Why Roy Moore’s Supporters Are Sticking With Their Man
Why Roy Moore’s Supporters Are Sticking With Their Man
SCOTT GREER
Deputy Editor
6:23 PM 11/15/2017
Republican Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks has an honest explanation for why he’s standing by embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore.
“America faces huge challenges that are vastly more important than contested sexual allegations from four decades ago,” Brooks told an Alabama publication Monday. “Who will vote in America’s best interests on Supreme Court justices, deficit and debt, economic growth, border security, national defense, and the like? Socialist Democrat Doug Jones will vote wrong. Roy Moore will vote right. Hence, I will vote for Roy Moore.”
That answer is quite unique when compared with the responses the vast majority of Republican lawmakers have given when questioned about the sexual misconduct allegations against Moore. Numerous figures have pulled their support for the firebrand candidate due to these accusations, and the Republican National Committee has officially withdrawn funding for Moore’s candidacy.
However, in spite of the massive national blowback against the former judge over the accusations, most Alabamians appear to be sticking with the GOP nominee. One of the latest polls shows Moore still leading his Democratic opponent Doug Jones by six points — a remarkable stat considering Moore presently stands accused of forcing himself onto teenage girls.
It seems that many Alabamians share Brooks’ opinion that the agenda is more important than “contested sexual allegations.”
That defense of Moore stunned many folks and explains why a reporter chased Brooks down a flight of stairs in order to question the rep further on the matter. The Alabama congressman declined to do so.
The chattering class’s consensus on such a statement is that it represents how tribalism has conquered the Republican Party. Principled Democrats and the old GOP would have never stood by someone accused of such foul deeds, regardless of the accused’s politics.
But that’s a laughable assertion. At the current time, Democrats are standing by New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, in spite of him standing trial for corruption and facing allegations he slept with underage prostitutes.
(RELATED: Jury Deadlocked In Menendez’s Corruption Trial)
The media is ignoring a Democratic congressional candidate in New Mexico’s recent stalking charge, even though we’re living in a moment where exposing powerful men for creepy behavior is a major news trend.
(RELATED: Networks Ignore Dem Candidate Arrested For Stalking)
Tons of photographic and video evidence of former Vice President Joe Biden getting grab-happy with young women is shot down as an “alt-right fake news meme” by morally righteous liberals.
Democrats stood by Bill Clinton when he still mattered in politics in spite of the multiple sexual assault allegations leveled against the president. Believing his accusers meant you were part of that vast right-wing conspiracy.
Now that he is no longer relevant to politics, liberals are finally giving Clinton’s accusers a fair hearing — all while blaming conservatives for why Bill’s alleged victims weren’t believed in the first place.
How courageous and principled.
Democrats also never held the late Ted Kennedy accountable for leaving a young woman to drown in Chappaquiddick. Several in the party still wanted him to be their nominee for the president in the 1980s when the whole country knew about the incident.
It appears Kennedy’s stances on the issues were just more important than that awful act.
Outside of the party, liberal actor George Takei has blamed the sexual misconduct allegations levied against him on Russian bots — without much criticism from his fellow progressives who think all accusers should be believed.
Tribalism is not the exclusive domain of one party and it is not some new phenomenon in American politics. All sides are prone to excusing or ignoring the behavior of their own champions.
To Moore’s supporters, it appears the only side that has to enforce the supposedly bipartisan consensus on decent behavior is their own. They genuinely believe the accusations against Moore are part of a coordinated hit job on their candidate and involves a whole host of villains — from the mainstream media to cowardly establishment Republicans like Mitch McConnell.
That’s why there’s so much belief in ridiculous conspiracy theories such as that the accusers were bribed “1000$” for their stories. A guy on Twitter said so, so that’s good enough for them.
It’s doubtful there will ever be enough evidence to convince hardcore Moore supporters to ditch their man. It is also doubtful most of the people truly believe the dumb conspiracy theories surrounding Moore’s accusers. Those tall tales are just cover for sharing Mo Brooks’ view — Moore’s politics are more important than the accusations.
A lot of conservatives may say that two wrongs don’t make a right and the Right should be better than the Left when it comes to the bad characters on their own side. But outside boosting the self-esteem of those conservative pundits, the electorate and society don’t appear to reward being the bigger man in politics.
Democrats and liberals are still going to tar the Republican Party as the pro-pedophile party no matter how many GOP leaders come out against Moore. They are also not going to suddenly hold their own people accountable — unless they are no longer useful — in response to the principled stance of their Republican foes.
The Left will just celebrate the humiliation of their opponents and the acquisition of a crucial Senate seat.
In years past, that would have been an acceptable price to pay to compensate for nominating a possible sex offender. But now both sides in politics see each other as mortal enemies. To help out the other side means jeopardizing your own freedom and way of life, according to the partisans locked in combat.
It’s not just a Senate race — it’s war.
Moore’s supporters see the candidate as a man in their own foxhole willing to fight for them, no matter the bad press or withdrawn funds. This is a war for survival against villainous leftists, and surrender is not an option to these hardcore supporters.
That’s why they’re sticking with him. The Left is not upholding the bipartisan consensus, so why should Moore’s base?
http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/15/wh...ith-their-man/
