Who’s The Creepiest Old Man In The Senate?

After Republican child molester Roy Moore announced he would be running for the Alabama Senate seat again, appointed Senator Martha McSally of Arizona was quoted by Politico’s Burgess Everett saying “Give me a break! This place has enough creepy old men!” Was she wasn’t referring to Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and some of the other creepy old men in the Senate? No doubt— but this time the whole DC wing of the GOP is united against Roy Moore, the Alabama Republican ho has already proven he can win Republican primaries in his state— and not general elections. And speaking of McTurtle… he’s flipping out. If the Democrats can hold onto the Alabama seat, there’s a good chance McConnell won’t be majority leader in 2021— or ever again.

Alabama has a statewide PVI of R+14, one of the worst in the country. In 2016, Señor Trumpanzee beat Hillary there 1,318,255 (62.1%) to 729,547 (34.4%). And yet when Trumpanzee named Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions Attorney General, the voters of Alabama replaced him with Democrat Doug Jones instead of Moore— 673,896 (50.0%) to 651,972 (48.350. Trump campaigned vigorously for Moore but many Alabama voters saw it as one sex deviant supporting another sex deviant and just stayed away from the polls. The institutional Republican Party immediately pledged to do everything it could do to derail Moore’s primary bid this time. One possibility would be to dig up Jeff Sessions to run for his old seat again, although he has indicated he’s finished with politics after his acrimonious months as part of the Trump regime.

"There will be a lot of efforts made to ensure that we have a nominee other than him and one who can win in November,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). “He’s already proven he can’t.”

Added Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, “We’ll be opposing Roy Moore vigorously."

A Moore candidacy could harm Republicans’ national brand if he catches fire again, and incumbents running in purple states— like Gardner and McSally— are loath to find themselves tied to him. And facing a tougher 2020 map with several battleground seats in play, Republicans are eager to beat Jones and cushion their majority.

If Republicans do defeat Jones, that would require Democrats to pick up a minimum of four seats elsewhere to take the Senate. Alabama should be an easy pickup for Republicans, given the state’s bright red hue and Trump’s popularity, which is why Moore’s new run is causing such alarm in the GOP.

“You think it’s been divisive before? It gets really divisive on the other side,” Jones said of Moore’s Senate bid. Moore defeated former Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in 2017 despite significant support from the party establishment.

…Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) and former Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville are already in the race, and Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) is considering it. But that crowded field could easily play to Moore’s advantage given his past popularity with the state’s most conservative voters. What's more, Moore also could conceivably win a general election with Trump atop the ticket, a nightmare for the Senate GOP that would then have to deal with a bomb-thrower in the caucus.

The president and his son, Donald Trump Jr., have already expressed their dissatisfaction with Moore’s run. Trump tweeted last month that Moore “cannot win,” and Trump Jr. tweeted Thursday that “Roy Moore is going against my father and he’s doing a disservice to all conservatives across the country in the process.”

“The people of Alabama rejected Roy Moore just a few months ago. And I don’t see that anything has changed,” said Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Yet Moore has been unbowed by that criticism, seeking to run once against as an outsider against the establishment. Republicans largely pulled their support from his bid after the sexual misconduct allegations were reported by the Washington Post, leaving Moore adrift in a race that should have been an easy GOP hold.

On Thursday, Moore called out Young for opposing his candidacy and slammed both the NRSC and the Senate Leadership Fund, an outside group that spent heavily against Moore in 2017. He accused the NRSC of running a “smear campaign” and bashed Shelby for doubting his viability.

“Why such a hatred and opposition to somebody running? Why does mere mention of my name cause people just to get up in arms in Washington, D.C.?" Moore said at a news conference Thursday.

That combative stance is leading some Republicans to suggest Trump may have to do more, because otherwise “we probably lose the seat,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

“I’m concerned,” Cornyn said. “If President Trump came out forcefully against him … that would certainly make it more likely that somebody else will get nominated.”

Yet Republicans are also wary of doing anything that could repeat the debacle of 2017, when support from Senate Republicans seemed to weigh on Strange and give Moore an opening in the primary. The Senate Leadership Fund is not yet vowing to spend in the race, waiting to see if his candidacy will fall apart on its own, and senators said they need to have a lighter touch this time around to stop Moore from succeed.

“We will do everything we can to stop him. But we need to be careful about that,” said one Republican senator. “We have to be more elegant.”

Not an NRSC strong suit. Moore is likely to run against the establishment. McConnell is an easy enemy even inside the GOP, where he’s hated everywhere. Moore: "I think there was so much opposition because they don't want the truth in Washington. I think they want to continue the status quo." That’s a message that resonates among Alabama Republicans, who could easily be offended by DC politicians telling them who their nominee will be.