Democrats have spoken fiercely and with one voice against Roy Moore.
the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama who is accused of disrobing a 14-yearold girl in his house when in his 30s.
Some Republicans have demanded Moore quit his candidacy “if ” his accusers have told the truth about his approaching teenage girls. Others have concluded the accusations are more credible than his denials. But a few, like Alabama’s GOP governor, have suggested that even if he did prey on a 14-yearold decades ago, the need to protect the Senate’s Republican majority trumps such concerns. President Donald Trump repeatedly noted on Wednesday that Moore has denied the allegations and insisted that Alabama must not elect the Republican’s “liberal” opponent in a Dec. 12 special election.
In this sexual misconduct frenzy , unmasking figures in entertainment, media, sports and politics (#MeToo on Twitter), all sorts of episodes on the spectrum of misbehavior are being lumped together, from the boorish and juvenile to the allegedly criminal.
Grabbing a woman’s behind at the state fair isn’t in the same league as molesting a child.
Still, the Democrats have a predicament.
“They don’t want to look tolerant on this issue by saying, ‘He wasn’t as bad as so and so,’” said Dan Lublin, a political science professor at American University.
“They need to appear strong,” he said, and not focus on gradations in misbehavior. “They’re going with ‘unacceptable.’ And it is a dilemma, because you don’t know how far that will go.”