<p class="MsoNormal">In a previous commentary, I predicted that the national dialogue on sexual perdition that ensnared Harvey Weinstein and a growing number of Hollywood celebrities would soon roll over the political world. &ndash; another powerful profession where the culture of sexual misdeeds has been an open secret since &hellip; forever. ; Now we have Roy Moore and Al Franken.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before entering into this political quagmire and further, I must state that I have never been a fan of Roy Moore or Al Franken. ; I was not even a fan of his comedy in the days before he made himself the joke by entering politics  ; ;As a libertarian leaning conservative, I have found Moore&rsquo;s stance on such issues as gay marriage and legalization of marijuana to be anachronistic. ; He always seemed to harken back to the infamous days when the old south was intolerant, chauvinistic and violent &#8212; too often under the guise of religious fervor. ; Those were the days when both Dixie and Roy Moore were solid Democrat.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My disdain for Franken arises out of that same libertarian leaning conservatism. ; Unlike Moore, Franken never hits even an occasional right chord with me. I dislike his humor, his personality, and his policies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If Moore wins the election for the Alabama U.S. Senate seat it may say more about the state of the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. ; Even before his years ago dating habits became public, Democrats cast Moore as the Pied Piper of the deplorables. ; He wore his religion on the sleeve of his judicial robe. ; He was the anti-force of almost all elements of identity-based political correctness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite all that &ndash; or because of it &ndash; he won the Republican nomination from an appointed incumbent who had the endorsement of both Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and President Trump. ; Then along came the ladies with their accusations of various levels of sexual impropriety &ndash; including flirting, boorish conduct, inappropriate behavior and even sexual assault. ; Most of the accusations were less important and less damning than the ages of the accusers at the time. They were all below the age of consent &ndash; even as young as 14 &#8212; at a time when Moore was a thirtyish assistant district attorney. ;  ;So far, ten women have come forward to describe their distasteful to frightening experiences with Moore and additional accusers coming forward in the future would be no surprise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By all measures, Moore should be political toast, but so far all the negative publicity the left wing media could heap on him has moved is polling numbers from a sure win to a possible loss. ; He could end the GOP&rsquo;s Alabama winning record that goes back to 1997 when Attorney General Jeff Sessions took the seat &ndash; ending an unbroken string of Democrat victories that went back to 1871.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If Moore prevails there is only one conclusion that can be drawn. ; As bad as Moore is and as repugnant has been his dating practices may be, the voters of Alabama will have decided that despite his considerable flaws, he is still a better choice than a liberal Democrat.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If that is the case, the Democrats will have been hoisted on their own petard. ; Over decades there have been examples of leading Democrats acting badly. ; Ted Kennedy&rsquo;s messy love life occasionally made the news. ; This was topped off by his narrow escape from a well earned vehicular homicide charge in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Representative Gerry Studds&rsquo; had a sexual relationship with an underage male congressional page which he argued was consensual. ; The affair did not get him drummed out of Congress or shunned by the Democratic Party &ndash; although it did get him censured. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Accusations surfaced that Congressman Barney Frank&rsquo;s live-in male prostitute lover was running a gay prostitution operation out of their apartment.  ;Frank was reprimanded in a 408 to 18 vote for using his congressional office to &ldquo;fix&rdquo; 44 of his lover&rsquo;s traffic tickets and for lying about the guy&rsquo;s criminal background. ; None of this diminished Frank&rsquo;s popularity among his fellow Democrats.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then there was the granddaddy of them all, President Clinton. ; Not only was he accused by multiple women (and at last one that was paid off in a secret settlement), he used his powerful position to seduce a lowly intern into a bit of on-the-job Oval Office sex. ; Even the resulting impeachment did not damage his standing among Democrats.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not only did all four of these bad boys continue as respected members of the Democratic Party, they were actually flooded with the highest praise. ; That was because the Democrats successfully proffered the argument that public figures should not be judged on their personal lives, but only on their public record. Despite Kennedy&rsquo;s and Clinton&rsquo;s predatory practices with women, the ladies of the Democrat left fawned on them like teenagers at a rock concert. ; It seemed that if you supported liberal women&rsquo;s issues, you were granted hunting rights on the feminist preserve.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the true tradition of political hypocrisy, the Democrats now seem to think that a Republican variety personal life is much more important than the policies. ; That was the failed strategy in the 2016 presidential election and they are hoping it will work in Alabama, and it may.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With Moore as the sole political target, it seemed that the Democrats owned the high ground on sexual misconduct. ; But, Franken changes all that. So far, the Minnesota senator has only one accuser, but if history is any example there will be more. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to radio personality Leeann Tweeden, Franken got fresh, as we used to say, while they were doing a joint appearance for the troops.  ;She said he groped her and buried his tongue in her mouth in an unwelcomed forced kiss. ; Though she shoved him off, he attempted to repeat kiss on stage &ndash; perhaps assuming she would be in no position to resist, but resist she did. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In most cases, one accuser may lack credibility, but Franken memorialized his lust with a photo of him holding his hands up to her breasts as she was sleeping on the homebound airplane. ; Ponder that. ; This guy actually poses as he sexually abuses a sleeping lady. ; His defenders argued that it was not as intimate as it might have been because she was still wearing a bulletproof vest. ; Yep! ; That&rsquo;s their story and they&rsquo;re sticking to it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For Democrats, Roy is a pariah who is guilty of the most heinous sex crimes against vulnerable young girls &ndash; a pedophile of the first order. ; To his defenders, Moore is the victim of an organized campaign of character assassination by political enemies who have orchestrated a series of false accusations. ; That&rsquo;s THEIR story and they&rsquo;re sticking to it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unlike Moore, whose fate is up to the voters in full view of the controversies, Franken was elected long before voters knew of his lecherous nature &ndash; and in an election in which it was later proven that his margin of victory came from illegal votes. ; He is currently the only member of Congress who is openly accused of sexual misbehavior &ndash; although Democrat Representative Jackie Speier claims to be aware of two more cases &ndash; one Republican and one Democrat. ; She did not name them, however.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Franken has apologized for his behavior and had asked the Ethics Committee to investigate him. ; That was for public relations purposes only since other Senators &ndash; including no few Democrats &ndash; had already called for an ethics investigation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In America, we take pride in our claim that a person is innocent until proven guilty. That may have some legal meaning in a court of law, but not in the court of public opinion.  ;If we truly held to that standard of guilt and innocence, we would have to declare Moore innocent, at least so far. ; Franken might have claimed that same assumption of innocence if it were not for that incriminating photo. ; While Franken has only one accuser so far, she has offered up irrefutable evidence. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For Moore, there is no such smoking gun, but there is a substantial volume of testimony that gives an aura of legitimacy to the public charges. ; Even if enemies were to have plotted such accusations as political strategy, it is unlikely that they could have found so many women willing to lie so publicly. ; Also, there are too many others who were contemporaneously told of these events &ndash; including mothers, boyfriends, future husbands and girlfriends. ; There were other public comments from people who claim to have been aware of Moore&rsquo;s predilection for underage girls.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Franken faces the greatest danger in a Moore election. ; Senate Leader McConnell and others have suggested that he might be expelled from the Senate. ; They can do that, but it is a high barrier. ; The will of the voters is almost always the deciding factor in the right to serve. ; Many politicians convicted of crimes &ndash; and who even served time &ndash; have been subsequently elected to public office and allowed to serve.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If enough Senate Republicans join with the more than willing Democrats to oust Moore, can the Democrats protect Franken from a similar fate? ; On the other hand, will the Franken controversy reduce the fervor to oust Moore? Nothing in Washington is simple or obvious.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The fate of Moore and Franken will not be adjudicated. ; It will not depend on hard evidence. ; It is all about politics, and politics is a cruel business where the rules of evidence do not apply. ; In fact, rules of decency do not apply. ; The entire concept of opposition research is to dig up mud on the opponents. ; That not only includes any past sins but also anything in the record that can be twisted to appear as a sin. ;</p>
<p>At a time where the partisan divide seems to be so clearly defined, however, it is a bit refreshing to know that at least bad behavior is bipartisan.</p>