Editorial

Alabamians Rejected A Creepy Kook, Not Trump

Roy Moore Getty Images/Jonathan Bachman

Scott Greer Contributor
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Roy Moore did the impossible last night — he lost a secure Senate seat in the reddest state in the country to an unimpressive Democrat.

Doug Jones is the first Democrat to be elected to the Senate by Alabamians in 25 years. It’s an incredible feat that has little to do with Jones and a lot to do with the stupidity of the GOP.

The first problem was that Moore was probably the worst Republican Senate candidate in recent memory. Before he was accused of sexual misconduct with minors, he was a man who struck average Alabamians as a kook and was prone to say stupid stuff on the regular.

Outside of addressing his sexual misconduct, Moore said on the campaign trail bizarre things about slavery, called Asian-Americans “yellows,” expressed his preference for Vladimir Putin over America, and admitted he had no idea what DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is.

Those are just a few examples.

Additionally, all of his surrogates made sure to say stupid stuff as well, such as Moore’s wife, Kayla, refuting anti-Semitism charges against her husband by noting their lawyer was Jewish.

Considering Alabama’s deep-red status, Moore probably could’ve overcome these gaffes if he hadn’t also been accused of sexually harassing and assaulting teenage girls. The candidate was easily convicted in the public eye over these allegations because he did a terrible job of refuting them.

Moore’s story on the allegations changed multiple times, and his first interview with Sean Hannity on the matter witnessed him sorta admitting to dating women under the age of 18. Then he went to denying he had ever met the many women who accused him of impropriety and blamed it all on Mitch McConnell.

Coupled with his crank status, a sufficient number of voters also believed he was a pervert.

President Donald Trump was able to overcome his many gaffes on the campaign trail through his charisma and his supporters interpreting them as either jokes or “telling it like it is.” Moore’s comments fit the cranky persona Alabamians have come to know him as.

Additionally, Trump’s sexual misconduct allegations were less damaging to the future president due to the fact he was running against the wife of Bill Clinton and all voters knew he was a cad. Trump didn’t try to hide his many years of womanizing. Moore, in contrast, presented himself as a holier-than-thou warrior for Christ who would never do anything perverted or sinful.

The allegations against him made him look like a fraud.

There is also something to be said of the issue Moore was singularly focused on, namely fighting against the LGBT agenda. Unlike Trump who focused on issues like immigration and trade that voters cared about, Moore obsessed over fighting a cultural battle that the majority of Americans have already moved on from and are no longer interest in.

Trump himself was the most liberal candidate on LGBT issues the GOP has ever fielded for the presidency. Reversing same-sex marriage was not apart of his cultural war.

Steve Bannon tried to argue that Moore was an “American Firster,” but the former judge’s obsession with same-sex marriage outweighed any other concern. This was a man who had no idea what DACA is and seemed to have no strong opinions on immigration, trade or foreign policy. Everything was focused on his narrow set of social issues, which is not a characteristic of Trumpism.

But it’s not all Moore’s fault for Tuesday’s humiliation. As detailed by The New York Times’ Alex Burns, the Republican establishment shares the blame in making it possible Moore became the party’s nominee.

During that primary, Mitch McConnell and his allies spent lots of money kneecapping the very conservative, anti-establishment Rep. Mo Brooks in the misguided belief that incumbent senator Luther Strange would easily beat Moore.

Instead, Moore crushed Strange in the party’s run-off, and the rest is history.

If McConnell had not intervened to kill Mo Brooks’ candidacy, Republicans would have retained Sessions’s old seat by double-digits and we would have one of the strongest immigration hawks in Congress as a senator.

While it is a dark day for the Trump movement, there are a few lessons to take from the disaster in Alabama.

One, kooks like Roy Moore should not personify Trumpism and his sad defeat will hopefully remove some of his stain on the brand. If you want to help make America great again, America Firsters should support legitimate candidates like Mo Brooks or Lou Barletta in Pennsylvania, not Nutty Moore.

Trumpism needs to be more than triggering the libs.

Two, the Alabama Senate race wasn’t a rebuke of Trump or a reflection of any other trend. It was simply due to the fact that Alabamians saw Moore as a nut and an alleged child molester. Under the same circumstances, Brooks, Strange or just about any other Republican would have won handily. With that in mind, the Alabama race may not be a sign of a coming blue wave.

Three, demographics played a major role in Doug Jones’ win. Many of the white voters that gave Trump a commanding victory in 2016 stayed home while African-Americans turned out in droves to vote for Jones. This turnout result is the key reason Jones won, and it’s not a lesson Democrats will forget. Why a significant part of Trump’s base stayed home is a question Republicans need to figure out quick.

Maybe it’s because Congress is busy ineptly trying to pass a corporate-friendly agenda rather than a populist one…

Four, the GOP establishment shouldn’t see Tuesday night as a triumph for their side over Steve Bannon. As stated above, Republicans are going to need to figure out how to turn out Trump’s base in the 2018 mid-terms. Running milquetoast establishmentarians who only care about tax reform doesn’t seem like the winning ticket.

Instead, the key to victory to take away from Tuesday should be that the GOP needs to back serious Trumpists who will campaign on the issues that elected the president.

Follow Scott on Twitter and buy his new book, “No Campus for White Men.”