Despite the avalanche of recent coverage by the mainstream media over allegations against Judge Roy Moore, Alabama voters are not buying into reports that center on his purported distant past.
An ABC televison affiliate in Birmingham sent a reporter to the town of Columbiana seeking to elicit voter reaction to The Washington Post story, which claimed that the Republican nominee to the U.S. Senate had, in excess of 34 years ago, engaged in inappropriate conduct with young women. Judge Moore has categorically denied the allegations.
Television reporter Lauren Walsh was unable to find a single local resident who believed the Post report.
"Out of all the voters we spoke with . . . ,we didn’t find one voter who believed The Washington Post report about Moore," Walsh declared.
Meanwhile CNN, an outlet that has set itself up as a 24/7 broadcaster of negative news about the Trump administration, conducted its own research on the attitudes of Judge Moore’s supporters.
Perhaps the cable outlet was expecting similar kinds of responses to those of Republican establishment figures, including Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and similar reaction by Mitt Romney, in which the trio suggested that Judge Moore immediately exit the race. But that did not happen. Instead CNN was forced to print the results of its inquiry of approximately a dozen Alabamians who diminished or outright dismissed the Post’s story.
One local pastor, Mike Allison, echoed a phrase about the mainstream media that has been reverberating in segments of the population for over a year. Allison told CNN," I don’t even believe the allegations," adding, "There’s lots of fake news going around these days."
Allison also indicated he will support Judge Moore "more than ever."
Republican Tim Huddleston acknowledged that, if the claims were true, a candidate would be required to step aside. But he is dubious about the timing of this story.
Huddleston said, "The problem you have is all of a sudden — whether you’re Democrat or Republican — you can’t come in 30 days before the election and say here are some unsubstantiated allegations."
At his first public appearance following the Post story, Judge Moore received a standing ovation from a crowd of supporters at an event at a library outside Birmingham.
It is predictable and wholly rational for Judge Moore’s backers to doubt the veracity of the Post story. The public has routinely witnessed the ugly pattern of last minute hit pieces, which arrive in the form of an "October surprise."
Judge Moore was expected by most to win in the very red state of Alabama, and the polls had been indicating he enjoyed a sizable double-digit lead.
Given the fact that every Senate seat is significant to the delicate balance of power in the upper chamber, if a Judge Moore loss could somehow be made to materialize, the Democrats would be better positioned to make headway in their efforts to "resist" the Trump agenda.
Decades-old allegations that are difficult to prove or disprove, is precisely why, when it comes to the law, that statutes of limitations are imposed as an integral part of due process.
The timing of this particular piece has the smell of classic last minute political opposition research. The media outlet that broke the story happens to be the Jeff Bezos-owned Post, which during the first year of the Trump presidency morphed into the print version of CNN and lost virtually all credibility with the Republican base, the very same voters who support Judge Moore.
The Post, which during the last presidential election had a platoon of reporters whose assignment was to do nothing other than dig up dirt on then-candidate Trump, has already given its endorsement to Judge Moore’s Democrat opponent.
One of Judge Moore’s accusers, Deborah Wesson Gibson, is a supporter of his opponent, just as is the Post. The newspaper failed to disclose this fact, as well as another important piece of information, which is that Gibson worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and as a sign language interpreter for then-Vice President Joe Biden. A photo of Gibson standing next to Biden was posted on her Facebook page and is displayed on her business webpage as well.
Much to the frustration of the mainstream media, Democratic Party, and certain members of the Republican establishment, the first poll issued after the Post story had circulated indicated that the race was tied.
Now an Alabama poll conducted two days after the Post piece hit has Judge Moore holding onto his double-digit lead, only dropping 0.2 percent since the allegations were reported.
Judge Moore has said that he will not leave the race but instead intends to fight back against the Post story.
Alabamians have little faith in the mainstream media, particularly the Post. On the other hand, Judge Moore is known statewide as an individual who after successfully running for office served as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
As time passes, it is a distinct possibility that even more Alabama voters will support Judge Moore rather than a Democratic candidate, making the GOP Senate nominee still the favorite to win.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read more reports from James Hirsen — Click Here Now.
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