Post-Post Mortems

The body has not even cooled, but the autopsies of the election results around the country are continuing as pundits on both sides try with the benefit of hindsight to claim they knew all along that appeals to racism and white nationalism would backfire on republicans.  This after even democratic leaning analysts had excoriated Ralph Northam for running what they termed a  lackluster campaign.  What they meant was he stuck to issues and mostly refused to respond to the hateful ads run by Ed Gillespie.  Now, in retrospect, Northam is being celebrated for his forbearance and his approach will be lauded as the template for all future democratic campaigns.  NOT... each state and local election will demand a different approach, depending on the region and voter preferences.  A real litmus test of democratic revival in the Trump era will be the special election in Alabama to determine the ultimate successor to the execrable Jefferson Beauregard Sessions.  If  the dems in deep red Alabama can beat the lunatic Roy Moore, it will be a turning point in the battle against Trumpism.   Even a tight race would encourage other candidates to challenge supposedly safe republican districts.  As they say, you have to crawl before you can walk.