AL-Sen: Change Research is the latest pollster to find Democrat Doug Jones surging into a lead in next month's Senate special election following Republican Roy Moore's pedophilia scandal. The firm says Jones leads by 46-43, which represents an improvement for him compared Moore's 44-40 edge in their previous survey, which was in the field from Nov. 9 through Nov. 11 immediately as the scandal was breaking. Pollsters have widely found that the revelations against Moore appear to have hurt him badly, though they disagree over just where things stand. Given the difficulty of polling in such a shifting environment, it's hard to know if Jones really has taken a lead and whether those wavering Moore supporters will ultimately hold their noses and vote for him.
One prominent Moore supporter did just that on Friday, when Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said the following:
"I'm going to cast my ballot on December the 12th, and I do believe the nominee of the party is the one I'll vote for," Ivey said. "I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices, other appointments the Senate has to confirm and make major decisions. So that's what I plan to do, vote for Republican nominee Roy Moore."
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She was asked if she believed Moore's accusers.
"I certainly have no reason to disbelieve any of them," Ivey said. "The timing is a little curious. But at the same time, I have no reason to disbelieve them."
It represents breathtaking moral bankruptcy for Ivey to back a candidate she admits she believes is a pedophile simply because they'll further her party's quest for power, but this is the same sort of partisanship-over-everything attitude that put Donald Trump in the White House. The state party and many prominent Alabama are standing by Moore, but it remains to be seen whether that will convince enough wavering GOP voters to return to the fold like they did with Trump’s election.