Roy Moore Announces He Will Run For Alabama Senate In 2020
[guest post by Dana]
Of course Moore is free to run for any office he darn well pleases. The question is, is he really who the GOP wants filling a vacant Senate seat, especially knowing that his candidacy could endanger Republicans’ chances of flipping the Democrats’ most vulnerable Senate seat next year?
It appears that the GOP doesn’t think he is the right person for the job because too much is at stake:
A push is underway to get President Donald Trump involved in derailing Moore. Republicans are actively moving to recruit Jeff Sessions to run for his old seat. And GOP leaders are warning the party will jeopardize perhaps its only chance at picking up a Senate seat next year if they let Democrat Doug Jones get his favored match-up.
“There will be a lot of efforts made to ensure that we have a nominee other than him and one who can win in November,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). “He’s already proven he can’t.”
Added Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, “We’ll be opposing Roy Moore vigorously.”
I’d like to believe that the move against Moore as the nominee has as much (or more) to do with his weak character and numerous accusations of sexual misconduct allegations against him as it does about making a shrewd political calculation… Anyway, the last thing the GOP brand needs is more of Moore, and the sordid history he brings with him. GOP elected lawmakers seem to agree:
“Give me a break. This place has enough creepy old men,” said Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), referring to Washington, when asked about Moore’s candidacy.
“The people of Alabama are smarter than that,” said Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who as leader of the party’s campaign arm at the time vowed to try and expel Moore from the Senate if he won. “They certainly didn’t choose him last time, why would they choose him this time?”
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has talked to Sessions about running for his old seat, which he left to become attorney general for Trump. Sessions did not indicate to him whether he will run[…]
Additionally, President Trump advised Moore against running last month. Strictly for political reasons. After all, Trump supported Moore in 2017, in spite of the allegations he faced. And while he still has nothing against Moore, and is not bothered by the allegations (and c’mon, why would he be?), he nonetheless has made his position very clear:
Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama. This time it will be for Six Years, not just Two. I have NOTHING against Roy Moore, and unlike many other Republican leaders, wanted him to win. But he didn’t, and probably won’t…..
…If Alabama does not elect a Republican to the Senate in 2020, many of the incredible gains that we have made during my Presidency may be lost, including our Pro-Life victories. Roy Moore cannot win, and the consequences will be devastating….Judges and Supreme Court Justices!
While it seems likely that Moore wouldn’t win, if he did, what freshman lawmaker in an iffy state facing re-election would want to be associated with a party that has someone like Moore in office? Talk about handing red meat to the Democrats.
More concerns about Moore:
Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) and former Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville are already in the race, and Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) is considering it. But that crowded field could easily play to Moore’s advantage given his past popularity with the state’s most conservative voters. What’s more, Moore also could conceivably win a general election with Trump atop the ticket, a nightmare for the Senate GOP that would then have to deal with a bomb-thrower in the caucus.
FiveThirtyEight provides an insightful analysis on the problem of Moore, and yet, we are reminded that he could make it through when you consider this:
…Moore does have a path — especially a path to a primary runoff if there’s a crowded GOP field. And if he does get there, he would be only one step away from a rematch with [Doug] Jones. National Republicans may have an “Anyone But Moore” attitude, and GOP groups would undoubtedly pound Moore with negative ads, but remember that a Trump endorsement of Strange couldn’t stop Moore in 2017. So it’s not impossible that Moore does end up winning his party’s nomination.
Trump said “the consequences will be devastating” to his agenda if that happens. And that might be true — Moore would probably improve Jones’s chances of winning reelection. (Jones even egged on Moore to run again.) But even as damaged as he is, Moore would still have a decent chance of winning a general election in conservative Alabama, and that is surely a big part of why he’s running again.
When Moore was asked how this would be different than the 2017 bid for Senate, Moore, without a hint of self-awareness, responded, “I would like to make more personal contact with people.”
To which Donald Trump Jr., without a hint of self-awareness, responded,
“This can’t be real… can it? Based on the allegations I’d stay away from that but hey I’m new to this.
He also pushed back on Moore’s claim that he wasn’t “going against” the President with his decision to run:
This is pure fake news. I can assure everyone that by running, Roy Moore is going against my father and he’s doing a disservice to all conservatives across the country in the process.”
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (bb0678) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:32 pmAnd let’s not forget Mr. Moore’s much younger wife, who also stepped in it during the campaign (link).
I’d feel sorry for Alabamans, but the GOP already nominated this dork once before.
Paul Montagu (cbbfc4) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:46 pmOmg, I completely forgot about that, Paul Montagu. Ugh.
(But c’mon, aren’t you just waiting for Joe Biden to pop off with a heartfelt-finger-pointing declaration that “My best friend is black”!!)
Dana (bb0678) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:50 pmWe can pretend that Allred didnt present falsified evidence again, like gardner did to greitens or omissions like jag did to chief Gallagher or misrroepresentations like the black ledger, they all deserve it.
Narciso (478783) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:54 pmBiden’s blarney may outpace his brains from time to time (okay, frequently), but he answered Cory Booker perfectly. Amazing how quickly Dems will throw down the race card so quickly, even on one of their own.
Paul Montagu (cbbfc4) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:54 pmI am a fan of Sen. McSally’s, and this makes me like her even more. Thanks for including that in your post, Dana.
Advisors to former senator and attorney general Jeff Sessions: “We’ve finally found a way you can subject yourself to more humiliation from Donald Trump: Become the next U.S. Senator from Alabama!”
Sessions: “Where’d I put my shotgun? Get off my lawn, you whippersnappers!”
I hope Trump will wait until the primary is very imminent before endorsing anyone. For now, he should continue just to say, “We need a good candidate, and that’s not Roy Moore.” (That of course would require wisdom, discretion, and restraint on Trump’s part, so ….)
Proven losers: Roy Moore & Luther Strange. Don’t tell me there’s no prospect in the Alabama GOP who’s not better than either of these mutts.
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:56 pmFull quote from Moore: “I would like to make more personal contact with people. Especially single women below the age of 17, whom I view as my natural constituency.”
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:58 pmFull quote from Moore’s wife (see Paul Montagu’s #2):
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:02 pmOh, Beldar!!!
Dana (bb0678) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:05 pmI don’t often go for parody, but when I do, I go all out. 😉
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:08 pmYes, because we know how honorable the Democrats were with sessions both in 1986 and 2017,
Narciso (434aca) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:10 pmAh remember when Doug Jones put the wrong man in jail, and let Eric Rudolph get away with two more bombing, it took another 6 years to run him down
Narciso (2e50d8) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:16 pm@ Narciso (#11): Dude, save yourself time and effort, just post “But whatabout ___” in response to anything you can’t argue on the merits. We can all fill in the blank on our own, and it will be exactly as persuasive.
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:17 pmI did not believe the accusations against Moore. I did not find the accusers credible. I still don’t.
Nonetheless, I don’t want him running again, either. He may be elected from Alabama but he’ll be making laws for the rest of us too. We can do better.
nk (dbc370) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:19 pmWe can do better than Jones, too. As narciso points out, he was complicit in the Atlanta Olympics bombing SNAFU and the persecution of Richard Jewell.
nk (dbc370) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:21 pmTo finish the thought … and Roy Moore is the person most likely to get Jones re-elected.
nk (dbc370) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:22 pmUntil they conjure up the next bag of allegations, on the next prey.
Narciso (2e50d8) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:33 pmTrump could entice Moore to bow out by dangling a SCOTUS nomination to fill RBG’s seat. That way, Moore and Kavanaugh could catch up on old times and swap banger war stories.
Munroe (d9ef95) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:34 pmThat reminds where are the perjury referrals for Ford and swetnick, I understand swetnicks atty is otherwise occupied.
Narciso (2e50d8) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:38 pm@ nk (#14): Yes, none of those allegations were tested in proceedings which involved testimony under oath with Moore having his own counsel and a right to call witnesses and a findfinder authorized by law. We are left to our differing opinions, with no conclusive results.
One cannot say the same, however, of the two times Moore was removed for unethical conduct as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and indeed, he is estopped as a matter of law from ever denying the findings reached by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. Of that, he is guilty, guilty, guilty.
Beldar (fa637a) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:41 pm“FIDO says it couldn’t be any better.” – NASA PAO, STS-1, 4/14/1981
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:46 pmI wonder if Moore will enlist the help of Ted Crockett as his spokesman? Remember this:
Dana (bb0678) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:48 pmOne of the 5 SCJs that are/purport to be Roman Catholic should ask Crockett if only the King James version is valid. Good luck to the football coach (Tuberville) running in the R primary if it comes to that.
urbanleftbehind (0b39c8) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:52 pmThe video of Crockett and Tapper’s exchange is priceless.
Dana (bb0678) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:56 pmBeldar @ 20. I agree regarding his conduct on the Alabama Supreme Court and it’s part of of the reason I don’t want him in the Senate. Or running for it now. It’s all about him, his ego and his whimsies, and everything else, including the rule of law or his ostensible political party, be damned. This “comeback” is exactly in character with his second run for the Alabama Supreme Court after he was kicked out the first time. To be kicked out again.
nk (dbc370) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:56 pmHere is Roy Moore from his announcement speech today:
Dana (bb0678) — 6/20/2019 @ 7:59 pmLet it be noted that for possibly the first time in history, Donald Trump Jr is totally correct.
Kishnevi (1a529d) — 6/20/2019 @ 8:02 pmI dont want Durbin anywhere above dog catcher, but there isn’t much I can do about it, especially since the bureau ismt concerned about his communications with the Arlington shooter
Narciso (2e50d8) — 6/20/2019 @ 8:03 pmIt does not need to be a binary choice between Moore and Durbin, but if it were, I’d vote for Durbin. I like Durbin.
nk (dbc370) — 6/20/2019 @ 8:11 pmPaul Montagu (cbbfc4) — 6/20/2019 @ 6:46 pm
In all honesty, Mrs Moore’s latent antiSemitism is better than that Ms Omar’s overt antiSemitism.
Kishnevi (1a529d) — 6/20/2019 @ 8:15 pmWhich part comparing us servicemen to nazis and Soviet troops or being full tilt boogie for moloch (lois Lerner being ever helpful)
Narciso (2e50d8) — 6/20/2019 @ 8:21 pmWhile it seems likely that Moore wouldn’t win, if he did, what freshman lawmaker in an iffy state facing re-election would want to be associated with a party that has someone like Moore in office? Talk about handing red meat to the Democrats.
The GOP already has Trump and one or two insane congressmen. The Democrats have AOC and several anti-Semites in the House. What’s one more?
Kevin M (21ca15) — 6/21/2019 @ 1:44 amYou would think that there would be people MOVING to Alabama to run against Moore.
Kevin M (21ca15) — 6/21/2019 @ 1:46 amAnd yea! to McSally. I’ve donated money to her in each of her campaigns even though I’ve never stayed overnight in her state.
Kevin M (21ca15) — 6/21/2019 @ 1:48 amDoug Jones also is given the Stabenow-Manchin Nay Pass on several contentious votes.
urbanleftbehind (0b39c8) — 6/21/2019 @ 5:51 amIs there a lack of decent GOP candidates in Alabama?
Jeez…
Will Jeff Sessions jump back in?
whembly (fd57f6) — 6/21/2019 @ 7:18 am