The GOP is spared the pain of dealing with a Senator Moore, but is presented with another: the prospect of a Democrat Senator and the loss of the Senate in another year. Steve Bannon is blamed for the Alabama debacle, but it really didn’t start with Steve. He was hoping to slay the establishment candidate with an outsider and it was presumed that the seat was safe no matter who ran. Roy Moore tested that theory and it and he, failed.

Moore shouldn’t have been the candidate. Neither should have Luther Strange. The D.C. GOP lead by Mitch McConnell threw millions of dollars into the Alabama race to push Strange and Alabama Republicans resented it. More than that, they resented being stuck with Strange when their corrupt Governor appointed him to the position.

But that’s all bygones now. Now, Strange is defeated. Moore is defeated. And Alabamans are stuck with an abortion-loving Democrat who will not represent their interests. Democrats will hope to build on this momentum and may well do it.

Republicans, especially Senate Republicans, view this as victory but it’s a pyrrhic one.

After all the meddling and all the losing, the Republicans still can’t fathom how much their own party base despises them. Their delusion costs them. Their impotence and fecklessness costs them more.

The GOP’s only hope is to pass the tax bill and do it with unity, authority, and efficiency. Together, they may have a chance at redemption in the voters’ eyes. Divided and with nothing to show for their majority power, they will fall. Even with unity, it may be too little, too late.

Republicans have spent a lot of political capital so worried about empowering President Trump that they’ve weakened themselves by accomplishing nothing.

Now, they’ve sabotaged what used to be a safe seat. Shame on all of them. Luther Strange would have won the election, they’ll say. But the people of Alabama didn’t want him and that’s who mattered.

Find better candidates. Unify with the Trump wing. Or lose.

In the meantime, have something to show for yourselves or it’s all over. And everyone can point fingers while they watch Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi wield power as only Democrats really know how to do: with ruthlessness and clarity of purpose.