all, Alabama has been making bad choices in politics for a long, long time. Outside of college football, it might be the thing we are best at.

I will look into Doug Jones. He doesn't have to do much for me to prefer him over Roy Moore.

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I'm so fricking tired of politics in Alabama. How we have gained the trust of so many internal manufacturers to bring jobs to this state I will never know. 

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Because the game is the same everywhere you go. In some places, it is far worse.

At least here the corruption isn't so ingrained into the system that it is accepted as the normal cost of doing business (except maybe in JeffCo). There are LOTS of places where payoffs are just another line item in the project budget.

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Give me Roy Moore all day over any democrat

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I hear you and it’s a shame that it has come to that. If I felt that the Democrat wouldn’t vote lock step with Schumer, then I’d really consider them. Not sure if Doug Jones is like that but I have my doubts.

I’ve said this on the Poli-Board but we really need a more viable Democratic Party in Alabama just so the winner of the GOP Primary has to at least break a sweat. It isn’t healthy for our state that all a candidate has to do is win one GOP Primary and then they are assured of multiple terms in office. Robert Bentley is a case study for this. I hate the two party system but it beats the hell out of a one party system.

You should help vote in a democrat then. Let's start with Doug Jones. My favorite thing about him so far is he's not Roy Moore. That's basically all it takes.

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Give me Roy Moore all day over any democrat

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This is the mentality that results in Alabama being the worst state in the United States with close competition to Mississippi. In a perfect world all states would be swing states, but the blind allegiance to parties, especially Alabama republicans, doesn't help anyone.

Gay marriage is a good issue to test if a candidate can use objectivity to determine the best solution for the people, and Moore fails in that regard.

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That's the biggest issue with national elections. The individual almost doesn't even matter. It's all whatever the party platform is.

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Well said. Party politics is killing this country and I despise straight ticket voting. Everything has become a team sport and “our side vs. their side.” People only care about the “R” or “D” next to the candidate’s name.

If I had my way, party affiliation would be taken off the ballot.

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First off, people that say Alabama and Mississippi are the worst states are usually democrats.

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I'm not a Democrat. Alabama and Mississippi blow.

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That's the biggest issue with national elections. The individual almost doesn't even matter. It's all whatever the party platform is.

I regularly vote for Democrats in local and state elections in Georgia. I seldom do nationally, no matter how much I like the individual. There are more absolute no's for me in the national Democratic party agenda than the Republican one, as much as I disagree with a large chunk of both.

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You pretty much just described me George. There are some national issues I could easily support the D side on, but the ones that matter most are the ones I simply can't bend on.

ETA - That's why if the polls say the election could be close I'll hold my nose, go vote Moore, and go behind the building and throw up.

Anthony Kennedy keeps talking about retirement and making weekend plans is an exercise in optimism for Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Keeping R control of the Senate for SCOTUS reasons alone far outweighs the utter disgust I have for Moore.