I doubt he will pull it off, but it is not impossible that he will, and if he does, it would blow the minds of political commentators across the U.S. I mean, Alabama!
Of course, a Jones victory would be more about the weirdness of an off year election than a sign that the deep South is back in play in any normal year. But it would also be interpreted as a clear sign that Trump is doing horrible damage to the Republican brand, even in the deepest red parts of this country. The signs are already there. The Democrats have been consistently overperforming in every election in the past year, even in traditionally Republican areas. But overperforming by gaining 15% from how Democrats normally do but losing is still losing. When that happens the people who follow politics closely see the analysis about how Democrats loss was really a sign that they were doing well, but the other 95% of the country just see that the Democrats tried to win but failed. If you want to change the overall narrative, you need to win. If Jones does that, it will be a big fucking deal.
Of course, a Jones victory would be more about the weirdness of an off year election than a sign that the deep South is back in play in any normal year. But it would also be interpreted as a clear sign that Trump is doing horrible damage to the Republican brand, even in the deepest red parts of this country. The signs are already there. The Democrats have been consistently overperforming in every election in the past year, even in traditionally Republican areas. But overperforming by gaining 15% from how Democrats normally do but losing is still losing. When that happens the people who follow politics closely see the analysis about how Democrats loss was really a sign that they were doing well, but the other 95% of the country just see that the Democrats tried to win but failed. If you want to change the overall narrative, you need to win. If Jones does that, it will be a big fucking deal.
