Alabama Senate Race: More Than Moore-Strange

WAMU 88.5

Published September 25, 2017 at 10:06 AM EDT

President Donald Trump, seen here campaigning in Mobile, won nearly 63 percent of the vote in Alabama in 2016. Now, his choice in the state's Senate race is facing a tough path.

With guest host John Donvan.

A special election for a Senate seat in Alabama is being billed as “Trump vs. Trumpland”.

The race pits two leading Republicans against each other. The president favors Luther Strange, who was appointed to the seat after President Trump tapped then-Senator Jeff Sessions to become U.S. Attorney General. Strange is widely accepted as the GOP establishment pick, and he also has the backing of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Then there’s Judge Roy Moore.

Moore is an outsider candidate — a former state supreme court chief justice who was suspended for maintaining the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. He’s believed to have support from many of the same angry voters who pushed President Trump into the White House. Moore also has support from icons of this brand of conservatism: Sarah Palin, Steve Bannon and Phil Robertson, the star of “Duck Dynasty.”

With President Trump hitting the trail for Strange and the election approaching Tuesday, will the president sway his base to support a safer pick for the party? Or will populism again rule the day?

GUESTS

Patrick Hruby, Former contributing editor, VICE Sports. @patrick_hruby

Terry Lathan, Chairwoman, the Alabama Republican Committee

Gigi Douban, News director, WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama

David Winston, President, Winston Group; Republican strategist; CBS News election analyst; adviser to the House and Senate Republican leadership for more than a decade

Eliana Johnson, National political reporter for Politico

For more, visit http://the1a.org.