The Hill: Republican Elite — Not Trump’s Base — Lost the Alabama Race

Many establishment Republicans and Democrats would like to undermine Stephen K. Bannon by blaming him for Judge Roy Moore’s loss to Doug Jones in Alabama’s senatorial election on Tuesday, however, Frank Cannon writing at The Hill argues that it’s not the former White House Chief Strategist’s fault for the GOP’s stunning loss.

Here we go again. In the aftermath of Democrat Doug Jones’ victory in Alabama on Tuesday night, the same familiar faces on television are coming to the same familiar, yet inaccurate conclusions about the latest Republican debacle. The sun rises in the morning. President Trump tweets. And pundits and political strategists get it wrong.

So let’s talk about the real takeaways from the Alabama Senate race.

Roy Moore was a supremely flawed candidate, without a doubt. However, simply blaming Alabama voters — and Steve Bannon — for picking a flawed candidate is foolish. The so-called “experts” making this argument, including many Senate Republicans, completely misunderstand what is taking place with the electorate across the country.

The rise of Roy Moore — and Donald Trump before him — was not an accident, but rather a predictable consequence of the GOP’s inability to follow through on campaign promises for decades. Like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football, Republican voters have dutifully shown up year after year at the polls to elect Republican politicians who, invariably, have then turned around and made excuses as to why they can’t repeal ObamaCare, defund Planned Parenthood, build the wall, drain the swamp, etc.

This has had a twofold effect on the conservative base.

You can read the rest of the story here.