The GOP primary was a three-way race between Luther Strange (appointed incumbent), Roy Moore, and Mo Brooks. In the primary, Strange went after Mo Brooks, figuring that a run-off election between him and Moore would go his way.
But in the run-off, due to his association with the former disgraced governor, Strange lost to Moore, who was still very popular with the conservatives in Alabama.
Then came the election. Moore ran a poor campaign, the smears came in, and Doug Jones lied about his positions on nearly everything. And enough moderates and liberals were tired of Moore, so they voted for that lying weasel Doug Jones.
I believe had the old codger Roy Moore not followed his ego and ran for the Senate, Mo Brooks would be the Senator from Al. YMMV
Yeah, like I said, I’m from here, and stay pretty much up to date with events. But, having said that, everything you said is exactly accurate.
But I would also say that if anyone thinks the press is going to “allow” a conservative to be non-controversial they’re in fantasy land. The press can make a controversial statement out of anything if they want. Remember the Mississippi candidate who said if this individual invited her to a public hanging she would be in the front row. That is non-controversial to me, but if you somehow, quite irrationally, associate that with lynching (which, of course, only happened to black people), it’s suddenly controversial.