I think he should resign the day after *Trump does and Moore drops out of the Senate race
“I do find it interesting that the DCCC, Leader (Nancy) Pelosi (D-CA) and Chairman Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM)— they knew about these allegations last year,” he told ABC."
Despite their denials, it would not surprise me at all if this were true. Pelosi and House Leaders (Republican and Democratic) have not done a thing about sexual harassment by House members. They all need to step down from their leadership posts, and Kihuen should resign or be expelled.
So are you saying that Trump, Moore, and the Republicans should set the standard for how a politician should respond to sexual harassment and abuse allegations?
I don’t share that opinion. Of course, Trump and Moore should resign. But Democrats need to behave better than the Republicans behave.
Finally, someone who is standing up to the hypocrisy of the DNC. The DNC knew about Conyers for decades and they went after him with a vengeance which makes me think there is something else going on there. They haven’t even tried to investigate Franken to see that those women who are making accusations are full of it. I’m glad someone is finally standing up.
Wow - this is really going well.
Who’s next?
“News that Kihuen doesn’t plan to resign comes amid reports that the congressman’s chief of staff was trying to find new jobs for all of Kihuen’s D.C. office staffers.”
In todays #metoo climate, who can blame the chief of staff here.
“Democratic leaders knew about the allegations against him during the campaign, but never said anything.”
Seriously?! That’s your defense???
Why? What’s it ever gotten them?
Doesn’t look to me like he’s standing up to them. He’s standing up for himself. The threat that he’ll continue to throw shade on the Party (especially at a time when hypocrisy on this issue is already serious liability) may be his bargaining chip to get off the hook. He even called the leaders out by name. That’s tantamount to warfare in intraparty politics, and may be a dog-whistle to the right.
While that hypocrisy is a problem, I see little to admire in this self-serving behavior. If the allegations are to be believed, he’s both a lecher and a saboteur, willing to damage his party’s credibility to save his skin. And I don’t imagine this desperate behavior coming from a person who’s confident in his innocence.
Votes from women.
Knowing about allegations should have produced an investigation into the allegations, which I’m pretty sure didn’t happen. Was that for lack of time or money or caring? Who knows.
So Buzzfeed steps up to the plate:
Samantha texted a friend the details of the harassment she experienced on Kihuen’s campaign about a month before she finally quit, telling the friend on March 10, 2016, that she was upset and Kihuen was saying “creepy things to me sometimes.” The friend asked what that was and she responded that the then-candidate “put his hand on my thigh a couple of times. Asked me weird questions once like if I had ever cheated on my boyfriend. Said a couple of times he would take me out if I didnt work for him.” The friend replied that Kihuen had “crossed way over the line in to law suit teratorye [sic]” and encouraged her to look for other work.
BuzzFeed News has seen and verified screenshots of those text message conversations, and additionally spoke with four people who said they had spoken with Samantha around the time she left the campaign, confirming she had shared details of the account in this story.
Previously Democratic leadership had allegations–a “he said she said”. Now they know what she was saying to her friends at the time, before she made any accusation. Sure she could have been a sociopath playing a long game (who somehow anticipated that we would suddenly start caring about these things in late 2017), but that seems unlikely.
Some women.
Would someone be willing to wake me up in 3 (or 7) years?
But only if the stench has disappeared from DC.
Not “some,” a lot more than Republicans:
The Mark Foley congressional page scandal played an important role in the Democratic takeover of 2006, and it was the Republican leadership’s knowledge and inaction that did them in, even bringing down Hastert’s career. I hope Democrats remember this heading into 2018. It appears the Republican smear machine does.
Dead congressman walking.
So what if leadership knew he was a pig when he was running and did nothing then? They are speaking up now. Does the congressman not believe in the power of redemption?
My votes and continued support. Its not much, but its better than a vote and support for another party.
I don’t care who’s next. Until someone can prove a false allegation, I have no problem with any of this.
Well, sort of. Following are some numbers as an illustration.
2016 Presidential, women voters:
College-educated:
"white": 45% Trump, 51% Clinton
"non-white": 19% Trump, 76% Clinton
Non-college-educated:
"white": 62% Trump, 34% Clinton
"non-white": 16% Trump, 81% Clinton
For comparison you can look at what “white” male voters did in the same election:
College-educated: 54% Trump
Non-college-educated: 72% Trump
[NB: All these numbers were reported very soon after the election; there are more recent estimates but I do not have them to hand this morning.]
Apparently not enough to win elections. My observation over the past several decades is that voters–women included–lean toward the strong, admit-no-mistakes sort of candidate. They seem to admire (and vote for) someone who they perceive as stubborn and unbending, over someone they perceive as bowing to the voices around them. Consider Reagan over Carter. Bush, the Elder, over Dukakis. Dubya over Gore and Kerry. Now *Trump. Moore’s probably gonna win. I’m appalled, but I think it’s reality. Nice guys usually don’t win.