You’ll remember Roy Moore. He was the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court that was removed from office after having a monument to the Ten Commandments placed on court grounds. A federal judge ordered the monument removed because it violated the separation of church and state. Moore refused to abide by the federal order – claiming his Christian beliefs took precedence over federal law – and was then stripped of his position by Alabama officials.
His conservative positions have struck a cord with some evangelical Christians in the state. Several republicans running in the state primary this Tuesday are attempting to ride his coattails. The New York Times reports:
… a group of candidates in Tuesday's Republican primaries in Alabama is scrambling to show devotion to Moore, who became a hero to many Christian conservatives last year when he refused to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state courthouse. Moore is appearing in candidates' campaign commercials. He is quoted in their brochures. And on the trail, candidates wear glinting lapel pins in the shape of two stone tablets.The GOP primaries can be viewed as a test of support for Moore, who has not ruled out a run for higher office. It is also part of a continuing struggle between traditional business-oriented conservatives and emerging religious conservatives for control of the Republican Party in Alabama -- a struggle that is being played out in other Southern states, too, said Anne Permaloff, a political science professor at Auburn University.
The invocation of Moore's name has injected new life into the normally staid campaigns for judiciary seats, in which political opponents can generally muster no juicier issue than tort reform. The Roy Moore slate, as it is referred to by seemingly everyone but Moore himself, includes three candidates for the Supreme Court, one for Congress and one for the Court of Civil Appeals.
Moore may be angling to run for governor of Alabama. The current governor, Bob Riley, outraged fellow conservatives last year by supporting a tax increase. Riley, also a evangelical Christian, argued that he needed to support a tax policy that took care of those living in poverty. "According to our Christian ethic, we're supposed to love God, love each other, and help take care of our poor," he said. Moore’s supporters opposed the tax plan and it was defeated by the voters.
Stay tuned for the Tuesday night election results to see if Roy Moore is on the comeback trail.
Wednesday Morning Update:
Moore supporters claim biggest of four races, eye future
By KYLE WINGFIELD
The Associated Press
6/2/2004, 1:27 a.m. CT
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- A narrow win by Roy Moore's former top aide in a Republican primary for the Alabama Supreme Court helped salvage a night in which three other acolytes of the ousted chief justice fell short of victory.
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