‘Stand up for decency. Reject Roy Moore’: All 3 major Alabama newspapers endorse Doug Jones

In an editorial published late Saturday, The Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register and The Huntsville Times urged Alabama voters to defeat Moore, a Bannon-backed Republican who is facing mounting allegations of sexual assault and child sexual abuse.

The upcoming Senate election “is about the moral values of the people of Alabama,” the editorial says.

It goes on to urge Alabama voters not to cast their ballot based on national politics, but to vote “based on who it will affect in your hometown”:

We each know someone in our lives who is a survivor of sexual assault or child abuse. Many of us are still searching for the words needed to tell our own stories and some may never find that voice. This election is about them.

How can we look our neighbors, our parishioners, our colleagues, our partners, or our children in the eyes and tell them they are worth less than ensuring one political party keeps a Senate seat?

The editorial delivered a scathing rebuke of Moore, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and child sexual abuse by nine different women over the past nine days.

“A vote for Roy Moore sends the worst kind of message to Alabamians struggling with abuse: ‘If you ever do tell your story, Alabama won’t believe you,'” the editorial says.

The editorial board, comprised of local Alabama residents, also said Moore is unqualified based on his other views on issues ranging from religion to immigration to same-sex marriage.

But they didn’t stop at urging voters to reject Moore — the editorial board also called on Alabama residents to throw their support behind Jones, his Democratic opponent.

“By the various misdeeds, miscalculations and mistakes of its voters and leaders, Alabama has left itself with few options. Alabamians must show themselves to be people of principle, reject Roy Moore and all that he stands for,” the editorial says.

“There is only one candidate left in this race who has proven worthy of the task of representing Alabama. He is Doug Jones.”

The three newspapers join a growing chorus of voices rebuking Moore, who has resisted calls to drop out of the race.

Just days ago, Alabama’s most conservative newspaper — and one of Moore’s most steadfast supporters — turned on the GOP candidate, declaring: “The judge is lying.”

Alabama faith leaders are also abandoning the Bannon-backed Republican candidate. This weekend, a group of at least 70 local Christian ministers signed a letter saying: “No person  of faith can, in good conscience, support Roy Moore.”

As Alabama leaders abandon the Republican candidate, the person with the most powerful bully pulpit — Donald Trump — is still refusing to speak out against Moore.