The Real Lesson from Last Night's Alabama Senate Race

I will make this short and sweet.If a certain wing of Republican voters did not get the message last night, we are in for a lot of trouble in 2018 and beyond.The candidate matters.This has NOTHING to do with the allegations against Roy Moore as pursuing or committing inappropriate sexual contact or acts with teenagers when he was in his mid-30’s.It has to do with a candidate who said 9/11 was God’s punishment on America (I do remember when we didn’t like controversial religious figures saying that, right Jeremiah Wright?)It has to do with a candidate who didn’t know what DACA was just a few months ago, in a conversation about immigration!It has to do with a candidate who has no regard for law, and has proven such time and time again.It has to do with a candidate that represents every single thing the Republicans want their brand to NOT be about – incompetence, recklessness, and abrasionAnd of course, it has to do with a candidate who represented the ONLY person who could possibly lose that race …And for you Trumpkin/Bannonistas who are fuming right now, guess who agrees with me?

The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2017

We can sit back and play dumb all we want.  Roy Moore was a completely incompetent dufus who had no business being in public life, or representing a political party competing for relevance in this century.  Pretend he never admitted to pursuing relationships with teenage girls, which he absolutely did, and which is disgusting.  And assume if you wish that NONE of the allegations against him for more egregious actions were true.  Roy Moore was still the exactly wrong person for this moment in every way.Roy Moore now is a public laughingstock because Steve Bannon and the Breitbart ilk of anger over achievement decided to teach the establishment a lesson.  Typing it, there really is some humor in there now.  The way that 2018 goes for Republicans will come down to whether or not the actual lesson was learned:Nominate credible, intelligent, competent, non-toxic Republicans, or risk losing the safest of seats that exist in this country.  There are candidates all over the map who have read a little public policy, who don’t exist as a Saturday Night Live caricature of GOP goofiness.Fail to learn that lesson, and lose seat after seat after seat after seat.And deservedly so.Conservatives, nihilism is not a coherent political philosophy.  Mitch McConnell wasn’t “punished” one bit last night.  Bannonism failed spectacularly.And deservedly so.