GOP AN INCH VS. LIZ
Opponents say Warren too slow to condemn fellow Dems
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s long silence on her disgraced liberal colleague Al Franken is giving her opponents fresh ammunition and raises questions about her political judgment.
Warren finally called on Franken to resign late yesterday — hours after many other Democrats in the Senate had urged the Minnesota senator to step aside, and just minutes before reports surfaced that Franken was quitting today.
Her deaf ear on the sexual harassment allegations piling up against Franken gave weight to Republican claims that she’s a politically expedient partisan, and could bode trouble for her re-election campaign.
It was a political blunder on her part, and goes to the heart of Warren’s weakness — that she’s great when it comes to attacking a Republican enemy, but challenged when it comes to thinking quick on her feet in an unscripted moment.
Warren may have been too busy holding a live Facebook event with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to notice, but the latest allegation against Franken was the last nail in his coffin. A former congressional aide alleged Franken tried to forcibly kiss her in 2006, prompting the then “comedian” to say, “It’s my right as an entertainer.”
What a hoot, Al. You are definitely not good enough or funny enough.
The real death knell for Franken was when six female Democratic senators called on Franken to quit early yesterday afternoon. But Warren was not among that list of female senators urging him to go.
By 3 p.m., the head of the Democratic National Committee and more than half of Senate Democrats — a total of 28 — had put out statements calling on Franken to step aside.
“It is clear that Al Franken has engaged in a pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior toward women,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (DN.H.), said.
Even Warren’s Massachusetts colleague, Sen. Edward Markey, was on the record giving Franken the heaveho.
But still, no word from Warren.
When Ed Markey beats you to the punch, you know you’re behind the curve.
It wasn’t until just before 4 p.m. that Warren’s office, in a response to a question from the Herald, sent back a quick one-line statement: “I think (Franken) should resign.” Warren aides also said she told that privately to her colleague.
For Republicans, Warren’s delayed response wasn’t quick enough.
“For weeks, Sen. Warren has refused to condemn elected officials in Washington and on Beacon Hill who are embroiled in sexual misconduct scandals simply because they are Democrats,” said John Kingston, one of three GOP candidates running against Warren.
Kingston even highlighted the Franken issue in a digital advertising attack on the incumbent Democrat.
Republican Beth Lindstrom also joined in criticizing Warren for her failure to call out Franken.
Warren and Franken are close allies and ideologically similar, but that’s still no excuse for her looking the other way for weeks as new reports have surfaced about his alleged harassment of women.
She showed she can be politically vulnerable, and that should give Republicans some hope as they begin their uphill fights to unseat her.