I’m sick and tired of outsider pontificating on Roy Moore’s loss. If you aren’t from Alabama you do not understand why this happened. Moore’s loss was not due to Steve Bannon or Mitch McConnel, although Mitch McConnel was directly responsible for Moore winning the nomination.
Mitch McConnel threw millions of dollars into trashing Mo Brooks in the primary while virtually ignoring Roy Moore. No one liked the way Luther Strange was appointed and everyone knew he was a swamp critter, but he might very well have won if Mitch had stayed out of it. The avalanche of anti Brooks ads did manage to kill any chance Brooks might have had, but had the unintended consequence of suppressing turnout by potential Strange voters because they were disgusted by the obvious GOPe play. This allowed Moore’s hard core base to rise to the top. Mitch did it again against Moore in the runoff virtually assuring Moore the nomination.
Moore’s only claim to fame was his 10 Commandments stand. He started out by putting them on the wall in his Etowah County courtroom generating outrage by the liberal media, then parleyed that into winning election to the Alabama Supreme Court. He continued his grandstanding by placing a 10 Commandments monument at the Alabama Supreme Court and
defying court orders to remove it, leading to his removal from the bench. He failed when he tried to run for governor then managed to win election again to the Alabama Supreme Court where he was again removed for defying court decisions on gay marriage. His grandstanding has won him a core of support among single issue voters, but Alabama isn’t quite as redneck as the national media would lead you to believe. We are conservative but we (excepting Roy Moore’s base) are pragmatic.
Yesterday I went to the polls, held my nose and voted for Roy Moore because, as President Trump said, we need the seat. I came very close to staying home, not because of the accusations against Roy Moore, but because I have always considered Roy Moore to be the political equivalent of a TV preacher. Moore lost because many Republicans simply couldn’t stand the stench and stayed home. Pretty much everyone thought Moore would win, so voters felt comfortable standing by their principles and staying home...oops! The “November Surprise” probably cost him the election, but it shouldn’t have been close, and with ANY other Republican it would have been a landslide.
Doug Jones will be in office until the 2020 election and will lose in a landslide. Take it to the bank.
Well said!