As for Mr. Moore, his campaign spent the final days relentlessly flogging e-messages that said that the judge was the victim of a smear campaign devised by Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, and his "establishment" allies. Typical of them was the emailed fund-raising plea that included the insistence that "This race will not be decided by Mitch McConnell and the forces of evil."

Yes, "forces of evil." Mr. Moore's team was saying that the leader of his own party in the legislative body he wanted to join was an "evil" part of "powerful forces who hate our Christian conservative values. Powerful forces who hiss and howl at the mere mention of God, morality and obedience to the Constitution."

This is an example of why Mr. Moore's strengths and weaknesses are quite Trumplike. He attracts unusually intense support from people who see the entire system as rigged, but by so sharply drawing lines even against his own party, he turns off moderate suburbanites who usually lean Republican.

Mr. Bannon's two final-week appearances on Mr. Moore's behalf probably did more harm than good. Not only did he effectively insult the state's flagship university, but his demagogic attacks against numerous prominent Republicans backfired in a big way -- especially when he blasted Mitt Romney, the Mormon former presidential candidate, for "hiding behind his religion."

Finally, there was the Trump factor. The president backed Mr. Moore with numerous public statements and tweets, held a pro-Moore rally nearby, and recorded a robo-call on Mr. Moore's behalf. But exit polls showed that half of the voters in this formerly Trump-besotted state were now saying that their impressions of the president were negative.