Conservative grassroots Alabama Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore faces off against D.C. establishment Senator Luther Strange tonight, and all eyes will be on Alabama to see if Moore’s “grassroots muscle” will defeat Strange’s “corporate money.”
The D.C. establishment has poured at least $30 million into the race and reportedly gave President Donald Trump plenty of happy talk to convince him to campaign for Strange. The Swamp did so because they are reportedly terrified that if Moore wins tonight, other grassroots candidates will challenge, in former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s words, Swamp creatures “in their own states.”
Just hours before polls closed in Alabama, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who would have faced a grassroots challenger in a primary, announced that he will retire at the end of his Senate term, essentially saying, “no mas.”
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon campaigned for Moore in Alabama on Monday and said that a vote for Moore is a vote for the economic nationalist agenda that got Trump elected. Trump campaigned for Strange last Friday in the Yellowhammer State, but many voters who attended the rally indicated that though they still support Trump, they will vote for Moore, who has led in every poll leading up to tonight’s runoff.
Trump, who never admits making a mistake, openly told the crowd that he may have done so by going against his grassroots supporters and endorsing and campaigning for Strange on behalf of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and all of the establishment-aligned groups that have shown nothing but utter disdain for grassroots conservatives and working-class Trump voters.
Polls close at 7 p.m. CT. Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates throughout the evening. All times eastern.
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12:00:
11:20: Trump Deletes Pro-Strange Tweets:
From Breitbart’s Matt Boyle: President Trump Call Judge Moore to Congratulate Grassroots Conservative Candidate
11:05: Breitbart News’ Matt Boyle reports that President Donald Trump called Judge Roy Moore tonight to congratulate him on the win. Judge Moore told President Trump: “I look forward to working with you.” Boyle reports that the phone call lasted about five minutes. More from Boyle: “The President conveyed to the Judge that he understands what he went through to win, and he closed the call by saying ‘God Bless You’ to the judge.”
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/912878386271449088
11:00: A senior Congressional tells Breitbart News about the mood tonight up on Capitol Hill: “It’s like a funeral up here on Capitol Hill.”
10:42:
10:40:
10:35:
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/912866846390571009
10:30:
10:17: Has Jared ever given Trump good advice?
Politico: “Trump was encouraged to pick Strange before the August primary by son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner as well as other aides, White House officials said. He was never going to endorse Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, who has at times opposed Trump’s agenda, and knew little about Moore, officials said.”
10:15: Flashback: Trump Advisers/Gatekeepers Gave Him Happy Talk, Bad Advice:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his gang of establishment Republicans implored President Donald Trump to campaign for establishment Republican Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) against conservative frontrunner Roy Moore, the former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, because they reportedly are terrified that more grassroots candidates across the country will challenge establishment Republicans if Moore defeats Strange on Tuesday.
Moore has led in every poll leading up to Tuesday’s runoff in what has been described as the “first proxy battle” between Trump and his former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who has vowed to support the economic nationalist agenda that got Trump elected in the first place.
…
According to the Washington Post, Trump’s advisers “were deeply divided on whether” Trump “should risk jetting to Alabama to prop up” Strange. But GOP establishment forces reportedly waged “an intense behind-the-scenes campaign to convince Trump that he could carry Strange across the finish line with an appearance in Alabama.”
Though White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was reportedly hesitant about sending Trump to Alabama to potentially waste his political capital, establishment Senate Republicans were “unwilling to let the president turn his attention elsewhere” because they worried that a Strange defeat “could prompt some GOP senators to retire to avoid facing the wrath of anti-establishment voters and the likes of Bannon’s Breitbart News,” according to the Post’s Bob Costa.
He points out that Strange’s establishment consultant Jeff Roe “fed regular updates to Jared Kushner” while establishment consultant Ward Baker, who advises a pro-McConnell super PAC that has reportedly “poured more than $8 million into Alabama to support Strange,” updated Trump and Pence. Pence loyalist Kellyanne Conway reportedly “impressed upon Trump how much power his visit could have in Alabama and reminded him that all five of the candidates he backed in special elections this year won.” And establishment Republican Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who just recently openly questioned Trump’s fitness to be president that in turn got him plenty of plaudits from the legacy press and vicious Never Trumpers, also begged Trump to campaign for Strange.
“You’ve got to go,” Corker reportedly told Trump, according to the Post. “We need you there.”
10:12: Moore says God can bring us back. He talks about his love for the Constitution.
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/912861869668491266
10:08: Moore thanks Almighty God. He says he has never prayed to win this campaign. He has only prayed that God’s will be done. Moore says he has spoken to Senators Paul, Lee, and Cruz. He says don’t let anyone in the press think that he does not support Trump because Trump supported Strange.
10:05: Bannon says Moore’s win shows economic nationalists do not need to raise millions from “fat cats” on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. He says Alabama answered today that the people–not money–is sovereign in Alabama.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912860336100904960
10:02: PALIN congratulates Moore and says we need more “happy warriors” in D.C.:
Congratulations Judge Moore and thank you Alabama!
We can win this war! This is what we need, the happy warriors who are in it for the right reason. They’re in it for a reason, not just a season and not just a business for them. They have a servant’s heart that we need in our government. I’ve followed Judge Moore’s career for many years, as I said, and the ups and downs and the battles that he’s had inside and outside of the party and always standing up for what he believes is right. Some of the things he’s done, I’ve just gotten a kick out of, and I think they need some of that in Washington—like when he showed up to vote riding a horse, I thought we’d probably do the same thing. He’s a good man and he’s got great character. Yes, this is what we need. We don’t need the lobbyist mentality in the Senate, because that lobbyist mentality has too often proven to the people that special interests that will enrich that lobbyist will come before the people’s interest. We can’t afford any more of that. That has led us to the $20 trillion debt that we’re in. That has led us to the government growth and overreach that we see. So, no, we don’t need to elect more of the problem—we’re not going to solve the problem by electing more of it. – Sarah Palin
10:00:
9:48: Strange now making his concession speech, says this is not the result he wanted and has congratulated Judge Moore. Strange says his team left everything out on the field/court and is proud of the campaign he ran … and there are a lot of political winds blowing right now. He says he won’t lose any sleep. Gets golf claps from audience. Strange thanks his Senate office staff, many of whom are present at the event.
9:47:
9:45:
9:40:
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/912851816005734403
9:38:
9:28: Race called for Moore:
9:15: These people…
9:10:
9:05: Decision Desk, Cook Political Report’s Wasserman Project Moore Victory:
9:00 PM:
8:50 PM:
8:45 PM:
8:30 PM: Very few votes in. More leads with 58% of the vote, but there are fewer than 2,000 votes in so far.
https://twitter.com/JackRoyer/status/912835018875183104
RTR:
8:00 PM: Polls have closed in Alabama, and exit polling looks good for Moore.
7:30 PM:
The Associated Press notes: “Low turnout is largely considered to be positive for Moore, who has a loyal following among state evangelical voters.”
7:20 PM: Bannon expected at Moore’s watch party.
7:15 PM: Bannon told Hannity that there needs to be a “real review” of how Trump got such bad information about this race if Moore wins the race. Chief of Staff John Kelly and his team of bureaucrats have reportedly worked overtime to control the information flow in the White House. Translation: They are preventing Trump from reading articles from right-of-center publications and isolating him from his base that has stood by him when his gatekeepers were running for the hills.
7:10: Read Jeff Poor’s preview of the runoff here:
7:00 PM ET: Polls close in less than an hour.
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