While Senator Strange has to be one of the more…interesting monikers for a sitting U.S. Senator, he’s no superhero-y Doctor Strange. For now, he’s simply a placeholder until former Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions’ successor is elected later this year. So, who are the hopefuls? Well, like some other previous special elections held earlier this year to replace members plucked from Congress to serve in the Trump Administration, the field is cluttered:

• James Beretta, physician
• Joseph F. Breault, Air Force chaplain and nominee for the Utah House of Representatives in 2016
• Randy Brinson, gastroenterologist and activist
• Mo Brooks, U.S. Representative
• Mary Maxwell, candidate for NH-02 in 2006
• Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and candidate for Governor in 2006 and 2010
• Bryan Peeples, businessman
• Trip Pittman, State Senator
• Luther Strange, incumbent U.S. Senator

And amid this jumbled mix, the top three contenders reportedly are…drum roll please:

Judge Roy Moore

• Moore is a former Alabama Supreme Court justice, and a self-described constitutional conservative and defender of religious freedom
• He’s infamous for his refusal to remove a plaque of the Ten Commandments and to cease prayers before his court sessions
• He was removed from office by voters in 2003, but won election again in 2012
• He was suspended in 2016 for rejecting the SCOTUS’ ruling on same-sex marriage and eventually resigned
• Moore graduated West Point in 1969

Current Congressman Mo Brooks

• Elected to office in 2010, Brooks is a self-described conservative and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, where the most principled conservatives live
• He’s competing with Judge Moore for the role of “who’s the most loyal Trump supporter”
• Brooks may have irked Trump by backing Attorney General Sessions during Trump’s ill-advised public shaming of Sessions, thereby losing Trump’s endorsement
• He’s already taking incoming from McConnell Super-PACs as not being pro-Trump enough. Yes, really.

Current Senator Luther Strange

• Strange is an attorney and politician
• He’s reportedly towed McConnell’s line since his February appointment
• He’s Alabama’s former Attorney General
• Strange is backed by McConnell Super-PACs and D.C. lobbyists (that should tell us something)
• Strange is currently facing at least two ethics complaints, one regarding the questionable way in which he was appointed to Sessions’ former seat. Why?…
• Because when appointed, Strange’s office was investigating Alabama’s former governor, Robert Bentley, for corruption, the same governor who handed Strange the Senate seat

You read that right. Strange was appointed to the seat by the very governor he was investigating. Can you smell that? It’s the stench of swamp water. And President Trump has inexplicably endorsed Strange…

…rather than one of the two true conservatives, the very candidate Mitch McConnell, whose home-state approval is deeply underwater, is backing.

Now if you’re Mitch McConnell and the other Swamp Things, you’re giddy that Strange could be one of the top two candidates headed for the September primary runoff—assuming no candidate breaks 50 percent—in the hopes he’ll head to the special election in December after you annihilate his conservative opponent. But if you’re like me, and want to hold the GOP-controlled Senate to its promises, you see that Strange is no maroon-caped, levitating superhero with a penchant for pulverizing villains. Rather, he’s just another establishment Republican who’s unlikely to assist in an ObamaCare repeal or any other vote that aids in draining the D.C. swamp. I echo the words of Erick Erickson over at The Resurgent:

All the polling in Alabama shows Judge Roy Moore is going to come in first tomorrow and go into a run off for the Alabama Senate seat replacing Jeff Sessions. The second spot, however, is neck and neck.

The best way for Alabama voters to rebuke Mitch McConnell tomorrow is to vote for Mo Brooks. Stopping Luther Strange from getting into the runoff will send a strong signal that Alabama voters are opposed to the status quo.

If Strange gets into the runoff, starting Wednesday morning Roy Moore is going to be the subject of a massive barrage of negative attacks. Mitch McConnell will rain down money all over the state of Alabama to destroy Roy Moore.

Yessir. Indeed he will. See Chris McDaniel and Ben Sasse for further reading on McConnell’s campaign tactics. The result of a Strange win (pun intended) would be, obviously, status quo maintained. And that’s worked so well thus far, hasn’t it? Or maybe our expectations are just too darned high.

So, I’ll take Mo, and Judge Moore—who reportedly leads his closest competitor by about ten percentage points—for $2000, Alex. Along with an extra heavy dose of shock therapy for the do-little Congress.

Doctor Strange cape

Because we can’t Ditch Mitch with Senator Strange, Alabama.