This is some seriously dictatorial madness. Panicked Republicans—who had no problem with Roy Moore two days ago, and who don’t even care about allegations that he had sexual contact with teenage girls except inasmuch as it might cause them to lose a critical Senate seat—are now bandying about an absolutely nuclear option: rescheduling next month’s special election in Alabama. For real. The New York Times reports that advisers to GOP Gov. Kay Ivey “have not ruled out” the possibility of a delay but are seeking “reassurances of support from the White House,” meaning they want to know Donald Trump will back Ivey up if she chooses to subvert democracy.
And herself. As the Times notes, Ivey already moved the date of this election once—moved it up, from November of 2018 (the month chosen by her disgraced predecessor, ex-Gov. Robert Bentley) to this year. Why did Ivey do this? Her explanation at the time was dead simple:
"I promised to steady our ship of state. This means following the law, which clearly states the people should vote for a replacement U.S. Senator as soon as possible."
But now, apparently, “following the law” may just get discarded in favor of “saving the GOP’s ass.” How exactly such a move would actually rescue their hindquarters, though, is far from certain. State law makes it impossible to swap candidates less than 76 days before an election, so in theory this would provide Republicans with enough time to pressure Moore to quit and find a replacement.
Moore, however, has made it screamingly clear that he has no intention of dropping out, so the state Republican Party would have to forcibly remove him as their candidate—something Alabama’s secretary of state says it can, apparently, do. That would be an extraordinary F-U to the party’s voters, of course, but Republicans have already made it clear that they’re entirely willing to toss out all the rules.
And if this doesn’t work, what’s next? Re-run the GOP primary? Pass a bill saying any candidate whose name rhymes with Coy Boor can’t run for office? Simply declare that only Republicans are allowed to hold Senate seats in Alabama?
Nuts to that. Republicans are now desperately afraid that Doug Jones will win on Dec. 12, and with reason: A new poll shows Moore slipping into a tie with his Democratic opponent. Republicans have proved they’re willing to bend the law until it breaks in order to cling to power. Whatever garbage they try to pull, we need to fight back immediately, and make them pay the price.
Don’t let the GOP get away with banana republic nonsense. Send $3 to Doug Jones right now!
This posted has been edited to reflect the fact that the Alabama GOP can remove Moore as the party’s candidate on its own.