The Chris Moeller Archives

How to Win Elections and Influence Hypocrites

The Democrats have once again set themselves up for electoral defeat. It's easy enough to follow their train of thought. Sacrifice John Conyers in the House and Al Franken in the Senate, both at the feet of sexual impropriety, and you're painting a contrast for the voters that your party cares about the issues of sexual harassment and assault as the Republicans drown under the weight of President Trump and Judge Roy Moore. But here's what you've actually done if you're the Democrats. You've rushed to action in a publicly-recognized panic and skipped the part where Congress investigates the claims of the accusers and the ethics of the accused. A majority of Franken's accusers haven't even been publicly named and now presumably won't be.

You think you've rid yourself of a pair of predators, and everybody will appreciate that you took the action that Republicans refuse to take, but mark my words, there will be more Democrats accused in the coming weeks and months because the Republicans, who never need to be encouraged to fight dirty, know now that there will be no congressional investigations into the claims. Moore will be elected to the U.S. Senate by Alabamans, and that result will have no negative impact whatsoever on the GOP nationally because swing voters, independents, and non-partisans, which is the overwhelming majority of us, vote for candidates, not parties. Republicans won't shun other Republicans just because Roy Moore dates high school sophomores, just as Democrats won't abandon other Democrats because Franken grabs women's butts. Any good will the party thinks it's built up on the issue of sexual assault by kicking Conyers and Franken to the curb will be erased anyway when the Democrats' delegates, superdelegates, and extra special superdelegates arrive at their convention in the summer of 2020 and enjoy former president Bill Clinton addressing a national television audience in prime-time.

Multiple women accused Trump of sexual assault late in the game in 2016. Then he faced the voters and won anyway. Moore will soon face the voters and he will win as well. Franken and Conyers will not face the voters at all. They were dismissed by their party-- even though Conyers, as a member of the House of Representatives, was scheduled to be on the ballot again, in one of our many one-party districts, within 12 months. In fact, my gut tells me the party hacks are actually dismissing Conyers because his attempt at re-election next year could expose one of their most popular, but unsubstantiated claims-- that they hold their candidates to accountability while Republicans (see: Judge Moore) do not. It's not at all unfeasible that Conyers would have been re-elected next year by his district and then it wouldn't be as easy as it is right now to cast stones at the state of Alabama.

Am I the only person that believes it's a massively troubling issue, one that requires the utmost scrutiny, any time party officials attempt to undo what has been done by the people? What do the people of Minnesota, and of Michigan's 13th district, have to say about it? Why are they being deprived of their chance to speak on this issue at the ballot box? And if the Democrats don't even support due process for one of their own, what does it say about their support for due process for the rest of us?

posted by CM @ 2:40 PM