A new Opinion Savvy poll in Alabama finds Roy Moore (R) leading Doug Jones (D) in the U.S. Senate race by five points, 50% to 45%.
Trump Infuriated After Backing Loser
“Returning from a high-dollar fundraiser in Manhattan on Tuesday evening, an infuriated President Trump watched aboard Air Force One as Fox News called the Alabama Senate primary for Roy Moore against Trump’s favored candidate, Luther Strange,” CNN reports.
“What ensued was a barrage of angry venting at his political team and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had consolidated establishment GOP support behind Strange.”
“He went to bed ’embarrassed and pissed’ following the election loss, according to a person familiar with his mindset. Trump, multiple sources said, is furious with McConnell, and feels outdone by his former aide Bannon.”
Republicans Choose Authoritarianism Again
Jonathan Chait: “The Republican Establishment has suffered through the Trump presidency, filling the news with a constant stream of caustic, mordant, off-the-record comments attesting to their sense of regret. The presidency is exactly the chaotic shambles the Trump campaign was, and the legislative results are much less than his party hoped to win when it made its pact with the devil. The nomination in Alabama of Roy Moore for U.S. Senate offered the party a chance to reconsider whether the prospect of supporting the team, and the incrementally higher prospects of enacting some tax cuts and social spending rollbacks, is worth the cost of elevating a dangerously unhinged demagogue for public office. The entire party, without any apparent hesitation, is leaping at the chance to make the same deal again.”
“Moore is hardly a carbon copy of Trump. He is religious where Trump is secular, fanatical where Trump is cynical. But he shares the president’s two most pertinent attributes. First, Moore is a purveyor of paranoid conspiracy theories, such as the belief that Sharia law has taken hold in American communities, or that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Second, and more distinctly, he is not a small-d democrat.”
Trump Deletes Tweets Endorsing Strange
“After enthusiastically endorsing an Alabama senator’s campaign for re-election, President Trump distanced himself on Tuesday night from the candidate’s loss in the most Trumpian way possible: He deleted his supportive tweets,” the New York Times reports.
“Hours after Senator Luther Strange, a Republican from Alabama, lost in Tuesday’s primary runoff, Mr. Trump excised at least three favorable Twitter posts, including one sent Tuesday morning.”
Moore Wins GOP Senate Nomination In Alabama
“Roy Moore, a firebrand former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, overcame efforts by top Republicans to rescue his rival, Sen. Luther Strange, defeating him on Tuesday in a special primary runoff,” according to the Associated Press.
“The outcome in the closely watched Senate race dealt a humbling blow to President Trump and other party leaders days after the president pleaded with voters in the state to back Mr. Strange.”
Washington Post: “For conservative opponents of the current Republican leadership, the victory was a godsend — literally, for many — and a validation of the larger effort to replace the current leadership of the Republican Party with a more populist crowd.”
Trump Says He Expects Strange to Lose
President Trump “began distancing himself from a Luther Strange loss before ballots were even cast, telling conservative activists Monday night the candidate he’s backing in Alabama’s GOP Senate primary was likely to lose – and suggesting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be partly to blame,” Politico reports.
“Trump told conservative activists who visited the White House for dinner on Monday night that he’d underestimated the political power of Roy Moore, the firebrand populist and former judge who’s supported by Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“There are communities under Sharia law right now in our country.”
— Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R), quoted by Vox.
A Moore Win Could Spark a Populist Revolt In 2018
First Read: “If Roy Moore is victorious tonight – and if he wins the general in December – that will only strengthen the Steve Bannon/Breitbart/Nigel Farage forces in future GOP primaries. Think Arizona (where Sen. Jeff Flake is incredibly vulnerable), Nevada (ditto Sen. Dean Heller) and even Colorado (where Rep. Mike Coffman has dared Tom Tancredo to primary him).”
Trump Stumps Against ‘Ray’ Moore
President Trump called into Alabama radio hosts “Rick and Bubba” this morning and warned that “Ray” Moore would open the state’s U.S. Senate seat to Democrats, the Birmingham News reports.
Said Trump: “Luther Strange is going to be a great Senator. He loves Alabama, he loves the state and he loves the country. He will absolutely win against the Democrat. Ray will have a hard time. If Luther wins, the Democrats will hardly fight. If Ray wins (Democrats) will pour in $30 million.”
When host Rick Burgess clarified that Moore’s first name was Roy and not Ray, Trump came back with why it’s “not a good sign” when the president doesn’t know your name.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Roy Moore would be the Todd Akin of 2017 and 2018 for every Republican on the ballot. Republicans will be asked, ‘Do you agree homosexuality should be punished by death, do you believe 9/11 was a result of God’s anger?’ He’ll say outrageous things, the media will play it up, and every Republican will be asked, ‘Do you agree with that?'”
— Karl Rove, quoted by the New York Times, on Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R).
Strange In Trouble In Alabama
“The White House and senior Republicans are deeply worried about Sen. Luther Strange’s chances in Tuesday’s GOP runoff here — even after unleashing the full weight of the party machinery to stop his opponent, flame-throwing conservative Roy Moore,” Politico reports.
“The sheer breadth of the anti-Moore campaign has stunned Alabama’s political class: It includes non-stop TV ads, a meticulously-crafted get-out-the-vote effort, and detailed, oppo-research-filled debate prep sessions for Strange. … Much of the assault has played out on the air. During the final week of the contest, a trifecta of pro-Strange GOP groups — the Senate Leadership Fund, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and National Rifle Association — flooded the state with about $2.5 million in TV and radio ads. Moore was confronting a nearly five-to-one spending deficit on the airwaves.”
The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Moore ahead by nearly eight points, 51% to 43%, ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Moore Holds 10-Point Lead Over Strange
A new Optimus poll finds Roy Moore (R) leading Sen. Luther Strange (R) in the GOP Senate primary runoff, 55% to 45%.
Key finding: “80% of those surveyed and 86% of primary voters know Trump endorsed Strange, which is up 5% since Tuesday and 15% since last week. Moore has maintained similar leads throughout this period.”
Bannon Will Headline Rally for Roy Moore
Stephen Bannon is heading to Alabama to rally for Roy Moore (R) on Monday night with Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty,” according to Axios.
“Why it matters: This rally is three days after President Trump, Bannon’s former boss, was in Alabama rallying for Moore’s opponent — Mitch McConnell’s favored candidate Luther Strange. For Bannon to make a rare public appearance in such close proximity to Trump shows how invested he is in this race specifically, and attacking McConnell more generally.”
Trump Supporters Came Out Just for Trump
From a Washington Post report on President Trump campaigning for Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in Alabama last night:
Strange took the stage just before Trump and proudly put on a red “Make America Great Again” hat. Up in the stands, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan remarked: “I don’t know who this guy is. I’m here for Trump.”
“Are you ready to support our president tonight?” Strange asked. From the stands, a young Trump supporter shouted back: “You suck!”
Quote of the Day
“I’ll be honest, I might have made a mistake. If Luther doesn’t win they’re not going to say, we picked up 25 points in a short period of time. If his opponent wins, I’m going to be here campaigning like hell for him.”
— President Trump, quoted by the Washington Post, expressing doubts about his endorsement of Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL).
Carson Breaks with Trump in Alabama Senate Race
HUD Secretary Ben Carson “issued a statement on Friday supporting Roy Moore’s candidacy for the Republican Senate nomination in Alabama, breaking with President Trump’s endorsement of the establishment-backed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange,” the Washington Post reports.
“The extraordinary endorsement in Tuesday’s primary runoff election comes just hours before Trump is set to arrive in Alabama to campaign for Strange.”
Moore Keeps Lead In Alabama
A new FOX10 News/Strategy Research poll in Alabama finds Roy Moore (R) leading Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in the Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff, 54% to 46%.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“He was deplorable before being deplorable was cool.”
— Sarah Palin, quoted by the Birmingham News, campaigning for Roy Moore (R) in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race.