Replies

“Something much bigger is in play here, and no one is talking about it....”

I think what is in play is that Trump is winning. If Moore can be defeated, that is a defeat for Trump and Trumpism and Bannon, i.e., a defeat for conservative populism’s attempt to control the GOP. If Moore were to lose, the narrative would be that the Trump wave has ended. So I think that has huge psychological significance for both the President’s political prestige and therefore power, and for the GOP primaries going into the 2018 mid-terms.

“I think what is in play is that Trump is winning. If Moore can be defeated, that is a defeat for Trump and Trumpism and Bannon, i.e., a defeat for conservative populism’s attempt to control the GOP. If Moore were to lose, the narrative would be that the Trump wave has ended. So I think that has huge psychological significance for both the President’s political prestige and therefore power, and for the GOP primaries going into the 2018 mid-terms.”

i think you nailed it ...

I think what is in play is that Trump is winning. If Moore can be defeated, that is a defeat for Trump and Trumpism and Bannon, i.e., a defeat for conservative populism’s attempt to control the GOP. If Moore were to lose, the narrative would be that the Trump wave has ended. So I think that has huge psychological significance for both the President’s political prestige and therefore power, and for the GOP primaries going into the 2018 mid-terms.

I don't think so. Trump didn't support Moore in the primaries and, in fact, the one that Trump supported, lost. The narrative you describe would make sense if the GOPe had supported Moore, not Strange, in the primaries, but both the GOPe and Trump supported Strange, and the GOPe was heavily anti-Moore before any association could be made between Trump and Moore.

I think that you are right, that they are trying to stem the tide, but I think that there is definitely moore going on than just that. I think this is all about setting up a "year of the shark" frenzy against sexual harassment, setting up the precedent that harassers have no place in governance, and then they will move on to their real target: Trump.