‘Good riddance’ is the refrain in the halls of Congress today after Sen. Al Franken expectedly announced his resignation ‘in the coming weeks’.
With the ouster of Franken and Conyers for harassment allegations, Republicans are wringing their hands in hopes that the Democrat brand is tainted.
But the worst may be yet to come with the Alabama special election set for Tuesday.
Roy Moore’s beleaguered campaign has rebounded in the polls enough to give confidence that he’ll prevail.
But his ongoing scandal isn’t going away anytime soon with the possibility of a Senate investigation looming.
And if he’s seated by his GOP colleagues, it is a political certainty that Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi will use Moore as a political noose to hang around the GOP’s neck in the 2018 midterms.
The argument will go something like this: “We cleaned our own house. But Moore proves Republicans are hypocrites.” And they’ll have a point. Stay tuned for Tuesday.
Here’s more from Washington Examiner…
When Sen. Al Franken announced his resignation amid sexual misconduct allegations Thursday the Minnesota Democrat emphasized what he and all Democrats consider a glaring irony: A Republican accused of molesting an underage girl is on the verge of being elected to the Senate and President Trump sits in the White House, accused of sexually harassing or assaulting 19 women.
In pressuring Franken and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., another accused of sexual harassment, to step aside
“Those who trash legitimate accusers, it could be the president, it could be Roy Moore, it could be anybody, there is going to be, and needs to be, a price to be paid for it,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters Thursday. “Now it’s clear that behavior of this kind before you take office is something that the body should take seriously and it should be even-handed if it’s a Democrat or a Republican.”
Franken is beloved by his colleagues. Conyers, Congress’ longest-serving member, is a civil rights icon. But, with the momentum behind the “Me Too” movement gaining steam, Democrats were forced to cut ties, showing they’re serious about a “zero-tolerance” policy. And what, at first, appeared a rejection of Moore by Republicans, changed in the last week when Trump and the Republican National Committee rushed to his defense and poured money into his campaign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also appeared to walk back his criticism of Moore and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, backed Trump’s endorsement saying, “Many of the things that [Moore] allegedly did were decades ago.”
