October 01, 2017, 08:21 PM
ZSMICHAELComparisons to Huey Long and other Southern politicians. If he wins he will be a curiosity in the Senate. Entertaining piece from the Mobile Press Register below:
George Wallace? Huey Long? How Roy Moore stacks up with populist political rebels of the past
Updated on October 1, 2017 at 6:03 AM Posted on October 1, 2017 at 6:01 AM
Roy Moore's rode a populist message to the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. He's drawing comparisons to two other iconic political populists - former Alabama Gov. George Wallace (top right) and former Louisiana Gov. and Sen. Huey Long (bottom right).
Roy Moore's rode a populist message to the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. He's drawing comparisons to two other iconic political populists - former Alabama Gov. George Wallace (top right) and former Louisiana Gov. and Sen. Huey Long (bottom right).
When Roy Moore lashes out against Muslims and same-sex marriage, his opponents compare him to George Wallace and his segregationist crusades.
When Moore happily dons a cowboy hat or glad-hands with voters while bluegrass fiddlers strike up a tune, Southern historians are reminded of Texas Sen. Wilbert "Pappy" O'Daniel, who campaigned with country bands and declared, "Hillbillies are politicians now."
And when Moore forcefully promises to shake up the Washington establishment, some political observers see similarities with Louisiana's Huey "Kingfish" Long.
Whatever the comparisons, one thing has become clear since Moore defeated Luther Strange in Tuesday's Senate runoff for the GOP nomination: He could, if elected in December, usher in a rare blend of populism that hasn't been seen in the more buttoned-down Senate for decades.
"He might be the most interesting personality in the United States Senate since Huey Long was there in the 1930s," said Jess Brown, a retired political science professor at Athens State University.
"I would not be surprised if Roy Moore, if not for a while, becomes a bit of a darling for the mass media," Brown said. "There will be some on social media, talk radio and mainstream press who will love him."
'Doesn't learn easily'
If Moore is elected to the U.S. Senate on Dec. 12, he'll begin scripting perhaps the most significant chapter in his public career.
History has been relatively kind to Long -- largely because of his work to lift up Louisiana's working-class poor -- but the entertaining O'Daniel has come to be seen as generally inconsequential. And Deep South senators who flourished espousing racist messages have, by and large, been relegated the footnotes.
"There have been a lot of Southern senators over the last 70 to 75 years who have become memorable names," said Cal Jillson, professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "They take on a colorful personality and repertoire and a way of doing politics and talking about issues that are pitch-perfect to their local electorate, but is Pig Latin at the national level."
Many political observers agree that Moore would become an immediate curiosity in the Senate, his every move followed by national and international media. After all, he'd bring a reputation as a man twice ousted from his job as Alabama chief justice, once for refusing to move his Ten Commandments monument and again for suggesting resistance to the U.S. Supreme Court's gay-marriage ruling.
Molly Reynolds, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institute in Washington, said one of the first things she keeps an eye on is whether freshman senators position themselves, in some way, against their own party. In Moore's case, he's already vowing to support any uprising against Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose political action committee spent millions of dollars in efforts to tarnish his name and derail his Senate candidacy.
"The Republicans only have 52 seats and as we've seen with this health care thing, you don't have many votes to spare," said Reynolds. "In most cases, a hypothetical Senator Moore or a Senator Strange ... they would vote the same on most things. But when you have someone coming in opposed by party leadership, you don't know what might happen."
Moore might find himself compared, in contemporary Senate circles, with Texas' Ted Cruz or Kentucky's Rand Paul, both of whom are considered political outsiders. But with Cruz, Jillson said, he's moved from being a "bomb-thrower" to more of a "problem-solver" on a variety of issues, including judicial sentencing reform.
"It's hard for me to see that Roy Moore can make that transition," Jillson said. "A guy twice removed as a chief justice for refusing to comport to national rulings is a guy who doesn't learn easily."
'He would have moved'
When Moore jauntily rides his horse on his way to vote, or pulls out a revolver at a rally to illustrate his support for the Second Amendment, some longtime political observers see Wallace in his political heyday.
"They both have a populist thing about them," said Steve Flowers, author of the 2015 book "Of Goats & Governors: Six Decades of Colorful Alabama Political Stories.
Said William Stewart, a professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama: Stewart: "Moore is the closest parallel to Wallace since Wallace, without question in mind."
Next up: Moore v. Jones in Alabama Senate race
Next up: Moore v. Jones in Alabama Senate race
Moore, over the years, has tried to separate himself from the Wallace comparisons. And Wallace's daughter, Peggy Wallace Kennedy, while not necessarily defending her father, wrote an op-ed in 2016 decrying Moore as a dangerous grand-stander.
Indeed, said Flowers, there's a key difference between the two men: Wallace was a demagogue, he said, but Moore is not. "If you get to know him, you would know that he's doing is what he believes in. He's lost his job twice. Wallace probably believed in segregation, but he wasn't losing his job for it."
Referencing Wallace's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" in 1963, Flowers said, "If a federal judge or judicial panel told Wallace he would lose his job as governor if he did not move out of the schoolhouse door, he would have moved of it."
Dan Carter, professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina and author of the 1995 book, "The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism and the Transformation of American Politics," takes the view that it's difficult to draw a comparison between Moore and Wallace.
"I would say at the outset that, from my perspective, Wallace was much more intelligent and politically savvy than Moore," Carter said. "To some degree, Wallace was able to transcend his regional limitations when he first came to national prominence. Moore is very much a creature of Alabama politics with its almost tribal-like political allegiances."
He continued, "Wallace certainly appealed to the sense that the federal government was attacking the moral foundations of America. But there is one fundamental difference: Wallace, despite his racial views, never cast aspersions on other faith traditions."
'Watch him perform'
In the opinion of Jim Zeigler, Alabama's state auditor and a tea party favorite, Moore better compares to Huey Long.
The fiery Long served as Louisiana's governor from 1928-1932, and in the Senate from 1932 until he was fatally shot in 1935 in Baton Rouge by the relative of one of his political enemies.
"In the past, the freshmen senators had no power and very little influence," Zeigler said. "Senator Long was an exception to that. He developed the issues he was interested in promoting or opposing. He used the Senate to promote those things, those issues he stood for. His Senate speeches ... the media would come and cover it and the public would sit in the galleries and watch him perform. He was not manageable by the Senate leadership."
On economic issues, Long and Moore differ significantly. Long's interest in wealth redistribution compares more favorably today with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont than it does with Moore, who pledges a strict adherent to President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda.
But Long stood against the Washington power structure as he traveled the U.S. making impassioned speeches and accusing both major parties of incompetence in dealing with the Great Depression.
He became one of the few opponents to Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" within the president's own Democratic Party. Long, with his own d White House ambitions, rolled out his populist-themed "Share Our Wealth" blueprint for recovery.
"He started a nationwide organization and had membership," Zeigler said. "I could see Senator Moore doing similar things on issues. Roy Moore could talk about the foundation of moral law and he could take it nationwide."
Zeigler said, "The first day that Roy Moore steps out of his airplane and onto the floor, he'll be noticed by the media and followed by people who agree with him and disagree with him. He can start immediately on making a difference."
link:
http://www.al.com/news/mobile/....html#incart_m-rpt-2November 09, 2017, 06:48 PM
feersum dreadnaughtRoy Moore's full statement on teen sex encounter allegation
Updated 3:25 PM; Posted 2:07 PM
The Roy Moore campaign this afternoon released this statement in response to an article from The Washington Post claiming the U.S. Senate candidate had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl in 1979 when Moore was 32.
Here is the statement:
Today, the Judge Roy Moore Campaign for U.S. Senate issued a statement responding to yet another baseless political attack by the Washington Post, a paper that has endorsed Judge Moore's opponent. Moore campaign chair Bill Armistead released the following statement on Thursday afternoon:
"Judge Roy Moore has endured the most outlandish attacks on any candidate in the modern political arena, but this story in today's Washington Post alleging sexual impropriety takes the cake. National liberal organizations know their chosen candidate Doug Jones is in a death spiral, and this is their last ditch Hail Mary.
"The Washington Post has already endorsed the Judge's opponent, and for months, they have engaged in a systematic campaign to distort the truth about the Judge's record and career and derail his campaign. In fact, just two days ago, the Foundation for Moral Law sent a retraction demand to the Post for the false stories they wrote about the Judge's work and compensation. But apparently, there is no end to what the Post will allege.
"The Judge has been married to Kayla for nearly 33 years, has 4 children, and 5 grandchildren. He has been a candidate in four hotly-contested statewide political contests, twice as a gubernatorial candidate and twice as a candidate for chief justice. He has been a three-time candidate for local office, and he has been a national figure in two ground-breaking, judicial fights over religious liberty and traditional marriage. After over 40 years of public service, if any of these allegations were true, they would have been made public long before now.
http://www.al.com/news/index.s..._statement_of_t.htmlNovember 09, 2017, 06:53 PM
JALLENI’m sorry, but after Moore has been in the public eye for ~40 years, stood for elections in the past, now these allegations come to light for the first time, and that this is how the God Damned Commies roll, I’m not buying it, so far.
This was tried, unsuccessfully barely, with Clarence Thomas, it was tried successfully to get Barak Obama into the Senate, it was tried against Trump. It is remarkable how these allegations pop up out of the blue.
It is also remarkable how allegations against BJ persisted, multiplied, and were ignored as much as possible. These are merely the most prominent examples.
I don’t particularly like Moore, but I hate God Damned Commies, and have accumulated some experience over the years how they handle things.
This stinks.