The GOP establishment’s hope of floating a write-in candidate in the Alabama Senate race to thwart Republican nominee Roy Moore is dead, reports Andrew Desiderio in the Daily Beast, noting that “Mitch McConnell threw a hail mary. And like most hail marys, it failed.”

From Andrew Desiderio in the Daily Beast:

Republicans in Alabama and nationally have given up on mounting a write-in challenger to Senate candidate Roy Moore, having concluded that the idea is no longer feasible—if it ever was in the first place.

Their resignation means both that the party is stuck with Moore on the ballot and that the only chance to ensure he doesn’t end up in the Senate is to attempt to expel him once he arrives, assuming he wins.

“It wasn’t viable two weeks ago when this was first talked about, and it’s even less viable today,” an Alabama Republican operative close to the race told The Daily Beast. “I don’t think there’s anyone that can run a viable write-in campaign unless it’s Jesus Christ or Nick Saban.”

The failure of a write-in campaign to materialize marks a setback for national GOP leaders, who had proposed the idea as a longshot attempt to unpend Moore’s campaign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) pushed the concept last week, saying that he was searching for someone who could “mount a write-in campaign successfully.”