Here Comes the Judge… Former judge and Ten Commandments whack job Roy Moore has announced that he is running for governor of Alabama. This might not have seemed like a very big deal to me had I not read Joshua Green’s definitive profile of Moore in the latest Atlantic Monthly. Since departing the bench, Moore has been touring the country with his Ten Commandments rock, whipping up crowds of Christians who feel victimized by secular society and who see him as a kind of martyr to the cause of putting all constitutional law on a religious footing.
Moore is extremely popular in Alabama and has an excellent chance of winning. If he does win, he will likely use the office to move the state towards a theocracy, purposely sparking fights with federal courts. This will position him to run either in the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, which could force other candidates to move further to the right, or as an independent, which could fracture the GOP base. In short, Green makes a strong case that Moore could be the George Wallace of the early 21st century. Definitely worth reading.
