Voters in Alabama are in a quandary. They are faced with a special election in which they have a choice between a man who has been accused by multiple women of chasing teenage girls for sexual relationships when he was in his 30s and another man who is a liberal Democrat. Ordinarily, someone like Roy Moore would have no chance of becoming a United States senator.
However, it says much about the state of the modern Democratic Party in America that Moore still has a decent shot over the Democratic candidate, Doug Jones.
The election may hinge on whom Alabama voters find to be the least disgusting. President Donald Trump has taken advantage of this dynamic by coming out not so much for Moore as against Jones.
The Al Franken factor
The wrench that has been thrown into the works courtesy of Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota cannot be understated in its effects of the Alabama special election. The fact that Franken groped at least one woman while she was asleep is not refutable. He let someone take a picture of him doing it. Franken has also been credibly accused by the same woman of sexual assault and by several other women of similarly creepy behavior.
The case for not making Moore a senator is weak so long as Franken remains a member of that august body.
The Democrats’ history of defending sexual misconduct committed by their own is well documented. Former President Bill Clinton, who blew up his presidency by dallying with a young intern and who has been credibly accused of forcible rape, comes to mind. The late Sen. Teddy Kennedy, who left a young woman to die in a submerged automobile rather than answer awkward questions about drunk driving, is another example.
Blame the media
Politico has an insightful piece that suggests that the media is mostly to blame for the more than even chances of a Moore win and, by extension, Donald Trump being in the Oval Office.
The piece concludes that liberal bias in the media is real and has been a problem for decades, at least since the press was busily attacking President Ronald Reagan. The hostility toward conservatives and Republicans has been as pervasive as the worshipful coverage of President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama.
Many Americans have finally gotten fed up and have primarily tuned out the media when it goes after Donald Trump and Roy Moore. They lied about Reagan and both Bushes, so they must also be lying about modern Republicans. The press has destroyed their credibility and has become the boy who cried wolf. The president can now tweet about “fake news, ” and he will be believed by enough Americans to prosper as a result.