One wonders if the 2018 midterm elections will ever end. There are still races undecided, recounts going on all over the nation. The original thoughts that the results were only mildly in favor of Democrats on a national level have turned toward a true Blue wave, as Democrats continue to win close races in once-solidly Red districts and solidify their hold on the U.S. House and a few more state governments.
Well, except for Alabama. Our midterms are long over – apparently they were over even before state voters cast their (straight-ticket) ballots nine days ago.
There was such a Red wave in Alabama that even the closest statewide race between a Republican and Democrat was such a GOP landslide nobody even blinked. Instead, we yawned.
Oh, Alabama! We’re so far out of touch with the nation. Even Mississippi has a runoff between a Democrat and Republican. Georgia and Florida have marquee races that are still undecided. A Democrat flipped a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona. A diverse caravan of women have elbowed their way into that old, white man’s club in Congress.
We could have had some of that. We could have gone more progressive. Instead, we stayed solidly regressive.
Sure, a chunk of the problem is the dysfunctional Democratic Party of Alabama, which stood by while highly qualified candidates were massacred. If changes aren’t made in the state party, we’ll see more of the same, too. Even as the nation becomes ever more forward-thinking, ever more “we’ve got to dump Trump,” Alabama loves its status as one of the lowest-ranking states in quality-of-life issues. In education. In health care. In compassion for the least of these.
Hey, but we got that Ten Commandments constitutional amendment passed, one that’ll cost Alabama more money it doesn’t have in losing legal challenges.
We Dare Defend Our Wrongs.
But a bigger problem with Alabama, and we’ve got many where elections are concerned, is that we still allow straight-party voting. Voters overwhelmingly took the lazy way out on election day. They didn’t want to go down the ballot and choose the best-qualified candidate for office. That’s too hard. That requires thinking. Instead, they just bubbled-in the “D” or the “R.”
As with so many reforms, Alabama is among those who choose to stay the archaic course. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only eight states allow straight-ticket voting these days. Of course, Alabama is one of them. We don’t hear Secretary of State John Merrill talking about reforming that voting anomaly. And even Texas, one of those eight states, is doing away with straight-ticket voting for the 2020 elections; Indiana, another one, doesn’t allow straight-party voting for at-large races.
It’s no coincidence, either, that just about every state that still allows straight-ticket voting is a solidly Red state. It’s just another way Republicans, whose agenda is completely out of touch with what is happening across America but are masterful at suppressing the vote, maintain their now-more-tenuous hold on power.
Straight-party voting goes both ways. In Jefferson County, now a solidly Democratic county, straight-party voting for Democrats left some outstanding judges out of jobs. That judges even run in partisan races is a flaw – party philosophy has no place in the law.
The loss is that up and down the ticket, there were qualified candidates on both sides. Too many voters, though, had to run home and watch Fox news, so they didn’t have time to think about their selections. Instead, they just blacked the “R” oval and settled into their easy chairs to watch Hannity.
Far too many voters aren’t responsible enough to educate themselves before an election, even on the most important offices – governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, the Public Service Commission, statewide judicial seats, Congress.
Now, our Republican U.S. House delegation (Democrat Terri Sewell is the one exception) find themselves on the outs. They’re in the minority, with little power to do anything – not that any of the Republicans from Alabama exercised their influence when they had that power to begin with.
Republicans have been pretty successful at influencing low-information voters, and that’s to those voters’ detriment. When it comes to issues like preserving Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps, access to health care, protection from health insurance companies on pre-existing illnesses, equal pay, protecting women against sexual assault, humane immigration reform, equal rights for all Americans, including minorities and the LGBT community, Democrats are more likely to stand up.
Republicans give out billions in tax breaks to billionaires, then try to make up the difference with cuts to the programs that disproportionately affect the very Alabamians who elected them.
You may not like that assessment. You may be offended by it. Well, get over it. That’s the truth.
Try thinking.
But if you don’t, at least you can vote that straight ticket.
Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize winner, writes a column every week for Alabama Political Reporter. Email: jkennedy@alreporter.com.
