No Moore for Governor

I've been rather surprised at the lack of mainstream press attention to ousted "Ten Commandments" judge Roy Moore's decision to run for governor of Alabama, taking on conservative-but-sensible Republican Bob Riley in next year's GOP primary. Aside from the brief AP piece and some coverage in the Alabama media - and some blog-comments, of course - the media has been largely silent. Maybe everyone's hoping that if they ignore him, he'll go away. Would that it were so.

Roy Moore is the worst kind of dangerous demagogue. He appeals to peoples' faith for his own political purposes, and his approach to governing is backward at best. He is exactly the wrong face for the Republican Party, in Alabama or any other state. I hope that the voters there will see through the slick pitch of "returning Alabama to the the people" and recognize Roy Moore for the ideological snake-oil salesman that he is.

For more on Roy Moore, the must-read profile is by Joshua Green's in October Atlantic.