The swamp is incredibly angry with us. We, the “unwashed” had the temerity to ignore their chosen candidates and elect Donald Trump.
Remember back in the early days of the primaries who got the majority of the money and support from the swamp? It was “common core” Jeb Bush of course. When that didn’t work, then it was “gang of 8” Marco Rubio. As it was all falling apart they were even willing to settle for “Goldman-Sachs” Ted Cruz. Anyone other than a representative of the masses.
Well, we beat the swamp. The swamp has been dedicated to punishing us ever since. Initially they wanted to show us that we’d made a mistake. The continuous attacks on President Trump were less over Trump himself, and more to show us that we voted for the wrong guy. In the beginning they were willing to take us back into the fold.
But we failed to fall for their ploys. The attacks on Trump didn’t make us stop supporting what Trump represented. We elected him to drain the swamp, and we wanted him to do it. We meant it.
The Alabama senate race to replace Jeff Sessions presented the swamp with its first big challenge. Luther Strange was appointed to fill the vacancy by Governor Robert Bentley. For those who don’t follow Alabama politics, Governor Bentley was under investigation in Alabama and was probably going to be impeached. Strange was the state’s Attorney General. In a refreshing moment, Bentley’s biggest offense was cheating on his wife. Strange met with Bentley and announced soon afterwards that the investigation was going to end. Strange got the appointment, and Bentley resigned.
Kay Ivey, the current governor was sworn into office upon Bentley’s resignation. Ivey, along with most Alabama folks saw the appointment of Strange to be, “strange”. In order to limit the damage that Strange might cause, she scheduled an early election to fill Sessions’ seat.
The first primary election had numerous candidates running. Congressman Mo Brooks appeared to be the strongest challenger to Strange. The swamp went viral. They spent many millions of dollars to defeat Brooks. The lies and attacks were some of the worst things seen in modern politics. It worked. Brooks dropped in the polls.
The swamp made their first strategic error in their anti-swamp efforts. They completely misread the amount of mistrust that existed towards Strange. They were stunned to see that Strange came in second to a candidate that wasn’t the most popular guy in Alabama. Heck, in Judge Moore’s last statewide race, he only won 52-48.
The second primary was even more ugly than the first one. $32 million was spent to get Strange elected. The swamp’s senatorial committee, the NRA, and the US Chamber of Commerce dumped lots of money to defeat Judge Moore. The NRA alone spent over $1 million in the last week of the race.
And then the anti-swamp folks, led by Steve Bannon weighed in on the election. He ably garnered the support of folks like us to vote against the swamp’s selection. And Judge Moore won.
As bad as this was for the swamp, the anti-swamp folks were energized. The anti-swamp realized that they could defeat the swamp creatures. Bob Corker and Jeff Flake decided not to run for reelection in light of bad polling numbers. Anti-swamp candidates were doing well in polls in other races.
The future of the swamp was under attack.
The swamp decided to stop this insurgency once and for all. So they developed their battle plans.
Their objectives were threefold:
1. Defeat Steve Bannon. Send the message that his influence doesn’t work.
2. Punish us. Send the message that our choices are flawed choices. We need to trust the elites in their choices.
3. Demoralize us. Who will be willing to run against the swamp if our lives are going to be destroyed in vicious attacks?
This was an incredible act of desperation. If it worked, the swamp would be saved for now. If it failed, the swamp would suffer major harm and possible destruction. We all need to realize that this isn’t about Moore. The candidate could be Mother Theresa. This is totally about the swamp versus the anti-swamp. The swamp made their second strategic error as they launched their attack. There is an old saying in war, “no battle plan survives contact with the enemy”. The swamp’s first attack was flawless. Great accusers, impossible to verify or deny and great psychological optics. Except it didn’t resonate with the Alabama voters.
They bet on the first attack working and didn’t have follow up actions developed. The follow on attacks were done on the fly and we’re seeing the results. Poorly planned, easy to refute accusers, and poor optics. Despite the “quality” of the first attacks, the poor follow on attacks the credibility of the initial attacks.
So, what do they do now? Just like in any other battle, you can’t just quit and ask for a do over. They are committed to continue the war until they win or lose. We will see more attacks.
The sex abuse attacks will continue, but in the absence of physical proof, they stand the risk of alienating the Alabama electorate. Too many allegations lend towards thinking they are all fake.
There will be attacks on Judge Moore’s religious foundation. They will have to be careful in these attacks. Alabama has a large religious population and this could back fire. Moore’s wife is very active in this foundation and attacks on a man’s wife won’t sell well in Alabama.
I anticipate attacks on financial issues. If possible, they will find IRS problems and other funding issues. Not sure what they can make up at this stage, but if possible they will. Again, just like the issues with attacking the religious foundation, they run the risk of alienating the cause.
The next three weeks will be interesting to watch. The swamp is in trouble and they know it. Desperation causes desperate acts.
The only good news is that investigations will eventually reveal who is behind this. These aren’t the acts of a single person. The swamp took a risk to save itself. When the truth comes out, it may only be a pyrrhic victory.