PD Editorial: The many fathers — and mothers — of Roy Moore’s grand defeat

We hate to quibble with the late John F. Kennedy, who once said, “Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.” But sometimes defeat has many fathers, too - such as the surprising but welcome rebuff of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore on Tuesday.

In fact, Moore, who became the first Alabama Republican to lose a U.S. Senate election in 25 years, seemed to have thousands lining up ready to take credit for his loss.

Let’s start with black voters. Exit polls showed that fully 98 percent of African American women supported Moore’s opponent, Democrat Doug Jones, a former federal prosecutor. Jones also drew roughly 93 percent of the votes from African American men. Moore, a former judge, even failed to win support among a strong segment of white voters. Jones garnered roughly 30 percent of their votes, more than double the percentage of white Alabama voters who supported Barack Obama in 2012.

In the end, the combination was enough to hand Jones the victory by a little more than 1 percent of the vote, reducing the Republican majority in the Senate to a single vote, demonstrating yet again that all votes matter, even in national contests.

But there are many who deserve credit for this defeat, regardless if they cast votes.

First is the divisive Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who champions himself as not just the architect of Donald Trump’s election victory a year ago but the chief engineer who will “make America great again,” apparently by making it more racist, misogynist and fearful. Bannon, who has returned to head the Trump propaganda machine known as Breitbart News, vigorously endorsed and campaigned for Moore, who already was considered a flawed candidate even before eight women came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct while they were in their teens. Bannon is now trying to pin the blame on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, who supported Moore’s opponent in the primary, Luther Strange. But he is being far too modest. With his unique brand of noxious politics, Bannon deserves as much credit as anyone for this defeat.

The same can be said of President Donald Trump, who is a two-time loser in this contest. As with many Washington establishment Republicans, Trump supported Strange in the primary but unlike many, including McConnell, he gave a full-throated endorsement to Moore on Dec. 4. That same day, the Republican National Committee also gave its support and resources to Moore, despite the concerns of many lawmakers that he would present an ethical nightmare for the party in Washington.

Given that the president’s public approval rating is already at the freezing level - 32 percent - it’s hard to see how his support would damage his credibility further. But it certainly demonstrates a repudiation of his policies, tactics and his agenda and casts a pall over the Republicans’ chances in next-year’s mid-term elections.

Finally, no one deserves more credit for this defeat than Moore himself, a candidate who seemed to naturally embody Bannon’s incendiary tactics with his homophobic and racially insensitive remarks and his attacks on those who accused him of sexual misconduct. “If you don’t believe in my character,” he told voters on the eve of the special election, “don’t vote for me.”

It was excellent last-minute advice. They didn’t.