First reliable poll of Alabama has Roy Moore at … 13 percent?!?

Wowsers.

This is the first poll of Alabama from a reliable data geek since creepy Roy Moore announced his desire for a second chance at the U.S. Senate. It has good news and well, sorta bad news.

The good news is that Roy Moore polls a distant third at 13% of likely Republican voters.

The bad news is that former Auburn head football coach leads the field at 29%. This only bad news if you’re a die hard bammer (like me) and would have to really hold the nose really, really hard to vote for the coach who ran up a streak of six straight wins against Alabama. If you’re new to the state and haven’t declared a faction, or if you’re All In the Fambly, this is not bad at all.

We bammers at least have Bradley Byrne, who received his law degree at the Capstone. He’s at a respectable 21% in the poll and if the numbers hold, the runoff would be between Aubie Tuberville and Bammer Byrne. Oh, what fun that would be.

There are a few things at work here that tell the astute observer that Moore is toast:

• President Trump’s “Roy Moore cannot win” tweet. A statement like that from Trump is a kiss of death.
• Tuberville is very Trump-like in appeal. He talks the conservative talk. He’s never held public office. He runs his mouth a lot. Trumpy!
• Fundraising in-state. Moore starts with a backpack full of legal bills and Alabama’s deep pockets don’t pay for losers.
• Fundraising out-of-state. Moore had lots of national populist support last go-round that isn’t there this time. Steve Bannon and Breitbart News are even less interested in Moore than Goat Hillians.
• National GOP disgust at another Roy Moore run. Mash here for a sampling of what the DC Republicans think.

All normal righties need to worry about now is that these numbers hold through the next 11 months and Moore fails to make the runoff. Then, once the bona fide candidate emerges we can get to snatching the Sessions Seat back from the usurper.

Did you see Roy Moore last week? Roy Moore loves him some Roy Moore…

I watched ex-Judge Roy Moore’s campaign launch last week. And just like the good little narcissist that he is, Roy Moore made the day all about Roy Moore.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a candidate spend so much time whining about how he been done wrong by a bunch of people who don’t love Jesus and hate Roy Moore. In the first five minutes of his speech, he referred to himself at least a dozen times and rattled off a list of the names of all the bugaboos that are being mean to him. The only person I’ve heard make more noise about himself than Moore did was former Narcissist in Chief Barack Obama.

After spending a sparse few minutes in general platitudes of conservative orthodoxy, he went on and on and on about how the 2017 special election was rigged from get go by people in Washington. Even when asked why he thinks he can win in 2020 he just shrugged and said “I think I won the last election.” He has actually convinced himself that if it wasn’t for “false tactics,” he’d have walked away the winner. The man has never even considered that he lost because he was a bad candidate and ran a lousy campaign.

Last week's presser showed everyone that Roy Moore is as awful today as he was two years ago. Nothing has changed. Moore blames everybody but himself for the 2017 debacle. Ironically, when asked what he planned to do differently this time he suggested that he might make his campaign “more personal.” I’ve gone four paragraphs and just under 300 words without mentioning the chief reason he might not want to talk about that—the credible allegations that he was likely forcibly intimate with very young girls a while back. The idea that a man with that kind of baggage wants to become more intimate with the electorate is just downright creepy.

Roy Moore makes Joe Biden’s touchy-feely brand of personal contact feel almost Andy Griffith-ish. Uncle Joe seems charming and affable. Roy Moore makes you feel like you need a shower. Of course, none of the allegations against Moore have seen the light of day in a court of law. And we do have a presumption of innocence in this nation. But I don’t know anyone who would let their teenagers be alone with Moore for more than two shakes of a wee lamb’s tail.

Those who know my political leanings know that I believe economic liberty is the salve to heal all wounds. It’s the tide that lifts all boats and the wind that fills all sails. There is no problem that cannot be solved with everyone being secure in ones ability to meet basic needs. That liberty is facing a credible threat from our political left and every race in the 2020 election is important to thwarting it.

Nominating Roy Moore almost guarantees Democratic control of a precious seat in the U.S. Senate that used to be safely red. The cause of economic liberty for all cannot be moved ahead when we allow a deeply flawed narcissist to carry our banner. Any of the other candidates—Yes, even Tommy Tuberville—is better able to see that this race is about us, not about him.