BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — He has ignored all the rules of modern-day politics.
He speaks unscripted. He skimps on fundraising. He undervalues get-out-the-vote efforts. And he attacks the leaders of his own political party without mercy.
A year ago, that was presidential nominee Donald Trump. This year, it’s Senate candidate Roy Moore.
On the ground in Alabama, some believe the Republican Moore is poised to win the state’s special election Tuesday in a race that features extraordinary parallels with Trump’s White House run. Against all odds, Moore has weathered sexual misconduct allegations while applying the same unorthodox playbook that many political operatives said wouldn’t work for anyone but Trump.
“Trump was a rejection of the elite, and I think a lot of folks were hopeful that was a one-time glitch in the system,” said Republican operative Andy Surabian, who worked for the Trump campaign and now advises a super PAC working for Moore. “But it was really an indicator of a long-term trend.”
Like most of the GOP establishment, Trump avoided the Alabama race for much of the last month as allegations of sexual misconduct mounted against the Republican candidate. But now the Republican president is engaged and fighting to rally voters behind his anti-establishment ally.
“LAST thing the Make America Great Again Agenda needs is a Liberal Democrat in Senate where we have so little margin for victory already,” Trump tweeted Friday about Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, hours before he was set to hold a campaign-style rally along the Florida-Alabama border. Trump added, “VOTE ROY MOORE!”
Moore likened himself to Trump in a last-minute ad ahead of Tuesday’s contest. In the ad, Moore says the same “Washington insiders” that tried to stop Trump, are trying to stop him.