Politics vs. abuse: Line blurred based on priority

Many Roy Moore supporters are making the case that whether or not their candidate is guilty of the sexual assault accusations that have been made against him, conservatives should still vote for Moore because his Democratic opponent Doug Jones supports late term abortions.

Many on the left, particularly those who are prochoice, find this kind of logic in defense of Moore revolting.

Yet this same kind of politics first argument was made Friday by a self-identified feminist regarding Al Franken.

Kate Harding, who writes about feminism and studies rape culture, does not try to hide the fact she thinks Franken being a Democrat is more important than him allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

“As a feminist and the author of a book on rape culture, I could reasonably be expected to lead the calls for Al Franken to step down, following allegations that he forced his tongue down a woman’s throat, accompanied by a photo of him grinning as he moves in to grope her breasts while she sleeps,” Harding writes in the Washington Post. “It’s disgusting,” she concedes.

“But I don’t believe resigning from his position is the only possible consequence, or the one that’s best for American women.”

To her credit, she acknowledges how her position on Franken might look on its face — pure partisanship — is true.

“Cynics on both the right and left will presume I am passing by this particular steam tray on 2017’s smorgasbord of feminist outrage because Franken is a Democrat, and so am I,” she admits. “In the most superficial sense, this is true.”

Harding uses the rest of her column to explain how she believes Democrats are more pro-women on a plethora of issues than Republicans, therefore Franken’s vote on those issues matters more than how he might have hurt or degraded at least one woman.

Depending on your perspective, she has a point.

Just like Roy Moore supporters do about their priorities.

I do not think Moore is fit for office based on multiple accusations by multiple women, two of the allegations being criminal. I think Franken should face an ethics committee based on one accusation of sexual assault by one woman, who says she does not think he should resign. What comes from that hearing, or whether more women come forward, should decide Franken’s fate in the Senate. I would say the same for any Republican accused of something similar. But would Kate Harding say a Republican senator should stay if accused of the same thing? By her own admission, she would not. The politics comes first. Harding even emphasizes this as a blanket statement about any other Democrats who might be revealed as creeps, “if we set this precedent in the interest of demonstrating our party’s solidarity with harassed and abused women, we’re only going to drain the swamp of people who, however flawed, still regularly vote to protect women’s rights and freedoms.” That’s quite a sentence from a self-labeled feminist.

So where, exactly, is the moral line in agreeing with a candidate’s politics so much you inadvertently condone predatory behavior? I don’t know. But I’m also not comfortable with answers coming out of Alabama right now and from at least one liberal feminist at the Washington Post.