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In the Alabama Senate race, both sides went to church — Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones took their appeals to their faithful, which, for the most part, worship the same God but came to wildly different electoral conclusions.
On Tuesday, Jones won. The miracle of a Democrat winning a statewide race in deep-red Alabama actually happened. It was not the divine intervention Moore had prayed for, perhaps pointing out the danger when you so shamelessly use the word of the Lord to divide.
CHARLOTTE, NC — In deep-red Alabama, Democrat Doug Jones pulled off an upset win over Republican Roy Moore to fill a U.S. Senate seat. With the national and international spotlight on the state, Alabama voted to break with its recent tradition – and go against the candidate heartily endorsed by President Trump in a state he handily won. (Mary C. Curtis)
Political Contributor, Mary C. Curtis weighs in on what happened and what this means.
Just as the generosity of Angel Tree donations and turkey giveaways clash with the kill-or-be-killed stampede of folks looking for a Black Friday bargain, the warm holiday greetings lawmakers disseminate this time of year might strike a dissonant cord when compared to the current policies and politics coming out of Washington.
CHARLOTTE, NC — President Trump has not exactly endorsed embattled Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore but he has come out saying Washington doesn’t need a Democrat like Moore’s opponent Doug Jones. And long-serving House member John Conyers has been revealed to have paid a settlement with a former staffer though he has denied her allegation. (Mary C. Curtis)
Will sexual harassment devolve into just another partisan issue – or will Democrats and Republicans see it as a problem that needs new policies in place? Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in.
In “The Rape of Recy Taylor,” a recently released documentary, you see the face of bravery. It is Recy Taylor, the 24-year-old African-American — a wife and mother of an infant daughter — kidnapped in 1944 by a carful of young white men, some the sons of the “respectable” leaders of Abbeville, Alabama, where they all lived. A gun held to her head, she was blindfolded, driven to a remote spot and violated in unimaginable ways. She escaped being killed by promising to keep quiet.
But she did not keep that promise.
Taylor’s legacy can be seen in the women speaking up now about sexual harassment of all kinds, most recently Alabama women who on the surface have little in common with a poor black sharecropper from decades ago. In fact, Beverly Young Nelson, who became the fifth woman to accuse Roy Moore when she tearfully recounted her story of an alleged sexual assault, said she and her husband voted for Donald Trump, while Taylor, in her midcentury time, was not allowed to vote at all.
CHARLOTTE, NC — As more women continue to charge Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore with inappropriate behavior, Moore continues to remain defiant and in the race – and he could win. Alabama is a solid red state. But a growing number of his fellow Republicans in the Senate have called for him to leave the race. If he does win, that might trigger an ethics investigation. (Mary C. Curtis)
In the arts, media, politics and pretty much everywhere – no profession is immune – sexual harassment is getting called out. Is it the sign of a cultural shift?
