Stanford prof targets anti-#MeToo pols with new PAC
The Stanford law professor who toppled a sitting California judge over his controversial sentence in the Brock Turner sexual assault case now is moving on to even bigger targets: politicians across the country who condone violence against women.
On Monday, Michele Dauber launched the Enough Is Enough Voter Project, a national political action committee aimed at elected officials and candidates from California to Tennessee. Unlike PACs whose primary goal is electing women, Enough Is Enough aims to make sure that the #MeToo movement that erupted last fall and now is roiling the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh remains a powerful force, particularly in blocking lower-level politicians from ascending to more powerful positions.
“It’s time to end a culture that protects the careers of powerful men who abuse women or other survivors and put this issue before the voters,” said Dauber, the PAC’s chair. “We are going to put rape culture on the ballot across the country.”
Among the five candidates named so far on the PAC website are a Tennessee state representative accused by three women of having sexually abused them
when they were teenagers on the high school basketball team he coached; a Texas state legislator who voted against extending the statute of limitations for rape victims; and a Minnesota congressman who has blamed women for being sexually harassed, saying “Don’t look like some slut and you won’t get hit on.”
All five are Republicans and have denied any wrongdoing. Dauber said the all-volunteer group also will target Democrats, although most likely at the primary level. At least 28 state lawmakers accused of misconduct ran for reelection or another office this year, according to The Associated Press. Of those, 16 advanced to the general election: 10 are Republicans, six are Democrats.
California Assemblyman Devon Mathis, RVisalia, whom the PAC also features in its rogues’ gallery, condemned the committee as an attempt by the “far left” to attack Republicans in the run-up to the Nov. 6 midterm elections. Mathis has been reprimanded by the state Assembly for violating its sexual harassment policy by making frequent sexual comments about co-workers and fellow Assembly members.
“After an investigation that dragged on for over nine months, I was found to have committed nothing worse than ‘locker room talk’ — far less egregious than some of my Democrat colleagues — yet, again, I don’t see any Democrats as targets of their ire,” Mathis said in a written statement. “It is my opinion that this is another liberal political smear organization getting free press from an equallyliberal news media.”
The PAC comes out of the gate with strong support from powerful liberal backers, including Emiliana Guereca, co-executive director of Women’s March Los Angeles, who joined the board and brought along an email list of more than 800,000 supporters. The Feminist Majority has endorsed the effort, and leading Democratic pollster Celinda Lake is conducting polls for the group.
“Even if they don’t win every race, I think it will change behavior and change which candidates the parties will run,’’ Lake said.
David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University, said Dauber was shrewd to focus the PAC on a single issue, which he noted has worked well for Republicans on guns and immigration. And Dauber’s reputation as a capable fund-raiser and trusted voice on the issue could turn the PAC into a major player, said Melissa Michelson, a Menlo College political science professor.
But there also is a risk that the PAC will be viewed in states outside California as an extension of the San Francisco elite, said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a veteran political analyst at USC. Groups that support Kavanaugh agree.
“Any movement that seeks factual information about misconduct should be something that should be paid attention to,” said Roger Gannam of Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit that promotes litigation related to evangelical Christian values and strongly supports Kavanaugh. “But it remains to be seen if it will be a force for good or just another political organization.”
By jumping into the fray only six weeks before the Nov. 6 election, Enough Is Enough must quickly raise money to have an impact. Dauber said she hoped to raise $250,000 by then. As a “super PAC,’’ it may collect unlimited sums of money in some states from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then can spend unlimited sums to advocate for or against political candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs such as Dauber’s are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates, and their spending must not be coordinated with the candidates they benefit.
But Dauber already has proved she is no slouch when it comes to fundraising, collecting more than $1.4 million to recall former Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky — primarily from powerful women in Silicon Valley.
After a bitter political battle, 62 percent of Santa Clara County voters in June booted Persky out of office for giving a six-month sentence to former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, who was convicted by a jury of sexually assaulting an unconscious, intoxicated woman outside a fraternity party on the Stanford campus. It was the first time in more than 86 years that a sitting California judge had been recalled.
One notable feature of the Enough Is Enough effort is the “Report a Candidate” button on the group’s website, which provides an avenue for people to share information and links about candidates in local communities who have a poor track record on #MeToo issues. Enough Is Enough will look into the reported candidates as possible targets for voter action.