The chickens are coming home to Roy.
Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, the God-fearing folks of white Alabama — last month, these brave souls were threatening to draw the line at child molesting, ready to abandon serial teen-dater Roy Moore in next week’s special election for a U.S. Senate seat.
Well, that bold moment has passed.
Republican leaders from Washington to Montgomery are hurriedly choosing the alleged cradle-robber over a candidate with an even darker title next to his name: Democrat Doug Jones.
Someone should put that on a bumper if it isn’t there already: I’m for the perv, not the Democrat.
Matt Lauer probably wishes he’d been broadcasting from Birmingham. While the rest of America is obsessing over sexual misconduct, Alabama’s new state slogan should probably be, “Aw, cut him some slack, won’t ya?”
The polling is a little thin, but it’s pointing more and more toward Moore: Emerson College has the Seven or Eight Commandments judge (there are a few he doesn’t follow) up by six points. JMC has Moore up by five points. Only the Washington Post, whose interviews with Moore’s accusers got the whole thing started, has Jones ahead, 50 to 47 percent, though it must be said that some Alabamians may not be eager to talk with strangers about such things. And here’s an even dicier number: CBS found that 71 percent of Alabama Republicans don’t believe Moore’s many accusers are telling the truth.
Echoing his id, Steve Bannon, Trump has spent the past week defending the May-December candidate, noting that Moore “denies everything.” If only someone had told Hillary: That’s all it takes to get Donald off your back!
On Sunday, it was McConnell’s turn to display moral clarity. In mid-November, the Republican Senate leader was calling Moore’s accusers credible and demanding Moore “step aside.” McConnell even suggested that Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former Alabama senator, might considering jumping in.
No more. “I’m gonna let the people of Alabama make the call,” McConnell told ABC’s “This Week.” He wasn’t alone in the dodge.
Of the more than 30 other Republicans who spoke out against Moore, hardly any of them are doing anything to stop him now.
Metro columnist Ellis Henican is the best-selling author of a dozen books, including “TRUMPITUDE: The Secret Confessions of Donald’s Brain.” www.trumpitude.us.
