roy moore

Roy Moore has gone noticeably silent in recent weeks and made himself scarce on the campaign trail. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

There he was, Luther Strange, making his way through the checkout line in the Senate cafeteria, lumbering around the tables like a bigfoot that had gotten very, very lost.

A political reporter from Talking Points Memo, Cameron Joseph, snapped some photos. A generation ago, he could have sold them to Time-Life Books' "Mysteries of the Unknown." ("Keep only the ones you want; cancel at any time.") But this being 2017 he posted the ghostly image on Twitter.

However, the rare apparition Joseph captured wasn't elusive Strange, but rather, the man seated at the table behind him. There in the Senate cafeteria was a sight unseen lately in Alabama -- GOP senate nominee Roy Moore.

On the eve of his primary victory, Moore donned a cowboy hat and waved a pistol onstage before an enraptured crowd. But since then? He's been more scarce than a Trump cabinet nominee ducking a Mueller subpoena.

The full @MooreSenate/ @SenatorStrange (non)interaction. Looked to me like Strange looked right at Moore while paying then weaved around him pic.twitter.com/5MdJQNLYrc — Cameron Joseph (@cam_joseph) October 31, 2017

It's all but clear Moore won't agree to a debate, but now he's gone from sight almost altogether, making only a few closed-door appearances and spending more time measuring the drapes in Washington than on the stump.

And it's pretty clear why. Political reporters from around the country are swarming Alabama, and any time the Republican candidate opens his mouth, he's almost guaranteed to hurt his chances in next month's general election.

But it's time for Moore to answer for every position he has ever taken.

Like whether homosexuality should be a crime, and if so, whether the penalty for it should be death, as he has all but said in court documents. (He has since tried to blame that on a clerk and said the term "power of the sword" is a term of legal art and does not literally mean execution, although the court document in question specifically mentions execution in its definition.)

Like whether he used his nonprofit to enrich himself and his family.

Like whether the Constitutional protection of freedom of religion applies to anyone but Christians. If not Muslims and Buddhists, how about Jews? Mormons? Methodists?

Like whether Muslims should be allowed to serve in public office, as he has written they should be barred in op-eds published on right-wing websites on the Internet.

At least on this last question, WHNT got something from Moore resembling an answer.

"Of course they can serve, but they ... Understand what they swear the Bible on ... swear to on the Bible, is the God that is not of their faith," Moore told WHNT.

UPDATE: Roy Moore answered our question on whether Muslims should be able to serve in public office. Says yes but... #alpolitics #alsen pic.twitter.com/DPG2OwoYRb — David Kumbroch (@kumbroch) October 31, 2017

I'm assuming WHNT didn't catch Moore walking out of a bar, but watch that clip and ask yourself, is Roy Moore still all there? Or has he become, as it's said in Trumpese, low energy?

Alabamians have a right to know.

But instead of making himself available for questions, Moore has been meeting with the Washington establishment he professed so much to loathe. He can make time for the swamp, but not the long slog through Alabama toward election day.

We have invited Moore to sit for a live interview, on the Internet, no editing, no script, no net. He can even bring that little gun of his, if he wants.

Along with our media partner, WHNT, we've invited Moore to participate in a debate with his opponent, Democratic nominee Doug Jones.

So far, it seems, we might as well have sent those invites to the North Pole, because an answer doesn't seem forthcoming until sometime after Christmas.

I get it. It's common practice for the front-runner to duck a debate, but that doesn't make it any less cowardly.

As I predicted almost two months ago when Moore was trying to weasel out of a debate with Strange, Moore now has no intention of sharing a stage with Jones.

But going completely radio silent, leaving all the campaigning to surrogates, social media managers and Breitbart News?

That is a poor substitute for democracy.

If you can't trust your candidate to speaking without saying something embarrassing before the election, how can voters trust him to mind his public musings after the election?

Alabama has a right to hear Moore speak and to see him tested.

It's time for Roy Moore to come out of hiding.

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group. You can follow his work on Facebook through Reckon by AL.com.