Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Alabama GOP candidate Roy Moore (R) “poses a threat to the Republican agenda, adding that he favors maneuvering that would trigger a new special election,” The Hill reports.

Said Graham: “We’re about to give away a seat that can determine the future of Trump’s agenda, and I hope the good people of Alabama on the Republican side will try to find a way to pick a nominee that can represent the conservative cause in an effective way.”

He added: “This Jones guy’s not going to help us on anything that Trump wants to do.”

Meanwhile, a source close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tells the Daily Caller that a write-in campaign is “no longer viable.”

Boston Globe: “None of the nearly 10 pastors reached by phone said the allegations of sexual misconduct changed their views about Moore. Several said the allegations made them more proud to vote for the former judge.”

Said pastor Earl Wise: “I don’t know how much these women are getting paid, but I can only believe they’re getting a healthy sum.”

“Wise said he would support Moore even if the allegations were true and the candidate was proved to have sexually molested teenage girls and women.”

CNN notes the same editorial appears in The Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register and The Huntsville Times.

An Alabama pastor who supports Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) told the Birmingham News that allegations of sexual harassment against Moore are part of a “war on men.”

Said pastor Franklin Raddish: “More women are sexual predators than men. Women are chasing young boys up and down the road, but we don’t hear about that because it’s not PC.”

Washington Post: In defending Roy Moore, Alabama Republicans reflect state’s tradition of defiance.

The Atlantic: “With sexual misconduct allegations continuing to mount against the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, Moore has defied calls to drop out of the race by advancing an audacious conspiracy theory—that partisan fabulists in the mainstream media are working with his enemies in the political establishment to wage a nefarious smear campaign against him. Not long ago, such claims likely would have backfired. But in the Trump era, anti-press sentiment has reached a fever pitch on the right—something candidates like Moore are eagerly exploiting.”

“Charlie Sykes, a former conservative talk radio host, said Republican voters have been conditioned over years of right-wing media consumption to reflexively reject any news that challenges their worldview.”

“In Alabama, Sykes said, a ‘nightmare scenario’ is unfolding. ‘You have credible journalism being attacked and ignored amid a flood of misinformation and bizarre propaganda,’ he said, adding that his compatriots in the conservative media who are horrified by Moore need to grapple with their own culpability. ‘I think we should be horrified by the monster we helped create.'”

A new Fox News poll in Alabama shows Doug Jones (D) leading Roy Moore (R) by 8 points among likely voters in the U.S. Senate special election, 50% to 42%.

“Dear Mitch McConnell, Bring. It. On.”

— Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R), on Twitter.

“Bring It On was a movie about high school cheerleaders, so not surprising the phrase stuck in Judge Moore’s mind.”

— New Republic editor Jeet Heer, on Twitter.

Politico: “With less than four weeks until the special election and no sign that the party’s besieged nominee will exit the race, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his top advisers are discussing the legal feasibility of asking appointed Sen. Luther Strange to resign from his seat in order to trigger a new special election.”

”McConnell aides express caution, saying they’re uncertain whether such a move, one of several options being discussed, is even possible. Yet the talks underscore the despair among top Republicans over relinquishing a seat in deep-red Alabama, further diminishing their slim Senate majority.”

Rick Hasen: The latest GOP ploy likely violates the 17th Amendment

“Senate Republicans turned to President Trump on Wednesday in hopes he would join their urgent attempt to force GOP nominee Roy Moore out of the Senate race in Alabama following allegations of sexual misconduct — but Trump did not oblige,” the Washington Post reports.

“Instead, back in Washington after a 12-day Asia trip, Trump was silent on Moore, who has been accused by two women of initiating unwanted sexual encounters when Moore was in his 30s and they were 14 and 16. Moore has denied the allegations.”

”In Alabama, Moore showed no signs he was preparing to bow out.”