It’s already been amply established that if Roy Moore wins the special election for Jeff Sessions’ old Senate seat in Alabama, the Republicans will have set themselves up to lose the war while winning the battle. With his extreme and theocratic views, Moore would have been a millstone around the GOP in 2018 even before the allegations that he molested and improperly pursued women and girls broke. With those allegations, the Republicans will have to deal with the embarrassment of having a suspected pervert in their ranks.
But the GOP may have already lost one battle, and bigly–the battle for its future. Elizabeth BeShears, a columnist for Advance Publications’ Alabama Media Group, discovered that there is a distinct generation gap in the special election race. With few exceptions, young Alabamians are staying away from Moore in droves.
BeShears recalled that even before the allegations broke, Moore’s hard-right profile gave a lot of her friends pause. But once they broke, she’s gotten a lot of feedback from people about what they make of Moore. She soon noticed an unmistakable pattern–most of Moore’s supporters tend to be older than 40, while those who don’t want anything to do with Moore tend to be younger than 40.
That piqued BeShears’ interest, so she put a question to her Twitter followers.
If you’re a Young Republican (under ~40) who is willing to talk to me for an upcoming column about why you can’t vote for Roy Moore, please shoot me a message! #ALSEN #ALPolitics
— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizTBeShears) November 14, 2017
With few exceptions, those who responded said they were not willing to support Moore. Among them was Madison Smith, a two-time victim of sexual assault. While she was already wary of Moore, the accusations against Moore convinced her that “he doesn’t need to be anywhere near the justice system.”
Along similar lines, Michael Ellington, co-host of a right-leaning podcast on Alabama politics called “Young Alabama,” said that Moore had already lost his vote due to his inadequate understanding of the issues and his “dismal history in office.” However, the revelations of the last few days cemented that resolve; he believes that “without principle there’s no value in the politics.”
Collier Tynes, Dianne Bentley’s former chief of staff, believes that “it will not be a win for our party” if Moore prevails over Doug Jones. In a colossal understatement, she laments:
“If defending victims of childhood molestation has become controversial, we have hit rock bottom.”
Matthew Morris, a marketing executive who recently moved back to Birmingham from Atlanta, was even more blunt.
“You wouldn’t want your children to play little league football or baseball with him as a coach, you wouldn’t want to do business with this man, why would you put him in the Senate?”
Brett Walton, an accountant who served as chairman of the Auburn College Republicans during his student days, describes himself as “a Christian, conservative white male” who cannot bring himself to support Moore. He believes the allegations against him are “sickening,” and finds the accusers “credible.” While he doesn’t agree with Jones on many issues, Walton believes that Jones “won’t continue to further embarrass the state of Alabama.”
Further underlining this, late Saturday night, the Young Republican Federation of Alabama yanked its endorsement from Moore and called for him to “clearly and convincingly” answer the allegations against him.
One of the few contrarian voices was Dylan Smith, a banker who was the only young Moore supporter willing to go on record in BeShears’ Twitter call. Smith said that he supported Moore because “he will fight for the values of God-fearing, hard-working Alabamians.”
It’s not all that surprising that younger Republicans in Alabama are extremely chilly toward Moore. After all, it mirrors the same dynamic that emerged during the presidential campaign. Older evangelicals flocked to Trump, while their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews recoiled at his outrages on the campaign trail.
I’ve seen this dynamic myself. My charismatic church in Charlotte is split almost down the middle between Democrats and Republicans. And yet, almost no one there under 40 supported Trump. Most of my more conservative friends there were never-Trumpers, and the few who did vote for Trump held their noses while doing so.
The evidence is clear. Alabama’s younger Republicans aren’t as willing as their elders to vote for any schmuck with an “R” next to his name–especially when that schmuck is suspected of heinous and potentially criminal behavior.
(featured image courtesy Moore’s Facebook)
