Hillary: If Dems can compete in Alabama we can compete anywhere! ...Ummmmmm no.

Everywhere you look, there's a different hot take on the Roy Moore fiasco. You can see mine here. Everyone from politicians to pundits has a reaction to Doug Jones's big win in Alabama. Why, even rejected candidates whose careers went down in electoral flames are weighing in. In particular, Hillary Clinton seems pretty excited by the Dems' victory.

Tonight, Alabama voters elected a senator who'll make them proud.

And if Democrats can win in Alabama, we can -- and must -- compete everywhere.

Onward!

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 13, 2017

I suspect this outburst has a lot to do with the fact that yesterday’s special election has - temporarily, anyway - managed to obscure her own disastrous candidacy. After all, it must be nice not be the most recent political debacle anymore. Just like in 2016, though, Hillary should probably refrain from writing victory speeches. Think about it this way. In order to eke out a 1.5% margin, Democrats needed an opponent who was an accused pedophile. Even if you don't believe those accusations, Roy more was still:

• An opponent who actually announced that he never dated teenagers without their mothers' permission.
• An opponent who had - twice - been removed from the bench when he was a judge.
• An opponent who - in his own words - says he didn't "generally" date 14-year-olds when he was well over 30 because that was not his "customary behavior.”
• An opponent who, days before the election, argued that maybe we should get rid of constitutional amendments which ended slavery and gave women the right to vote.

Any one of those things would probably be enough to sink any candidate in virtually any other state. Roy Moore did them all and Dems still could just barely score the win. So, I'm sorry Hillary. You may be an expert in blowing strongholds, but I don't think I'm buying your little declaration. Democrats won't be able to count on Roy Moore's litany of issues "everywhere" they compete. In other elections, they'll be facing competent candidates who will force them to explain why they want to raise everyone's taxes. Roy Moore's loss is a good chance for the GOP to rethink its strategies. It's also a bit of a dodged bullet. ...But it's far too weird to be predictive of national trends.