Politics

Washington Post: ‘Defiant’ Alabama Voters Are Sticking With Moore

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Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Alabama Republican leaders are sticking by Senate candidate Roy Moore despite national pressure to ditch him.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that attacks on Moore from Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the media are just motivating many to double down in their support of the embattled Senate candidate.

“Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election, not the media or those from afar,” said Terry Lathan, the GOP state chairwoman.

A Fox News poll released Thursday showed Democratic candidate Doug Jones ahead with 50 percent and Moore at 42 percent. However, CNN’s Jake Tapper noted that voters aren’t “inclined to be completely forthright with pollsters” when a candidate has been accused of sexual misconduct with minors. (RELATED: Another Woman Comes Forward Against Roy Moore: ‘He Grabbed It’)

“It’s kind of like George Wallace,” Joe Fuller, a lifelong Republican official, told the Post about the infamous segregationist politician. “You either loved George Wallace, or you didn’t like him. Years ago, I never found anybody who voted for George Wallace, but he always won.”

Alabama Republicans Gov. Kay Ivey and Rep. Mo Brooks are both telling voters to go out and vote for Moore on Dec. 12 to help move forward the Republican agenda.

“I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices,” Gov. Ivey said Friday.

And Brooks told voters at an event in Hunstville, “Doug Jones is going to vote wrong, and Roy Moore is going to vote right.”

Some voters told the Post that they now back Moore out of spite.

“I never liked Roy Moore,” Steve Morgan, the vice-chairman of the Bibb County Republican Party, told the Post. “But guess what? I’m voting for Roy Moore, because I hate the stupidity that has invaded the Republican Party.”