Late last week Alabama governor Kay Ivey said out loud what I’ve been hearing from friends and acquaintances across the conservative movement. Even if Roy Moore’s accusers are telling the truth, they’ll vote for Moore. Why? The Supreme Court. Here’s Governor Ivey:

“I believe in the Republican party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like Supreme Court justices, other appointments the Senate has to confirm, and make major decisions”

She made this statement even though she also said that she had no reason not to believe Moore’s accusers. She would put a man who abused children in the Senate because his votes on court appointees are that important.

This is not a fringe view. It’s held with fierce conviction across Red America, and it was one of the prime reasons millions of people cast votes for Donald Trump even when they believed all or some of the more than dozen sexual misconduct complaints against him. To put it plainly, millions of American voters will willingly put in high office a man they wouldn’t hire to serve as an accountant in their local insurance agency — all because of the Supreme Court.