Roy Moore has taken the lead in the Alabama Republican special election Senate primary by painting incumbent interim Sen. Luther Strange as a creature of the Establishment and urging voters to "drain the swamp."
Now Strange's political consultants are looking to muddy those swamp waters, by leveling the same attack on Moore.
But the screen then takes us under the swamp water, where we find Roy Moore. "Roy Moore has been swimming in the swamp for 40 years," we are told, "fighting for political pay raises with our tax dollars, while our cash-strapped courts shut down." The narrator closes with, "Don't let career politician Roy Moore profit from taxpayers again."
Strange is employing a classic strategy by appropriating his opponent's attack lines and trying to blur distinctions. With one month to go in the Alabama election, expect plenty of muddy swamp water to be slung by both sides before this is done.
Now Strange's political consultants are looking to muddy those swamp waters, by leveling the same attack on Moore.
Luther Strange Accuses Roy Moore of Being a "Swamp Creature"
In a 15-second Strange campaign ad titled, "Swamp Creature," Big Luther Strange is touted as the man who "took on the Montgomery swamp, opposing pay increases and supporting term limits." An image of Strange is placed in front a green-tinted Alabama state capitol surrounded by swamp water – which arguably has the effect of making Strange look like the king of the swamp.But the screen then takes us under the swamp water, where we find Roy Moore. "Roy Moore has been swimming in the swamp for 40 years," we are told, "fighting for political pay raises with our tax dollars, while our cash-strapped courts shut down." The narrator closes with, "Don't let career politician Roy Moore profit from taxpayers again."
Strange Hopes To Muddy The Swamp Waters
The charge that Moore sought pay increases while courts had to "shut down" is not sourced in the ad. A similar attack from the Senate Leadership Fund, a group tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, phrases the charge slightly differently, saying he "took pay raises for himself" as he "laid off 170 court workers blaming a funding shortfall." That attack cites newspaper articles from 2002. Pay raises for Alabama judges were signed into law in 1999.Strange is employing a classic strategy by appropriating his opponent's attack lines and trying to blur distinctions. With one month to go in the Alabama election, expect plenty of muddy swamp water to be slung by both sides before this is done.