The Slate headline is misleading: Roy Moore’s story of denial of the charges against him as a serial lech (and worse) against teen-aged girls when he was in his 30s isn’t unraveling so much as becoming more and more brittle. And that’s because Moore has gone from vague denials or “yeah, whatever, that was a long time ago and I really don’t remember” excuses to fierce and categorical denunciations and denials, that have in turn been amped up by conservative pundits and spokesfolk.
The problem with categorical denials is that a chink in that wall topples the whole thing. The problem with calumny against your accusers is that it’s difficult for people to then turn around and say, “Well, even if he did it, it was a long time ago and God has forgiven him” (slandering accusers is not a sign of penitence or something put into the past). The more Moore insists that not only are the charges completely false, but the product of some vast conspiracy against him, the more the accumulating and credible evidence that Moore has already lied in the matter, and that, yes, he did indeed date teen-aged girls (if not worse) becomes the more damning.
The question, of course, is whether the Alabama electorate has already made up its mind as to which story is true, regardless of the evidence continuing to come out. Or, more to the point, will that increasingly brittle defense, ready to shatter, motivate voters who oppose Moore to actually come out and vote (or demotivate Republicans to simply stay home)?
Beyond that, if he gets in, will the Senate GOP really launch an ethics investigation? I’m sure Mitch McConnell would really have some other governor-appointed Senator than Moore, but I could just as easily see him simply take the continued majority and run with it, no matter what it continues to do to besmirch the GOP brand.
Still too many questions about how the people of Alabama will behave. But the questions about Moore himself aren’t going away.
Roy Moore’s Story Is Unraveling
The Alabama Senate candidate knew his accusers, until he didn’t.
More media attacks proof of what?
+roy white Well, if you actually read the article, it might answer your question.
The Slate touched on the most likely scenario toward the end of the article.
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Republican senators need Moore’s vote. If he wins, they’ll argue that voters exonerated him and that his offenses, even if true, are ancient history. His Christian supporters will add, as some already have, that God has forgiven him. “Many of the things that he allegedly did were decades ago,” says Orrin Hatch, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican.
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And this doesn't even touch on the whole "at least Moore doesn't kill babies" argument.