Politics
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Roy Moore.
- Republicans made a series of unsuccessful decisions months before embattled GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore was accused of sexual misconduct that led to Democrats having a chance to pick up a deep-red seat.
- It all began with President Donald Trump choosing then-GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general.
- New York Times reporter Alex Burns laid out all of the missteps in a Monday Twitter thread.
Well before allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers changed the conversation around Alabama's special election, the GOP made a number of questionable choices that made it possible for Republicans to lose a virtually guaranteed Senate seat in the deep-red state of Alabama.
New York Times reporter Alex Burns posted a series of tweets on those "extraordinarily unsuccessful series of choices" Monday night, laying out all the moves that led to a situation in which Democratic nominee Doug Jones could find himself Alabama's next senator-elect by Tuesday night.
It began with with President Donald Trump's decision to name then-Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, who held the Alabama seat that Jones and his Republican challenger Roy Moore are now vying for, as attorney general. Republicans, facing a series of decisions for what to do with the seat, seemingly miscalculated.
Burns went through each decision in "choose-your-adventure" form.
Polling in the race is all over the place, with recent surveys showing Jones up 10 points, Moore up 9 points, and a tied contest. Moore held a substantial lead over Jones until mid-November, when allegations that Moore preyed on teenagers were first reported by The Washington Post.
In his final campaign rally on Monday, Moore told Alabamians, "If you don't believe in my character, don't vote for me."
Also during that rally, Moore's wife, Kayla, rebuked the idea that her husband was anti-Semitic or racist, saying "one of our attorneys is a Jew" and "we have many friends who are black."
Polls close at 8 p.m. EST.
It took an extraordinarily unsuccessful series of choices, by Republican leaders, to make the Alabama race competitive even *before* the Moore scandal. Let's review them in choose-your-adventure form.
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017You're President-elect Trump. You have to choose an attorney general. Do you:
(1) Reward Jeff Sessions for loyalty, knowing it will prompt a potentially messy special election
(2) Pick one of many non-senators available to the job, at the risk of disappointing your (then-)friend
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017OK, you chose (1). Now you're Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and you have to name a senator. Do you:
(1) Name an uncontroversial placeholder who won't seek a full term
(2) Name a highly popular and well known politician
(3) Pick the state AG who is currently investigating you
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017You picked (3)! Great. But oh no, you had to resign in your own scandal. Now you're the new gov, Kay Ivey. Do you:
(1) Leave the special election alone and let Luther Strange serve through 2018
(2) Move up the election to Dec. 12, 2017
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017Welp, you chose (2). Now you're Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the race is getting messy. Do you:
(1) Stay out of it
(2) Use your super PAC to nuke Roy Moore
(3) Ignore Roy Moore, trust Luther to beat him 1 on 1, and nuke a third candidate, House hard-liner Mo Brooks
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017OK, you chose (3). Yikes. Your guy lost the primary and Roy Moore, who you hate, is the Republican nominee. Do you:
(1) Grudgingly endorse him but close your checkbook
(2) Endorse him and go all-out to beat Doug Jones
(3) Shun Moore & immediately start recruiting a 3rd candidate
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017Well, you chose (1) and things have settled down a bit. It's Nov. 9. Do you:
(1) Take a big sip of coffee and check the website of the Washington Post.
(2) Take a HUGE sip of coffee and check the website of the Washington Post.
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017I hope you've all enjoyed this game. The point, obviously, is that if at any point, any of the other paths had been taken, Rs might never have had to worry about this election in a serious way, or find themselves painted into a corner with Roy Moore when the scandal broke.
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017However this turns out tomorrow, the election developed as a hugely unlikely event, shaped by human choices and their unintended consequences. None of it was inevitable. -- 30 --
- Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 12, 2017