Like Trump, Moore breaking the rules of modern politics
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — He has ignored all the rules of modern-day politics.
He speaks unscripted. He skimps on fundraising. He undervalues get-out-thevote efforts. And he attacks the leaders of his own political party without mercy.
A year ago, that was presidential nominee Donald Trump. This year, it’s Senate candidate Roy Moore.
On the ground in Alabama, some believe the Republican Moore is poised to win the state’s special election Tuesday in a race that features extraordinary parallels with Trump’s White House run. Against all odds, Moore has weathered sexual misconduct allegations while applying the same unorthodox playbook that many political operatives said wouldn’t work for anyone but Trump.
“Trump was a rejection of the elite, and I think a lot of folks were hopeful that was a one-time glitch in the system,” said Republican operative Andy Surabian, who worked for the Trump campaign last year and now advises a super PAC working to elect Moore. “But it was really an indicator of a long-term trend that’s playing out now in Alabama.”
Like most of the GOP establishment, Trump avoided the Alabama race for much of the last month as allegations of sexual misconduct mounted against the Republican candidate. But in the campaign’s final weekend, the Republican president is engaged and fighting to rally voters behind his anti-establishment ally.
“LAST thing the Make America Great Again Agenda needs is a Liberal Democrat in Senate where we have so little margin for victory already,” Trump tweeted Friday about Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, hours before he was set to hold a campaign-style rally along the FloridaAlabama border. Trump added, “VOTE ROY MOORE!”
Moore likened himself to Trump in a last-minute ad ahead of Tuesday’s contest. In the ad, Moore said the same “Washington insiders” who tried to stop Trump, are trying to stop him.
Whether by design or coincidence, Moore’s candidacy has tracked Trump’s in more ways than one.
Both men were badly outspent by the competition. Hillary Clinton and her Democratic allies doubled the spending by Trump and his Republican team. In Alabama, the spending disparity is even greater in favor of Democrat Doug Jones.
Like Trump, Moore’s fundraising troubles left him with a bare-bones campaign operation with little comprehensive plan to identify his voters and ensure they get to the polls on Election Day.
Both men also have been marred by scandal.
Just 32 days before the 2016 election, The Washington Post published the “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump admits to sexual predatory behavior. Several women came forward in the following days with detailed accusations of sexual misconduct dating back decades in some cases.
And 33 days before Alabama’s 2017 election, The Washington Post published its first story about Moore’s accusers, including one woman who said she was 14 when Moore, then a 30-something deputy district attorney, took off her shirt and pants and touched her over her underwear. Several more women came forward in subsequent days with detailed accusations of sexual misconduct.
In both cases, a chorus of Washington Republicans quickly called on the men to quit the race. The candidates responded by denying any wrongdoing and attacking the media and their critics in the party elite. And as Election Day neared, the Republican opposition softened.
Each man survived by converting his shortcomings into political strength as an anti-establishment fervor swept through the electorate.
Moore, like Trump before him, cast his fundraising problems and misconduct allegations as evidence that the Washington establishment was plotting against him. And many voters, already frustrated with national politicians, liked it.
“You see a lot of parallels with Trump. They’re both very emotionally driven candidacies. They speak to voters’ anger and disgust with Washington and the status quo,” said Terry Sullivan, the campaign manager for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign. “Frankly, the Republican establishment is helping Roy Moore by opposing him.”