For Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tuesday was as bad as possible for a career politician.
McConnell watched his latest attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare die — a reoccurring failure that has cost the Republican establishment dearly in the polls.
Then, he stoody helpless while Republican voters soundly reject his preferred candidate, Sen. Luther Strange, in Alabama’s special U.S. primary election. Instead, conservatives selected outsider Roy Moore to represent them in the upcoming special election — and Moore is no friend to McConnell.
A firebrand Alabama jurist, Moore wrested the U.S. Senate nomination from an appointed incumbent backed by millions of dollars from national Republicans, adding a new chapter Tuesday to an era of outsider politics that ushered President Donald Trump into the White House.
The election results show that American voters want to drain the swamp — and they want it right now.
Roy Moore’s 9-point victory is a serious rebuke for McConnell, who Moore said should step aside as GOP floor chief.
Moore, the famed “Ten Commandments judge” twice removed from elected judicial office for defying controversial federal court orders, declared his nomination a message to Washington leaders “that their wall has been cracked and will now fall.”.
“Together we can make America great,” he said, echoing Trump’s campaign slogan.
The victory inspired other outsiders to stand up to establishment Republicans.
In Mississippi, state lawmaker Chris McDaniel, who nearly defeated Sen. Thad Cochran in 2014, called Moore’s win an “incredibly inspiring” blueprint that leaves him on the cusp of challenging Sen. Roger Wicker in 2018.
“We know Mitch McConnell was rejected tonight — and Roger Wicker is just another part of Mitch McConnell’s leadership apparatus,” McDaniel told reporters, saying he expects conservative challengers to emerge in other states, as well.
Trump himself closed ranks behind Moore after Strange conceded, underscoring his desire to keep the seat in Republican hands. Trump tweeted congratulations to Moore on Tuesday after the win.
Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017
On Wednesday morning Trump sent a tweet praising Moore.
Spoke to Roy Moore of Alabama last night for the first time. Sounds like a really great guy who ran a fantastic race. He will help to #MAGA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017
A West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran, Moore now is the favorite over Democrat Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election to fill the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Trump’s campaign architect and former White House adviser Steve Bannon campaigned heavily for Moore and introduced the nominee to his supporters Tuesday night as revelers watched returns showing Moore victorious in 63 of Alabama’s 67 counties.
Bannon cast Moore’s romp as a win for Trump, regardless of the president’s previous Strange endorsement. “Who is sovereign, the people or the money? Alabama answered today,” Bannon said.
Mississippi’s McDaniel said conservatives never blamed Trump for taking sides. “We supported Donald Trump because he was an agent of change, and he’s still an agent of change,” McDaniel said. “In this instance, he must have been given bad advice to retain this particular swamp creature.”
And it’s worth noting that Trump turned his trip to Alabama last week into a national spectacle having nothing to do with Strange or Moore, as the president blasted professional athletes who protest during the national anthem.
Should Mitch McConnell resign?
Vote here in this urgent poll --
The Associated Press contributed to this article