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Groton Daily Independent
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 154 ~ 20 of 37
day. Jones then needs to win one in three white voters in the state, which would require capturing about 15 percent of Republicans, McCrary said.
Such dynamics are dif cult to overcome, said Democratic strategist Keenan Pontoni, who managed the campaign of Georgia congressional hopeful Jon Ossoff earlier this year. Ossoff aimed for an upset in the 6th Congressional District of Georgia, but ultimately came up short in Atlanta’s Republican-leaning northern suburbs.
“The only way you win in these kinds of districts and states is a coalition that is obviously very hard to put together,” Pontoni said. “You’re going after voters who think and vote very differently.”
Much like Jones, Ossoff used an extensive, data-driven ground game to maximize Democratic support, while using television advertising to strike a moderate, non-partisan tone. Ossoff didn’t have a controversial opponent like Moore, but he ran against Washington dysfunction as a way to reach moderates.
On the ground in Alabama on Saturday, Jones dispatched hundreds of volunteers across the state to knock on doors to identify likely supporters in neighborhoods that featured high concentrations of African- Americans and Republicans who supported Moore’s GOP primary opponent, current Sen. Luther Strange.
Jones volunteer Dana Ellis, a 64-year-old nurse, navigated icy sidewalks in Birmingham’s Kingston neigh- borhood, which is overwhelmingly African-American, to ensure likely Jones supporters vote on Tuesday. Unlike many states, Alabama doesn’t offer early voting.
“Roy Moore will not win if people turn out to vote,” Ellis said.
Many voters on the list provided by the campaign didn’t answer their doors Saturday morning. Those who did suggested they would support Jones, even if they didn’t know him well.
Oweda Clark, who lives just around the corner from 44th Place North, admits it’s hard being a Democrat in Alabama. But she told Ellis that she plans to vote for Jones anyway.
“I don’t like Roy Moore. I don’t like what he stands for,” she said.
___
Chandler reported from Selma. Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Pensacola, Florida, contributed to
this report. ___
This story has been corrected to say that there are two African-American Democrats in the Senate.
Arab ministers demand reversal of Trump Jerusalem decision By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) — Arab foreign ministers on Sunday demanded that the United States rescind President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, calling it a “grave” development that puts Washington on the same side as “occupation” and the violation of international law.
In a resolution long on rhetoric but short on concrete actions, the ministers also called for the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution condemning Trump’s decision, but acknowledged that Washington would most likely veto it.
If the U.S. vetoes the resolution, the Arabs would seek a similar resolution in the U.N. General Assembly, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki told a pre-dawn news conference in Cairo.
A two-page resolution adopted by the emergency meeting, which began Saturday night, did not include any punitive actions against the United States, like a call for a boycott of American products or suspending or downgrading ties with Washington.
It also appeared to fall short of matching the anger felt by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which have seen three days of violent protests against Trump’s decision.
“We have taken a political decision not meant to re ect (what is going on in) the streets. Political work is responsible work,” said Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit. “Jerusalem has been occupied for 50 years. This is an extended battle, a battle that will be escalated,” he told the news conference.
The resolution said the ministers would meet again within a month and held out the possibility that an