Campaigning with Steve Bannon in Fairhope, Alabama, a week ago, Roy Moore struck a messianic note. “We’ve got to go back to God, we’ve got to go back to restore the morality of this country,” said the Republican candidate, who is running in a special election for Alabama’s Senate seat. Quoting Ephesians 6, Moore exhorted his supporters to “take up the armor of God” in what had become a spiritual battle for the nation’s soul. “We’ve struggled, but we’ve overcome,” Moore said. “And I think that on December 12 we’ll see an election that the world won’t forget.”



Moore has since retreated from the campaign trail, apparently to avoid uncomfortable questions about allegations that the 70-year-old molested and preyed on teenagers when he was in his 30s. But he does have reason to be hopeful that he has “overcome” those charges: After being abandoned by his party in the immediate aftermath of the allegations in October, mainstream Republicans—including President Donald Trump—have come rushing back, with the notable exception of Alabama’s senior senator, Richard Shelby. Electing a Republican was ultimately more important than Moore’s numerous drawbacks: the charges of pedophilia, his well-documented Islamophobia and homophobia, his contempt for the federal judiciary, even his bizarre comments about slavery, which in earlier years would have been enough to sink a candidate.



Moore is also right that this is an election that won’t soon be forgotten. Win or lose, Moore’s candidacy will haunt the Republican Party for a long time.



The decision to stand behind Moore is a foolishly short-term one. Trump, who like most Republicans backed the establishment candidate Luther Strange in Alabama’s primary, is eager to prove that he’s still a kingmaker, even with poll numbers in the 30s. In the last big election, Virginia’s gubernatorial race in November, Trump’s favored candidate, Ed Gillespie, lost. If Trump can’t get a win in deep-red Alabama, then that will undermine his clout with other Republicans, whose relationship with the president is partly based on whether he can help them win elections.



Trump has another reason for supporting Moore, one that he shares with congressional Republicans. The GOP enjoys a slim majority in the Senate—with only 52 Republican senators, three “no” votes can sink any legislation passed by simple majority. While Republicans were able to pass a tax reform package with 51 votes, they’ve been stymied in their attempt to repeal Obamacare. Moore, who has campaigned against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP establishment as much as he’s campaigned against his Democratic opponent Doug Jones, will be more of an unpredictable vote than a generic Republican. But he’ll still be more reliable than Jones.

