Tipsheet

All Alone: RNC Cuts Ties With Moore

Well, Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is virtually alone. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has ended their support. House Speaker Paul Ryan is telling him to step aside. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has told Moore to call it quits. NRSC chair Cory Gardner (R-CO) has said he will push to expel Moore should he win in the special election next month. Now, the Republican National Committee is pulling out of the race as well. The RNC will no longer fundraise with Moore. They’re not going to help him on the ground either prior to the December 12 election (via Politico):

The Republican National Committee is withdrawing its support for besieged Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, leaving him increasingly isolated as he confronts charges of sexual misconduct with teenagers. 

The RNC is pulling out of a joint fundraising agreement it had with Moore, according to a senior party official briefed on the decision. It is also canceling a field program it had set up ahead of the state’s Dec. 12 special election. The committee had about a dozen paid canvassers in Alabama working for Moore. It will no longer transfer any money to the race.

Even before allegations surfaced against Moore, the committee believed he was in trouble. Internal RNC polling conducted around a week ago showed him leading his Democratic opponent by just two percentage points. The committee has been evaluating its options about what to do about Moore over the last few days.

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Even if Moore were to exit, his name would still appear on the ballot because state law prevents a candidate from withdrawing from a race within 76 days before an election.

One possibility being discussed is waging a write-in campaign. But with just over four weeks until the election, such an effort would be a long-shot. Strange, who Moore defeated in a September runoff, has expressed little interest in being a write-in candidate, according to three people with direct knowledge of his thinking.

Moore has been hit with a string of allegations in which he was inappropriate with teenage girls. One of them alleged she was molested by him, another—a Trump voter—said she was sexually assaulted by him when she was 16 years old. Now, we have another development that he was banned from a mall in Gadsden because he was trolling for high school dates, allegedly badgering teenage girls in the process.