Incumbent Sen. Luther Strange talked so much about his “personal relationship” with Donald Trump that the audience could be forgiven if they accidently accepted the president of the United States as their lord and savior during the debate Thursday night.
Four days ahead of the special Alabama Senate runoff, Strange and Judge Roy Moore went around and around over who has Trump’s blessing and whether or not that was enough to get into the U.S. Senate.
“The president supports me,” Strange said in a testimony that would play on repeat. “Why would he do that?” he continued. “Because we’ve developed a close personal friendship.”
Moore shot back that he couldn’t tell what the president thinks or describe every move he makes or say “when he goes to the bathroom and when he doesn’t, like my opponent.” Other than some mud, that was pretty much the debate for the next hour and a half.
Strange tried hitting his opponent for his dissent in a controversial Alabama Supreme Court case about child abuse. Moore punched back that Alabama would never drain the swamp by electing a lobbyist appointed by disgraced former GOP Gov. Robert Bentley. Then there was some babble about specific legislation. But both men mostly rifled through notes and repeated talking points rather than addressing their opponents.
Come Tuesday, it’s difficult to imagine any debate argument sticking in the brain of the Alabama electorate. The only back-and-forth that seems to matter now is the question of presidential favoritism. And that’s not surprising. Trump won the state against Hillary Clinton during the presidential election by 27 points.
That fidelity will be tested on Friday when Trump travels to Huntsville and Monday when Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Birmingham. The pair have been proselytizing for Strange since the beginning of the primary, arguing that Strange is critical to the president’s agenda.
Moore has brought in his own advocates, Gov. Sarah Palin and former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka. Ahead of Trump’s visit and immediately after the debate, the pair argued that “a vote for the agenda that elected the president.”
And that’s the state of the race between the anointed and the apostate. Strange will continue to place his faith in Trump’s endorsement as Moore insists that he knows the true will of the president. It’s up the electorate to decide whom they believe.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
