Let’s be real, it’s Trump and Bannon on the ballot in Alabama

The voters of Alabama have made it very clear to anybody and everybody who has asked that no outsider will determine their vote. But two very well-known outsiders obviously have not been listening.

The first, of course, is someone who can’t bring himself to stay out of the fray. President Trump was at first very guarded about the alleged transgressions of Roy Moore. In fact, his press secretary initially went so far as to call them “troubling.”

But that line has gone out the window.

{mosads}Now Trump endorses Moore without hesitation or caveat. He is not keeping his distance; he even called Moore to tell him how much he likes and approves of him.

One of the reasons given by one CBS purported radio pundit for Trump’s change of heart was that Trump does not now believe the accusations about Moore.

This dumb analysis truly boggles the mind.

Since when did Trump care about the personal behavior of any individual? Even his own?

Trump cares only about winning. He has read the poll numbers and now feels that Moore has a good chance to win. But this still requires a little more justification. So now he tells the citizens of Alabama, “We don’t want to have a liberal Democrat in Alabama, believe me.”

Call a candidate for high office in the “heart of Dixie” a liberal; now that’s some serious name-calling.

If that’s not good enough, how about this recent Trump tweet: Doug Jones is “a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is weak on crime, weak on the border, bad for our military and our great vets.”

Schumer and Pelosi: Just utter their names, and the requisite animus will come pouring out.

The other outsider who seeks to determine the election this coming Tuesday, Dec. 12, is the one and the only Stephen K. Bannon.

Bannon is not content to use his website to foment his twisted and bigoted ideology. He has decided to go down to Alabama and, in person, campaign and make the case for Moore.

Stirring up the most base sentiments in a rural section of the state, he appealed to the personal insecurities of people there. “They want to destroy Judge Moore,” he declared. “And you know why? They want to take away your voice. If they can destroy Roy Moore, they can destroy you.”

One prominent Republican felt it necessary to state his own views on the race.

The 2012 presidential nominee of the Republican Party, Mitt Romney, said about Roy Moore that, if elected, he would be “a stain on the nation.” He went even further by stating that “no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity.”

Bannon couldn’t contain himself. Blasting this decent man, he said of Romney: “You hid behind your religion.”

Bannon, I believe, suffers from candidate envy. He has emerged from the shadows and eagerly seeks the adulation and applause. Hiding behind his website is no longer sufficient. He, like Trump, desperately desires the roar of the crowd.

The voters of Alabama now have three names on the ballot proclaiming to be the GOP nominee — Moore, Trump and Bannon. Take your pick.

I sincerely hope that Alabama voters will surprise the nation. That they will renounce the candidacy of Moore. That they will show that Alabama is not backward; that it has good judgment and can select a person whose life and career is excellent and exemplary — Doug Jones.

That the machinations of Trump and Bannon will be rejected.

Alabama will determine its future without any outside help.

And that future, as they so often say in the South, “will make them proud.”

Mark Plotkin is a contributor to the BBC on American politics and a columnist for The Georgetowner. He previously worked as the political analyst for WAMU-FM, Washington’s NPR affiliate, and for WTOP-FM, Washington’s all-news radio station. He is a winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in writing