CARL AND MOORE BLESS EACH OTHER’S HEARTS Member-on-member primaries are never easy in the House, but this year the GOP has a doozy on its hands. The battle for a ruby-red Alabama seat is pitting two incumbents against each other in what’s quickly becoming a contest over who is more conservative. Among the biggest differences between Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) and Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.): Only Moore is in the Freedom Caucus. Which means that, while the conservative group remains infamous on the Hill, Freedom Caucus membership might prove the key to success in Alabama. Carl and Moore have a lot in common on paper: Both are budget-slashing fiscal hawks elected in 2020. Both laud Trump and want his border wall built. Neither is prone to causing drama with colleagues — until their rivalry started picking up steam. But since Moore's district got redrawn to favor Democrats following a federal court order, putting a significant portion of his conservative base into Carl’s district, each incumbent is having to zero in on every last detail of the other’s voting records in addition to their split over the Freedom Caucus. That has caused some palpable awkwardness, and even some mudslinging. Exhibit A: Last month’s high-stakes vote on a $78 billion bipartisan tax deal, which Moore initially supported. Until Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) ribbed him on the House floor, joking that he was wrong to believe Moore was the most conservative Republican in Alabama, according to a person familiar with the back-and-forth who was granted anonymity to discuss the matter. After Gaetz’s teasing, Moore later changed his tax vote to no, aligning with Carl. “Gentle razzing among friends can at times be a positive and motivating experience for folks to get to the right conclusion,” Gaetz said when asked about his comments to Moore. Moore, in an interview, denied that Gaetz’s comment prompted him to ultimately change his vote. He argued that he switched direction based on unspecified concerns with the tax deal while he watched how his colleagues also voted. Carl, in an interview, sought to separate himself from Moore by describing himself as a conservative who will “talk the talk and walk the walk.” His lifetime Heritage Action for America voting score is 84 percent to Moore’s 100. Does membership matter? In a sign of the times for the increasingly Donald Trump-dominated GOP, Moore’s campaign is centered partly on the Freedom Caucus’ pull with the party base. In addition to outside spending on ads attacking Carl – including one that recently claimed he is soft as “a baby’s butt” on the border – Moore also has Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) campaigning for him. (Like Jordan, Moore did not join the hardliners who last year voted to block Kevin McCarthy from the speakership or later fire McCarthy.) Moore argues that the group is beloved by grassroots voters who tend to dominate in primaries — but he also claimed in an interview that he and Carl have bigger divergences. Not all of their Alabama colleagues see the duo as so distinct. Freedom Caucus membership “is probably the biggest difference” between the two, said Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), who said he is friends with both of them and wouldn’t be endorsing. “They're both very conservative. I find both of them easy to work with. So the First District will be well represented by either one.” — Olivia Beavers
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