Voters: We Hate the Establishment More Than We Love President Trump

Judge Roy Moore defeated Luther Strange by a margin of about 10 points in last night’s Republican Senate Primary Runoff in Alabama.  Strange, who formerly served as the State’s Attorney General, has filled the vacancy caused by Jeff Sessions’ appointment as Attorney General since February.  President Trump campaigned on Senator Strange’s behalf late last week; holding a campaign-style rally in Huntsville.  This particular Senate primary runoff has created a rift between the President and some of his most vocal supporters.  Sarah Palin, Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Steve Bannon campaigned on Moore’s behalf.  No doubt about it, the media has a desire to make the rift seem bigger than actually it is to advance their narrative that the Trump Presidency has reached crisis mode.  Many of these people simply believe that Moore would serve as a better steward for the Trump agenda, which they steadfastly support, than Strange.  Perhaps more accurately, they saw Moore as less likely to bow to the demands of the unpopular and ineffective GOP establishment than Strange.  Moore’s victory made one thing very clear: Republican voters hate the establishment more than they love President Trump.

 

Even a last-minute visit from Vice President Mike Pence could not help put “Big Luther” over the top.  In addition to his support from the President and Vice President of the United States, Strange also received the endorsement of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose Senate Leadership Fund has spent millions of dollars on his behalf.  To many Republican voters, McConnell represents the embodiment of the GOP establishment that failed yet again to gather enough votes for the latest attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare despite promising the voters over and over again that they would scrap the healthcare law if the voters gave them the House, the Senate and the Presidency.  Long story short, they overpromised and under-delivered. The Obamacare nightmare continues for many Americans whose stories the mainstream media chooses to ignore.  Last night’s election results served as more of a referendum on McConnell and the GOP establishment than a referendum on Strange.     

 

Alabamans first went to the polls on August 15; the date of the original primary.  Moore won a plurality of the vote while Strange came in second.  Alabama law requires the top two candidates to advance to a runoff when no candidate gets 50 percent of the vote in a primary.  Many conservative activists previously supported Rep. Mo Brooks; who came in third, failing to get enough votes in the initial primary to advance to last night’s runoff.  Many of Brooks’ supporters switched their support to Moore; including Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter and Brooks himself.

 

During his campaign rally on Friday, President Trump informed the attendees that Strange’s agreement to support for the first healthcare reform package in July without “wining and dining” led to his endorsement of the Former State Attorney General over his challenger Moore.  He tried to reject the claim that Strange was a swamp creature by pointing out that Strange has only worked in Washington since February, while Trump has worked there since January. President Trump said that Strange “hardly knows” Mitch McConnell. The President also claimed that Strange would lead in all of the polls if he was not running as an incumbent.   

 

During his speech, the President made it sound like Strange would do better in a general election matchup against Democrat Doug Jones than Moore.  However, polling, which the establishment loves so much; proves this statement false.  The average of two polls from Emerson College show that Moore would beat Jones by an average margin of 13 points while Strange would beat him by an average margin of 8 points.  The polls for last night’s runoff consistently predicted a Moore victory.       

 

At times, the President’s endorsement of Strange reminded of me of now-Vice President Mike Pence’s endorsement of Ted Cruz the week before the Indiana Primary.  POTUS promised to campaign for Moore if he won last night’s primary, while Pence praised then-candidate Trump during his endorsement of Cruz.  Following Moore’s victory last night, President Trump tweeted out a statement; saying “Spoke to Roy Moore of Alabama last night for the first time.  Sounds like a really great guy who ran a fantastic race.  He will help to #MAGA!”    

 

Moore has established a reputation as a culture warrior with absolutely no fear of standing up to the left.  He wrote a poem called “America the Beautiful” that summarizes the cultural decline of America as a result of our great nation turning its back on religion and traditional values.  He had two rocky tenures as Chief Justice of the State’s Supreme Court that resulted in his removal from the bench both times.  His first removal came in 2003, after he refused to obey a Federal judge’s order to take down a Ten Commandments statue from the Alabama Judicial Building.  Moore’s decision to disobey the Federal Judge earned him a spot in Bernie Goldberg’s 100 People Who are Screwing Up America.  Unfortunately, many of our elected representatives in DC do not appear to have the stomach to serve as effective culture warriors.  Roy Moore has proven that he will stand up for what he believes in; regardless of how unpopular that makes him among the elites who govern our country. 

 

Apparently finding his style refreshing, the people of Alabama elected Moore Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court again in 2012; nearly a decade after his ouster.  His second removal came last year after he directed state probate judges to continue to enforce the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, which more than 80 percent of Alabamans voted in favor of, despite the fact that the Supreme Court had declared all bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional the previous year.  Quick question: Why do leaders in California and all other sanctuary jurisdictions face no consequences for defying Federal immigration law yet Judge Moore gets booted from the bench for defying a Supreme Court ruling?  This sure looks like a double standard to me.  Every time the Trump Administration tries to hold sanctuary cities accountable for defying Federal law, a judge always rules their action unconstitutional. The radical left can always count on its allies in the judiciary to come through for them. 

 

The race to fill Jeff Sessions’ old senate seat will officially come to a close on December 12, when Moore will face Democrat Doug Jones.  The winner of that race will finish out the remainder of Sessions’ term, which expires in 2020. Strange will continue serving in the Senate until after the December 12 election; when his successor will take office.  Democrats can fantasize all they want about picking up a seat in ruby-red Alabama but they should not waste their time (or money) trying to win a Senate seat in a state the President won by more than 20 points.  Alabamans should look forward to another visit from President Trump in the near future. Hopefully, Moore’s victory delivered the establishment a crystal clear message: the voters have had it with your inaction.  If the inaction continues, more establishment Republicans will see their political careers come to an early end as they lose their primaries to anti-establishment, more conservative challengers.