In Alabama, God Heads for the Mall

You'll fondly recall Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, expelled from office last year for refusing to remove a 5,300-pound monument to the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building. His supporters immediately launched a jihad against his fellow judges, challenging four of them in Republican primaries that concluded yesterday.

Three of the incumbents easily defeated the jihadists. The fourth, Associate Justice Jean Brown, was narrowly defeated (51 to 49 percent) by former Moore aide Tom Parker.

From the Birmingham News: "Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, said Tuesday's results showed that Moore has political clout, but not as much as his supporters would like. 'A powerhouse would have gotten three or four of his candidates elected,' Sabato said. 'But he did clearly help his close aide to win the highest profile election for the Supreme Court. Is Moore a one-issue wonder who will fade in time? We'll have to wait until 2006 to find that out.' "

According to the AP, "The GOP's business wing had battled to fend off social conservatives eager to keep Moore's fight alive."

Bottomline in Alabama: battling over the Ten Commandments in public buildings is bad for business.