Doug Jones flips county named after Robert E. Lee for first time since Civil Rights era

[workinclasszero]

Doug Jones flips county named after Robert E. Lee for first time since Civil Rights era
Lee County voted for Trump by 24 points. On Tuesday, it went for Doug Jones by 17 points.
By Matthew Chapman DECEMBER 13, 2017



Doug Jones, Alabama's new senator-elect(AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Democrat Doug Jones defied all expectations to win in Alabama after voters rejected bigoted theocrat and accused pedophile Roy Moore.

One county in particular stands out as a revealing example of how Jones pulled off his victory — and how Democrats can replicate it in other deep red states.

For decades, Lee County has been as reliably Republican as they come. Its name is derived from Robert E. Lee, the general who commanded the Confederate armies in defense of slavery. No Democratic presidential candidate has earned more than 45 percent of the vote there since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Trump carried the county by 24 points.

And yet on Tuesday night, Lee County voted for Jones by 17 points — a whopping 41 point swing toward Democrats.

https://shareblue.com/doug-jones-flips-county-named-after-robert-e-lee-for-first-time-since-civil-rights-era/

[AlexSFCA]

1. phenomenal

[MFM008]

2. Thank you maggot .

[DAMANgoldberg]

3. Lee County is home to..

the place I spent the best 8 years of my life, Auburn University. Granted AU was/is a conservative university with limited non-white students, but there is a liberal element there, as is found on most public college campuses. Also, Opelika is a blue-collar community (think "Norma Rae&quot and it is becoming more urbanized. In a matter of fact, out of the ~150,000 population of the county, almost 75% of this can be considered urban. This includes the Smith's Station area, which is a bedroom community of Columbus GA and Phenix City AL. The numbers are a bit skewed, because the police jurisdiction areas of both Auburn (mainly Wire Road, Vet School, and many student trailer parks), and Opelika (RTJ golf course, and industrial portions below Interstate 85) would be part of a city in some locales.

When I was there, the Kappa Alpha fraternity ("Young klansmen" if you will) were still a force to be reckoned with, still had Old South day where they would dress as Confederate soldiers and landowners with stuff that would be frowned upon today and not allowed.

[workinclasszero]

5. Thanks for the info

Very interesting.

[misanthrope]

6. War Eagle, Mr. Goldberg! Your post is precisely correct.

Auburn University made my father the first college graduate in his family back in the 1960s. I was there for a couple of years in the 1980s before transferring to school in Mobile.

Everything you say is exactly correct. Auburn is regretfully conservative and part of a strange dichotomy with the University of Alabama. Auburn's chief rival in Tuscaloosa leans a bit more liberal but was founded as a privilege of the Old South's upper crust, turning out generations of the power brokers who kept the state mired in old ways. Meanwhile, Auburn was founded as an avenue for betterment aimed at the oft-overlooked rural blue collar demographic but is traditionally more conservative than the University of Alabama.

When the civil rights era rolled around, it was Alabama where the unrest occurred, where the governor stood in the doorway and the news cameras clicked. When Auburn integrated some six months later, it passed without incident.

Auburn was so hated by its cross-state rival that the University of Alabama tried several times over Auburn's first century to have Auburn shut down and its funds withheld. Their haughty and elitist perspective is a matter of historical record.

Being a liberal at Auburn isn't easy. Congrats on making the journey!

[DAMANgoldberg]

7. I can't say for sure...

since it has been years since I have lived there (now NW CLT), but groups like the Lee County Democratic Club and others make it easier to be openly Liberal, albeit in a "Boil Weevil, Sam Nunn, Howell Heflin" kinda way. Thanks for the compliment. #WDE

SOT: IMHO, Doug Jones is the latest personification of the true Southern Democrat, such as Fritz Hollings, Sam Nunn, Lawton Childs, Howell Heflin, et cetera.

[Elwood P Dowd]

8. Being a liberal at Auburn isn't as difficult as some make it out to be.

At least not in my recent experiences. The neighborhoods were full of Doug Jones signs when I was over there last week. Saw exactly one Moore sign. Also, most of the ones I know that jumped on the Trump bandwagon have already fallen off.

Thanks to Auburn University and several international corporations in the area I've met people there from all over the world that live and work over there. Drive north a few miles towards Birmingham and you're back in Trump territory.

[misanthrope]

10. I was there in the Reagan Era.

To say it was conservative was an understatement. I remember going to Foy Student Union to see Mitch McConnell speak. I was underwhelmed.

Even to this day, I can count on both hands the number of AU alums I've encountered who don't pride themselves on their conservatism. I don't doubt your report on the current state of things but it disappoints me when I hear about anyone with a decent education who couldn't see through Trump's schtick.

[Persondem]

4. I like hearing news like this. Thank you for posting. K & R nt

[gratuitous]

9. Before election day, turnout was predicted to be 25-30% for this special

Anybody got the numbers for Lee County? I'm willing to bet a shiny nickel it was way, way up. The more people voting, the better it is for Democrats.