Trump Falsely Claims His Endorsement Helped Luther Strange at Alabama Polls

[HAPPY2BME]

by Michael Patrick Leahy
30 Sep 2017

SAD! President Trump Falsely Claims His Endorsement Helped Luther Strange at Alabama Polls

President Trump apparently missed the lesson delivered to him by Alabama Republican voters on Tuesday when they decisively picked grassroots conservative champion Roy Moore over establishment-backed and Trump-endorsed Luther Strange in the primary runoff election.

Trump voters support the Trump agenda, not the Trump personality. The president seems to think otherwise.

Late Saturday, President Trump sent out this tweet:

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump

In analyzing the Alabama Primary race,FAKE NEWS always fails to mention that the candidate I endorsed went up MANY points after endorsement!
6:24 PM - Sep 30, 2017

    38,173 38,173 Replies
    5,786

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/30/sad-president-trump-falsely-claims-his-endorsement-helped-luther-strange-at-alabama-polls/

[HAPPY2BME]

President Trump endorsed Strange on August 8, one week before the August 15 GOP primary for the special election to replace Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in the United States Senate. Under Alabama election laws, the nomination would go to any candidate who received a majority of the votes in that primary election.

Since none did, the top two vote-getters on August 15, Roy Moore and Strange, advanced to the September 26 runoff election, where Moore crushed Strange by 54.6 percent to 45.4 percent, a 9.2 point margin.

What impact did Trump’s August 8 endorsement of Strange have on voting behavior among Alabama’s Republican primary voters?

Not any that helped Strange, as it turns out.

[HAPPY2BME]

And there was more in play in Alabama than just President Trump’s endorsement.

To be precise, there was a huge amount of money behind Strange, and very little behind Moore.

The Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC associated with Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), other groups supporting Strange, and the Strange campaign spent an estimated $30 million to elect Strange. In contrast, Moore and groups supporting him spent an estimated $2 million.

Despite a 15-to-1 financial advantage and the president’s endorsement, Strange just couldn’t close the gap.

[HAPPY2BME]

Analysis: Up to $137 Per Vote Spent on Luther Strange’s Behalf in AL Senate Race

If the $30 million number, given to Breitbart News by Drew Messer, a senior adviser to the Moore campaign, and used by Moore in a speech at his campaign event on Monday night, proves to be the case, $137.57 was spent per vote on Strange’s behalf in his losing effort.

That is not quite the cost per vote spent on Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s sixth congressional district special election in June, coming in at $176 per vote.

It’s also much less than what 2016 presidential hopeful former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) spent on his failed 2016 presidential bid in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, coming in at $2,800 and $1,150 in those states respectively. He later suspended campaign after a fourth-place finish in the South Carolina primary.

Big money lined up for Strange for this election. The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), spent at least $9 million according to reports. Late in the contest, the National Rifle Association claimed to have committed at least $1 million.

Alabama columnist and political analyst Steve Flowers noted the disparity in an appearance on Birmingham CBS affiliate WIAT Tuesday night.

“I don’t think there’s anything that the national establishment could have done any more to help Luther Strange,” Flowers said. “He outspent Moore 15-to-1 — $15 million to $1 million. And he did everything possible — tied himself to Trump, which his national media people advised him to do and wrapped himself around Trump. There’s no way he could have gotten more votes than he got.”


http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/27/analysis-137-per-vote-spent-luther-stranges-behalf-al-senate-race/