I could see some mainstream Democrat or even outright progressive Senators taking seats in TX, NC, or FL — after all, look at what happened in Georgia.
But states like Alabama? Tennessee? Mississippi? Best that can be hoped for in the short to medium-term is a Doug Jones-type “moderate” (read: conservative) to win by a fluke if the GOP runs an actual pedophile. Doug Jones then promptly lost his runoff seat in 2020 to a bog-standard Republican without a checkered past.
Even more than that drama in Alabama, the fate of certain southern states was fixed in my mind by the 2017 triumph of Marsha Blackburn (total right wingnut, barely educated) over the Harvard-educated, moderate Democrat and former governor Phil Bredesen. Hailing from Tennessee myself, I know something about this.
Phil Bredesen was the absolute strongest Senate candidate the Democrats could have ever fielded for Tennessee. Name recognition, ideologically unthreatening, whip-sharp, track record of success as governor. Heck, he even won Taylor Swift’s endorsement. Basically a Bill Clinton, minus the sex scandals and some of the charisma.
He got blown out of that Senate race, losing by over 10 points.
It’s tempting to believe a blue wave is just around the corner across the south, if only XYZ thing happens.
The uncomfortable truth, as I see it, is that all you have to do is be Republican, have a pulse and be against abortion rights, and you win — unless you’ve diddled little kids like Roy Moore.
Caption this Meme 
