I sit here watching Roy Moore demanding a recount after a nearly 2% loss. We seeing a myriad of conspiracy theories emerging and democrat activists bragging about committing election fraud.
The Plain fact is that Roy Moore was contrived and is proving that he would have been a disaster.
People on the “establishment” side of the GOP are looking at this as validation of their hatred and disdain for Conservative values. They are wrong. Democrats are looking at this as a win for their resist, obstructionist, globalist, socialist agenda. They are also wrong.
This was all about Roy Moore. It always was about Roy Moore. Just like several un-vetted so-called Conservative disasters in past elections whose stupidity was exposed in the general election after they won the primary. Remember Sharron Angle? Remember Joe Miller? Remember Christine O’Donnell?
I remember when the “Tea Party” helped keep Harry Reid in as majority leader four years longer than he should have been. I remember dozens of PAC’s which sprung up managed by people who got rich off of them. The result, these candidates lost, the people running the PACs got rich and the Tea Party is generally disapproved of 3-1 or more in poling data.
The Facts
The pure fact of the matter is that it was Roy Moore who beat Roy Moore. People will whine about the bimbo eruption, but Republican candidates should be prepared for these sort of outright lies and have a plan to exterminate them. Roy Moore didn’t have such a plan and the democrats took advantage of him. Worse, Roy Moore’s arrogant lawyer response made him look and feel guilty to the electorate.
Roy Moore (and the others mentioned above) made several rookie candidate mistakes. Moore got outspent 10-1. Moore attacked the very people whose support he needed in the General election. He chose ego-based defiance rather than conciliation.
Is it any wonder that the NRSC and the RNC bailed at the first sign of trouble? Moore’s terrible response to the accusations made it even easier for them to stay away.
Roy Moore had no ground game. Fringe out-of-state democrats descended on Alabama as soon as they sensed blood in the water.
Roy Moore had a limited positive message. Mostly, though he was all about bashing Mitch McConnell and protesting innocence after he fumbled the strategy and basically validated the liars. The last 6 weeks of the campaign was national news all about the sex stuff against Moore.
Roy Moore’s Judge Campaign under-performed Mitt Romney by 8% in 2012, barely winning a judgeship. Moore was expelled from the bench twice. These facts alone should have been the clear evidence that Moore was not ready for prime-time.
Similar to Tim Donnelly in California, Moore is like a recurring political rash that pops up every two years to run for something. This time, he caught lightening in a bottle and ended up sabotaging the GOP from holding an otherwise safe US Senate Seat. Moore will be back, he can’t help himself.
The left is spinning this as a defeat for Donald Trump. It can’t stand that the President has helped expose their bias, lies and malfeasance. Roy Moore thought he could be President Trump, so the media did to Roy Moore what they tried to do to President Trump, only it worked on Moore.
President Trump had no choice but to engage on Moore’s behalf when it was clear Moore might win. Everyone thought that Moore would be a worse train wreck army of one than Rand Paul could ever dream of.
The RNC, when it re-engaged 9 days out knew the same. The President and the RNC could not establish a precedent that they were going to selectively honor or dishonor the will of the primary voters (including when those voters chose to commit suicide).
Now that Moore lost, the Republican Party has been saved from a recurring nightmare on a variety of fronts: Moore has the political version of Tourette’s syndrome a la Todd Akin; Moore would likely have been subjected of investigations, reinforcing the war on women lie; Moore would have never been a team player or reliable vote for President Trump’s MAGA agenda.
Watching the media, the GOPe and democrats beat their chest is another bonus from the Moore defeat. Being able to see the lack of character and hubris unfiltered in the glow of “victory” is another great expose that is hard for the average American to miss.
Conclusions
The Republican Party was handed a gift.
When un-vetted “True Conservative” disasters run for US Senate or Congress, they will be compared to Roy Moore in 2018. Pollsters estimate that Roy Moore has over 50% name ID nationally and it is overwhelmingly negative.
In 2018, this will matter as the Christine O’Donnell’s and Joe Millers will have to stand on their merits rather than self-serving pseudo conservative rhetoric to win a primary.
Of course I am not happy that we lost the Senate Seat – however the reality is that given the 4-5 squishes that are on the R side, it makes a 51-49 Senate not much different than a 52-48 Senate.
Roy Moore’s demise has also saved us from a 3 year recurring political nightmare as the media would have camped out everywhere Moore went looking for anything they needed to further the racism and war on women lie.
Happily, Roy Moore will not be the straw man the left and the media were looking for in order to brand the Republican Party.