Similar to what I was thinking: Suppose this were Massachusetts, not Alabama. Suppose the choice is between a man of scummy character who is ardently pro-choice, pro-LGBT, etc. and a man of impeccable character who wants to ban abortion and SSM. Massachusetts liberals could very reasonably argue that the consequences of allowing the “wrong” person into office surpass those of someone’s personal character flaws.
Sorry, I thought it was obvious. Democrats had convinced many voters that Bill Clinton’s salacious private life didn’t matter.
The same answer as before…you might gain a transient tactical victory while giving away a long-term strategic loss down the road. Worst case is all those good things you are talking about getting associated with the obviously flawed Franken in the minds of voters and in the backlash the pendulum swings radically the other way. Best case is just that the voters vote for someone else from the other party simply because of Franken, even if they don’t necessarily agree with the new guys positions from the other party.
One answer to the OP is of course the example it sets.
e.g. A Moore-voter speaking to her children:
Jenny, there are bad men in this world who abuse their positions of power to harass or abuse girls like you, and mommy’s just going to go and help keep such a man in a position of power.
And Johnny, you must never ever do the things that the person whose name I’m going to put a tick next to, did. Because there will be serious repercussions. Unless there isn’t, because you’re in a race against a democrat.
And you both must own up to any bad thing you do. Unless you’re a republican, and need to insult the intelligence of the electorate to keep a democrat out.
The main reason an Alabama Republican shouldn’t vote for Roy Moore is that Moore is 70. It takes forever to get power in the Senate and Moore doesn’t have that time. He’ll be a bomb thrower from day one, always making the story about Roy Moore. This hurts the Republican Party in 2018 and 2020.
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What exactly do you mean by “Voting the right way” ?
It seems to mean voting simply the party line, period. No thought, no consideration. That to me isn’t the “Right” way for a congresscritter to vote, even though most of them do.
And considering that Moore has demonstrated that he uses his influence and power in order to satisfy his appetites, he isn’t making decisions based even on the party, but on his own demented desires.
Yeah, I guess shitty people should vote for Roy Moore. I just want there to be less shitty people that want to.
My assumption is people who vote Moore do so for the following reasons.
Keeping the 52-48 senate majority makes it easier to appoint judges and pass legislation. Another Supreme Court Judge could die and to overturn roe v wade, conservative judges are needed.
Tribalism has made many Republicans feel having a democrat in power means economic collapse, terrorism, crime and incompetence.
Moore shares the white nationalist, nativist values of conservative whites. They may not call themselves white nationalist or nativist, but that is what they are. Defending America from an onslaught of non whites, immigrants, independent women, gays, Muslims, atheists, etc and anyone who doesn’t fit into their moral code.
There are lots of reasons for conservative whites to support Moore.
I saw a poll that 70% of Alabama Republicans think the Moore sexual accusations are false. So there is that, they can just pretend news isn’t real if it is unpleasant.
Roy has a intelligent wife. She’s quoted today on CNN.
What did she say again, hold on…
I found it…
*Roy Moore’s wife, Kayla, argued that her husband is no bigot at a Monday night campaign rally, saying that “one of our attorneys is a Jew.” *
She clearly understands the bigot issue. I’ll bet she even buys her gas from an African American. Yes, she’s blonde.
Are you college educated? What part of the country do you come from?
My impression is the gop descent into authoritarianism and incompetence is hurting them among college educated whites, but if anything it is making them stronger with high school educated whites (who face economic competition from immigrants and who share the gops cultural values).
Moore being removed from office twice for violating the constitution is sadly a selling point to some voters.
Not sure if I’m being whooshed here, but the “blonde” remark is stereotyping and somewhat bigoted in its own right.
I thought the same thing, and given the source, I’m skeptical it’s a whoosh.
ETA: on second thought, I’m not sure what to make of a comment along the lines of ‘that blonde airhead is so dumb she doesn’t even see the bigotry inherent in her own comment.’
Eh, The Kennedy’s are all mostly dead.
Don’t they keep making more?
Even disregarding the sexual assault allegations…perhaps you think those are false, which is possible…there’s still the fact that he refused a federal court order to remove the Commandments monument from his courtroom, the fact that he’s stated that Muslims shouldn’t be allowed to serve in Congress, the fact that he has doubts about whether women should be able to vote, and the fact that he has stated homosexual conduct should be illegal. Even disregarding the allegations of private behavior, his PUBLIC statements and actions should disqualify him from Congress.
If you’re a Republican in Alabama, whether or not you believe the allegations against him, you should realize that electing him is going to give Democrats a ton of ammunition; it’s evidence that the Republicans are nothing but spiteful, greedy, and short-sighted. If you do believe the allegations against him and vote for him ANYWAY, you’ve got a special place in Hell reserved for you. And I don’t even believe in Hell.
Yes. Any Republican who is thinking more than one step in advance should know that electing Moore is going to be, at best, a short term victory but a long term disaster. Better to “suffer” through a brief time with a Democrat in the Senate, and elect a saner (or less insane) Republican next time.
It’s easier than that. As the say in Texas, he’s all hat, no cattle.
What Clinton did with other consenting adults you mean? Sure. I do not see how that effects his ability to make policy.
I have a hard time with the clinton thing, though, as during his presidency, I was still a republican, and he was hated with a furious passion by my family. Naturally, I hated him a bit too, and it was not till the Bush era that my natural sense of fairness and equity lead me away from the republican party.
My mother still believes that they had Vince Foster killed. Sexaul imprpiety is pretty much irrelevant when there are those sorts of false allegations that still inform voters.
I don’t like what I know about Roy Moore, and I won’t particularly mind if he loses today, but I think it’s overstating things quite a bit to claim that people should “know” that Moore is going to be a “disaster”. I suppose it’s a possibility, but I’m skeptical that Roy Moore winning or losing is really going to have a very dramatic effect on the 2018 midterms or 2020. People in Indiana, Ohio and Florida are going to be choosing between two candidates, neither of which is Roy Moore. I’m not sure that “but Alabama elected Roy Moore!” is going to be a potent campaign commercial.
If you were to guesstimate, how many House seats do you think it will cost Republicans if Roy Moore wins?
Blondeness, like gun ownership, is a lifestyle choice. 