Look closely at the big picture of Alabama's stunning senatorial election. It's a paint-by-the-numbers political portrait that reveals new insights into Tuesday night's biggest winner � and how the race was really won.
While Democrats sure deserve to be whooping and high-fiving in celebration of Doug Jones' longest of longshot victories, perpetually Republican Alabama's Democratic senator-elect may not have been the biggest winner, after all.
History may look back and judge that Tuesday's biggest winner in Alabama was: decency.
Alabama, a state with a history of harsh politics, may have gifted America with a return of Decency in politics. (We are talking here about relative decency, since we all know decency and politics co-exist like dogs cuddling with cats. Google proves it happens; so we're moving on.) We have seen decency increasingly trashed � replaced by a mean-spirited, hate-based, name-calling form of campaigning. And we know why that has been happening: Because it works. Works for the trash-talking campaigners, because we allow it and reward it with our votes.
Pundits and analysts now call it "populism" � but that's not what it really has been. It's populist in its appeal to ordinary folks. But this era's so-called populism is hyped by a politics of divide and demonize. Don't merely defeat � destroy!
If you think we are talking here about Donald Trump, well, you are right. Remember how he campaigned by name-calling Republican primary opponents: "Lyin'" Ted Cruz, "Little" Marco Rubio, "Low-energy" Jeb Bush. Audiences laughed, cheered, voted; and the field thinned. Trump crudely insulted the attractiveness of Cruz's wife, lamely linked Cruz's father to the assassination of John F. Kennedy (with no proof!); and lo, Cruz endorsed Trump. Then Trump targeted "Crooked" Hillary, incited chants of "Lock her up!" And what I consider his worst offense of all � his soulless cruel public mimicking of a physically handicapped reporter.
So it was no surprise that Trump plunged in bigtime to urge Alabamans to elect the ever-controversial, fringe-rightwing Republican Roy Moore, who had been twice elected Chief Justice of Alabama's Supreme Court, and twice removed from the bench due to improprieties. Trump endorsed Moore despite the fact that the Alabaman was accused repeatedly of having pursued and dated girls who were as young as 14 when he was in his 30s.
This week, when Moore lost, Trump of course became a huge Tuesday loser. And so did the Republican National Committee, which dutifully funded Moore's campaign.
But we're not talking about losers, here. We're focusing on winners. And the big picture numbers in Tuesday's big picture election make unmistakably clear the decisive role Decency played in Democrat Jones' victory. The combination of Moore plus Trump motivated Alabama's black voters to turn out massively (in Obama-era numbers) to vote against Moore and for Jones. But even that might not have been enough � if there had been no outbreak of unaccustomed decency in Republican Alabama.
Consider Tuesday's numbers:
Jones received 671,151 votes � 49.9 percent of the total votes cast.
Moore received 650,436 votes � 48.4 percent of the total votes cast.
But there were also 22,819 write-in votes cast � a mere 1.7 percent of the total votes cast. Yet, it was that smallest number of write-ins that gave Jones his victory.
Here's why: Most if not all those write-in votes were cast by Republicans who were disillusioned and disgusted with Moore's past. They spurned Trump's pleas and followed the leadership of Alabama's conservative Republican icon, Sen. Richard Shelby.
Sunday, on CNN's "State of the Union," Shelby publicly shared his disgust with Moore, but made it clear that, rather than vote for a Democrat, he just wrote in a Republican's name on his absentee ballot. Shelby told the world he thought Moore's female accusers were "believable," adding: "The state of Alabama deserves better."
Now ask yourself: What would have happened if Shelby had been unprincipled, lacked decency and urged everyone to vote for even the very flawed Republican Moore?
Add those write-in vote totals to Moore's: The highly objectionable Republican would have won with 673,255 votes � 50.1 percent of the total votes cast.
And we wouldn't be talking today about the unforeseeable possibility that the unlikeliest state � Alabama! � may have shown America that a return of relative decency and civility may still happen in America's politics.
