Election night this November is probably going to be a win for Democrats. That’s how it usually goes in midterm elections – the party that won the White House suffers a setback two years later.
It won’t help the GOP’s cause with President Donald Trump, still underwater in approval polling and a revved-up Democratic Party base.
What about within the confines of Alabama? Doug Jones proved that given the right circumstances, a Democrat could win statewide. But not every Democratic candidate running in Alabama will have the fortune of facing a weak Republican opponent with a cloud of underage sexual misconduct allegations hanging over his head.
As Gov. Kay Ivey’s Republican challengers are demonstrating, it’s hard to make the case against the status quo. The local economy is improving. With a year as governor, Ivey has avoided the pitfalls of scandal that have plagued her predecessors.
At the top of the ticket, what will Democratic Party gubernatorial hopefuls Walt Maddox, Sue Bell Cobb or James Fields offer in contrast to Ivey if they are selected? A lottery? More entitlements? Higher gas taxes?
As history has shown, this isn’t the path to power in Alabama.
Perhaps we go back to Roy Moore, the Confederate flag, and Donald Trump. Ivey and all three of her opponents aren’t shying away from any of that.
But are there enough votes in Homewood, Mountain Brook, and Vestavia Hills to be won by a Democrat, as Jones did against Roy Moore? Will Democrats get the guy to the polls who is driving the blue Toyota FJ Cruiser with his “Doug Jones | U.S. Senate” bumper sticker—which seems to be more of a fashion statement like a “Salt Life” or “30A” sticker than a political gesture?
Additionally, in the Democratic Party strongholds like Alabama’s seventh congressional district, which includes inner-city Birmingham and much of Alabama’s Black Belt, there aren’t many contested races, and therefore no incentive for to drive a successful get-out-the-vote effort like the one for Jones in 2017.
In some of the down-ballot races, particularly in the congressional contests with an incumbent Republican, there is a clear left-wing agenda. A platform that centers around abortion and LGBTQ issues isn’t going to work.
Six months out, the Democratic Party’s vision for Alabama is not entirely clear. That, combined with the absence of an anti-Trump fever evident in some other places nationally, are some headwinds for Democratic Party hopefuls.
But what else is new?
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
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