Gillibrand campaign links low fundraising to Al Franken backlash: memo

[left-of-center2012]

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign suggested Sunday that the campaign's low first-quarter fundraising totals could be partly attributed to backlash over Gillibrand's decision in 2017 to call for the resignation of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).

In a memo obtained by The New York Times, the campaign reportedly said there's "no question" that donors are retaliating in response to Gillibrand calling on Franken, who had been accused of sexual harassment, to step aside.

“There’s no question that the first quarter was adversely impacted by certain establishment donors — and many online — who continue to punish Kirsten for standing up for her values and for women,” the memo reads.

Gillibrand was the first senator in 2017 to call for Franken to step down amid the allegations of sexual misconduct. The New York senator last month defended that decision, saying she "stood up for women who came forward" in doing so.

"If there are a few Democratic powerful donors who are angry because I stood up for women who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment, that's on them," Gillibrand said ...

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/438849-gillibrand-campaign-links-low-fundraising-to-al-franken-backlash-memo

[we can do it]

1. Oh well🙄

[Trumpocalypse]

84. But Warren also called for Franken to resign

the very same morning.

[sfwriter]

104. I think that speaks more to Warren's strengths.

Warren has genuine ideas and policy chops. Ive watched three Gillibrand speeches. I don't remember a single proposal. I sure as hell remember she was first out on Franken.

[Trumpocalypse]

133. Strengths?

So Warren blindly following Gillibrand is a strength?

[Buzz cook]

146. Blindly following?

You have evidence of that?

Warren had the grace to speak with Franken face to face before going public with her decision.

32 senators called for Franken to resign. Most of them men.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/al-franken-democratic-senators-resign/index.html

[Trumpocalypse]

148. She still called on him to resign

same as Gillibrand. It’s a double standard to give Warren a pass while demonizing Gillibrand.

[Buzz cook]

150. Its a double standard?

You sound as if you're an absolutist on the question. Are you a one issue voter?

[Trumpocalypse]

149. Maybe

Gillibrand is very dull. Not as dynamic as other candidates.

[prodigitalson]

214. I really liked her on The Office

as Michael Scott's girlfriend Holly Flax

[Trumpocalypse]

215. LOL

[zentrum]

204. But Gillibrand lead the charge.

She wanted her name all over it. She really did act as if it was her ticket to the WH on the eve of the Kavnaugh hearings.

It was a huge error.

[Trumpocalypse]

207. So many factual errors

Gillibrand didn’t lead any charge. It was a highly coordinated effort among many Democratic Senators. They all called for Franken to resign the very same morning.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=71267

And Franken resigned in December of 17, months before Kavanaugh was even nominated.

And exactly how did she act as if it was her “ticket to the White House”? Please provide links to credible sources that prove that accusation.

[PatrickforO]

217. Why do any of us need to provide 'links?

We all know what happened.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

232. You got that right... KG is done.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[kimbutgar]

2. That's my reason why I wouldn't support her

We could really use Al Franken now in the Senate.

[Trumpocalypse]

94. Why?

What’s not happening in the Senate that would be different if Franken were there?

[sfwriter]

105. Franken's ability to cross examine ...

He was brilliant at pinning committee witnesses to their deeds. I really missed him at the Kavenaugh hearing. He was also great at messaging and communicating democratic positions.

[pandr32]

129. +1

[Trumpocalypse]

134. Really?

When?

[Champion Jack]

158. Bingo!

[PatrickforO]

218. Franken's state would have a better Senator, for one, that proved countless times

that he really, really cared about the people he represented.

We'd also have another effective voice against Trump.

Franken was a really good Senator, and a genuinely good man, and he was railroaded. Period.

And to my mind, Gillibrand led the charge. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now.

I'm not asking you to feel how I do about it, but I'm telling you this is how I feel, and unapologetically so.

[Mme. Defarge]

203. Damn straight!

It still burns.

[Xipe Totec]

3. She ain't wrong

Except for the big donor part.

[Jane Austin]

6. Amen

There are other reasons she wouldn't be my first choice, but the Franken thing is the reason I won't even consider her.

[LakeArenal]

67. But Warren was part the Franken thing.

As were Harris and Booker.

Not trying to call anyone out. Just don’t understand the difference between Gilli and them.

[sharedvalues]

83. No! Circular firing squad comment :(

Please try not to be negative about our candidates.
I won’t get into details as it is water under the bridge. But there is a big difference between what these three candidates did.

[Trumpocalypse]

85. No there isn't

All of them (Gillibrand, Harris, Booker, Warren & Sanders) called for Franken to resign the same morning.

[sharedvalues]

99. Not true.

Also feel free to post positive things about the candidate you like. Who is the candidate you like?

[Celerity]

118. actually it is true, all Democratic Senators except 5 called in public or private for him to resign

Only Joe Manchin said he should not resign. 3 of the other 4 were on the Senate Ethics committee and could not comment, and the 4th, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, was under federal criminal indictment for corruption at the time and chose to say nothing.

Female Democratic senators coordinated a wave of calls for resignation

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation/index.html

Nearly three weeks after sexual harassment allegations first emerged against Sen. Al Franken, a wave of Democratic senators — in coordination and following a flurry of text messages and phone calls — called for his resignation in rapid succession Wednesday morning.

Starting around 11:30 a.m. ET, the senators posted statements in a coordinated effort, one after the other, on social media, saying the Minnesota Democrat should step down. Some comments were elaborate, lengthy and loaded with a moral message. Others, like that of Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, were straight to the point. "Al Franken should resign," she simply tweeted.

Within the next 90 minutes, 16 Democrats -- 10 of them women -- and one Republican senator -- Susan Collins of Maine -- had publicly urged their colleague to vacate his seat.

The flood of calls came just one day after Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, announced he was resigning following calls from leaders in his own party to quit.

snip

Women Democratic senators had been talking behind the scenes for at least the past week about how to deal with Franken, multiple aides told CNN. But those talks reached a tipping point Wednesday morning, they said, when Politico published a report at 9 a.m. ET of another woman alleging that Franken touched her inappropriately in 2006, before he was elected to office.

The story prompted a flurry of calls and texts between Senate offices within minutes, and it was decided sometime between then and about 10:30 a.m. ET that the women senators would go public in a show of unity with their desire for Franken to step aside.
"Their patience had worn incredibly thin," said an aide to one of the women senators.




Democrats stampede to drive Sen. Franken from office amid sexual misconduct allegations

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-women-senators-call-franken-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations-n827036

Democratic women on Wednesday led the charge of more than two dozen senators who called on their embattled colleague, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, to resign after multiple women accused him of harassment or sexual misconduct.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Kamala Harris of California, Patty Murray of Washington and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin kicked off the stampede on Wednesday, all putting out statements within minutes of one another saying it was time for Franken to go.

By the evening, at least 35 Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York — were calling on him to quit, and Franken's office said the senator was planning an announcement from the Senate floor Thursday morning at 11:45. Some fellow Democrats said they believe he will announce he is resigning.

snip

Avalanche of Democratic senators say Franken should resign

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/363543-women-in-senate-call-for-franken-to-resign


That changed when a new charge became public on Wednesday from a woman who said the senator has sought to forcibly kiss her in a 2006 incident.

Six female Democratic senators quickly followed Gillibrand in saying that Franken should step down: Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.).

"I believe the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down," Harris said.

By early afternoon, Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat, and Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Tom Carper (Del.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Gary Peters (Mich.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) had also called on Franken to resign.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine), both Independents who caucus with the Democrats, also called on Franken to step down.

snip

Warren joins chorus calling for Franken’s resignation

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/06/aide-says-warren-called-franken-and-told-him-should-resign/FB0n5aTIdNc3IiRM8gSwXN/story.html

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren joined the chorus of Democratic senators calling for Minnesota Democrat Al Franken to resign in the wake of new sexual harassment allegations, including fellow Senator Ed Markey.

Female Democratic senators lead the charge for Franken’s ouster Wednesday, but Warren was the last among them to speak out publicly against him, waiting until mid-afternoon to do so.

“I think he should resign,” Elizabeth Warren said in a statement put out by her staff. She did not elaborate.

Earlier in the afternoon, a Warren aide told the Globe that the senator had talked to Franken privately and told him he should step down.

snip



Even Senator Klobuchar told him to resign in private and called his resignation the right decision

'The right decision,' Amy Klobuchar, others say of Franken's resignation

https://www.twincities.com/2017/12/07/amy-klobuchar-mark-dayton-others-react-to-al-franken-resignation-announcement/

U.S. SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR

“Today Senator Franken acknowledged that he could no longer serve in the Senate and resigned. As he and I discussed yesterday, this is the right decision. Senator Franken has worked for years on behalf of the people of Minnesota and he has been a leader on issues that are fundamental to Americans’ lives, including education, privacy, healthcare and mental health. He has been a friend to me and to many in our state.

“As the women who have come forward to tell their stories across America have made clear, sexual harassment is never acceptable. In every workplace in America, including the U.S. Senate, we must confront the challenges of harassment and misconduct. Nothing is easy or pleasant about this, but we all must recognize that our workplace cultures — and the way we treat each other as human beings — must change.

“For Franni, the Franken family, Senator Franken’s friends and supporters in our state, it’s a very tough day. I want you to know I remain as committed as ever to working together and standing up for people, for common decency, and for our democracy during an incredibly difficult and divisive time in our country. And as we go forward together, we must never forget the words of Senator Paul Wellstone, whom Senator Franken quoted in part today, ‘Politics is not about power. Politics is not about money. Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people’s lives.”

snip



https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/08/politics/amy-klobuchar-senate-al-franken-minnesota/index.html

"I had condemned his conduct early on when the first allegation was made," she told CNN's Dana Bash on "Inside Politics." "I felt I was in a different role as his colleague, that I'm someone that has worked with him for a long time, there's a lot of trust there, and I felt it was best to handle it in that way."

In a coordinated effort, female Democratic senators called for Franken's resignation in rapid fire Wednesday. Klobuchar did not join in that effort and said in a statement at the time that she spoke with him privately. By Wednesday evening, more than two dozen senators -- including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer -- had called for Franken's resignation.

"I talked to him about the fact that you had reached the situation with the mounting allegations and the fact that there was an ethics investigation going on," Klobuchar told CNN Friday.

snip


When asked about the ramifications of Franken's decision to resign, which Bash said was "under duress" -- and Klobuchar agreed -- the senator said it's "not about just toppling men." "This is about guaranteeing we will have better workplaces where people treat each other fairly," she responded. "And there is a lot of good men in the workplace. You know some of them. I think the key here will be due process."

snip


https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2017/12/why-democrats-pushed-franken-out.html?page=all

snip

A contrast is just what Democrats likely want to focus on, according to The Washington Post. Forcing out Franken, along with Rep. John Conyers, shows the party is “willing to sacrifice their own in the interest of staking out the higher ground,” per The Post.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar called Franken Wednesday and privately urged him to step down, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. While she plans to uphold Franken’s legacy and the work he’s done for the state, she thought his speech was “short.”

“I know that he didn’t really apologize to the people and that would have been nice,” Klobuchar said, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

snip


http://www.startribune.com/sen-amy-klobuchar-says-franken-s-legacy-will-last-but-adds-he-should-have-apologized/462628583/

snip

As for the farewell speech itself, Klobuchar said: “I thought the speech was short. ... I know that he didn’t really apologize to the people and that would have been nice.

“I think the bigger deal for me was that he was able to talk ... with a lot of love for our state, what he liked about his job and what he wanted to be his legacy.”

That legacy, she said, would include Franken’s work on issues like health care and privacy.

But the legacy will also be shadowed by more than half a dozen sexual harassment allegations against Franken. On Wednesday, Klobuchar said, as a seventh accuser came forward and other Senate Democrats began calling for his resignation, she called Franken to privately urge him to do the “right thing” and step down.

snip




my thoughts:


At the end of the day, the ONLY Democratic Senator to publicly say Franken should not resign was Joe Manchin.

As I said above, every other one, except for Bob Menendez of New Jersey (at the time facing a federal corruption trial) and the 3 members of the Senate Ethics Committee (Chris Coons of Delaware, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who could not make any statements), publicly or private told him to resign. I am pretty sure those 4, if their situations were different, would have joined the calls for Franken to go.

It is patent revisionism to lay the blame almost solely on Gillibrand. Take her out of the picture and the exact same thing would have happened, as evidenced by the articles above.

She is not my first (or 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc) choice for our nominee for POTUS 2020, but she also was the ONLY Democratic Senator to vote against EVERY single Trump nomination for high positions and she has been a tireless worker this 2018 cycle to help get out the vote across the country. She is a solid as hell liberal who is on the good side of most, if not all, issues that I care about, and she backs it up with actual votes.

She has even been called a Quisling on some threads. That is outrageous. Vidkun Quisling was the NAZI leader of the puppet government in Norway during WWII. It is beyond the pale to compare one of our great Senators a Nazi war criminal who was executed for his crimes against humanity.

[brooklynite]

121. You'll never convince them...

[Celerity]

123. all I can do is post the actual facts, what anyone chooses to do with them is up to them

The amount of revisionism here is off the charts.

[Baltimike]

162. She led the charge from jump...for those of us who lived it

We need someone who won't fall for Roger Stone's sucker bet.

She circled those wagons. The rest piled onto it, because the manufactured scandal was already weeks old before anyone went throwing him under the bus officially on paper.

The one who led that charge was her.

[Celerity]

164. it was far more than just one woman who came forward and you give far too much power to a Jr.

Senator from New York. If she is truly that powerful, she should be the minority leader., not Schumer.

Schumer had to give the ok for it all. If he didn't know what they were all planning then he is woefully out of touch with his own caucus, and if he said no, and they all went ahead ahead anyway he is incredibly weak.

I see so many people here want to have a pantomime villain, and you all settle on Gillibrand, because it suites your narrative. Too bad the actual facts betray you. Franken could have easily stayed on if he felt he was getting railroaded by one minor Senator. The fact that all but one of his colleagues (the other 4 who didn't were legally tied up) told him to resign and he did shows that it was far more than Gillibrand at the heart of it.

To single her and her alone out as the 'sorceress' behind the web of some intricate Machiavellian plot is nothing more than typical burn the witch scapegoating.

[Baltimike]

167. Oh it suuuuuure was 'more than one woman'...it was Roger Stone's SUCKER BET

and not only am not giving her too much credit, it *IS* what happened. Each of these women's claims were specious, including the start of the fire...Roger Stone's buddy who said he kissed her when she agreed to it but she didn't like it....we don't have the absence of consent.

AND NEVER DID

And another thing about that "too much credit" barb: Some are expecting me to give that Junior senator from NY the Presidency of the USA, so, um, yeah....that little STUNT ****SHE**** led is going to cost her my primary support.

There is no "pantomime villain"...there is her pulling that shit LEADING THE CHARGE BY EACH AND EVERY METRIC...it was her circling that band wagon. It doesn't "suit my narrative" it is what fucking happened. Nobody "settled" on her...we saw the charge that SHE led, and we are not supporting her because of it.

We aren't singling her out either...we are refusing to be gaslighted on the issue.

[Trumpocalypse]

172. Unfortunately the facts don't fit your narrative.

From CNN on December 7, 2017:

Nearly three weeks after sexual harassment allegations first emerged against Sen. Al Franken, a wave of Democratic senators — in coordination and following a flurry of text messages and phone calls — called for his resignation in rapid succession Wednesday morning.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation/index.html

And there were 7 other accusers:
http://time.com/5042931/al-franken-accusers/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/sen-al-frankens-accusers-accusations-made/story?id=51406862

No evidence has ever been produced that any of these 7 women were lying or in any way connected with Roger Stone.

[Baltimike]

174. Yes it does

Those antecedent three weeks are when Gilibrand led the charge.

[Trumpocalypse]

182. Any proof of that?

And please provide links to credible sources.

And to quote from the CNN article:

Her statement came a day after Gillibrand, who's frequently cited as a potential candidate for president in 2020, struggled publicly to answer direct questions about whether Franken should resign. At an event hosted by Politico, she grew visibly and audibly angry, but would not directly answer the question.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation/index.html

[Baltimike]

184. Yup.

I lived it. And whether she tap danced around a direct answer AFTER the wagon was already circling doesn't help your case.

Neither does "whataboutism"

Booker, Warren and Harris are all in my "maybe" pool because they fell for Roger Stone's SUCKER BET.

[Trumpocalypse]

187. Lived it?

How? Are you a Democratic Senator and personally witnessed the behind the scenes events?

If not, please provide links that prove your accusations or admit that you can't/

[Baltimike]

188. Yup. LIVED it

That's how there are LOTS of DEMOCRATS who refuse to vote for her...she led the charge.

See post 175

[Baltimike]

190. Nice try. No dice.

She led the charge against Franken and wants to play "it's wasn't me....everybody did it" No. Everybody joined in after she led the band wagon.

She even FUNDRAISED off of it. Downthread they call it tacky. It's not only tacky, it PROVES my fucking point.

[Trumpocalypse]

192. So you can't provide any links

from credible sources that prove you accusations?

[Baltimike]

195. Nice try (again). No dice (again)

Also, that should be "your" not "you"

You're welcome.

[Trumpocalypse]

197. No dice?

That is admission you can’t provide any link that prove your accusations.

[Baltimike]

198. There you go again

see post 175

[Trumpocalypse]

199. Either provide

link from credible sources that prove your accusations or admit that you can’t.

[Baltimike]

200. Post #175

I don't kowtow to you. I am not telling you again, either. I am not sure what about "See post #175" is hard. I also don't care. Gilibrand led the band wagon for weeks BEFORE anyone called for Franken's resignation, and no amount of gas lighting will change it.

Post #175. There are a few others on here too. Just read this thread.

[Trumpocalypse]

205. Every post

without links that prove your accusations is just an admission that you can’t.

[Baltimike]

211. LOL. Suuuuuuure it does

I'm not even going to link to post 175 either/ It's here

But you do you.

[Trumpocalypse]

212. Still no links

to any credible sources. (Post 175 is not a credible source.)

[Baltimike]

220. ROFL!!

I don't acquiesce to anything you post, love.

Gilibrand led the charge. She might regret it now, and you might also (obviously) but for those of us who LIVED it, we know who was doing what.

Link away to what went down three weeks later

Feel free to demand links that you're NEVER going to get...

And you wanna know what else?

Gilibrand is NEVER, EVER, EVER getting my primary support.

Her own office acknowledges Franken is why. Now go pretend that those who hopped on the band wagon are more culpable than she is.

[Trumpocalypse]

223. Then post links that

prove your accusations.

Each post that you don’t is an admission that you can’t.

[Baltimike]

236. There you go again!

[Trumpocalypse]

237. Still no links

Just another admission you can’t prove your accusations.

[Baltimike]

239. still going...

Thinking I need to prove my opinion to you..

BWA HA HA HA!!

Read the OP. GILIBRAND'S OWN OFFICE SAYS HER FUNDRAISING IS DOWN BECAUSE OF AL FRANKEN.

You think that is somehow not true...and now it's just hilarious. Post links again about what another Dem senator did WEEKS after the scandal as proof



Oooooh *I* know...post that "this one" or "that one" was first to call for his resignation "on tv".



and Gilibrand, along with Gabbard, will NEVER get my primary vote.

NEVER....and for Gilibrand AL FRANKEN is why.

LOLOLOL, but keep demanding links that I will NEVER post iof you haven't figured it out by now.

[Trumpocalypse]

241. So you admit that it is just your opinion

and not the facts of what happened. Go to know.

[Baltimike]

242. and going...

It's my opinion of the facts. Gilibrand even tried to fund raise off of it...but keep going...



I am not getting you links because I don't need to SUBMIT to you for the facts to BE the facts.

I am not alone in this...but here you are...unable to accept that she led the charge.

Keep on!

[Trumpocalypse]

243. Prove your alleged "facts"

with links to credible sources or admit that you can’t.

[Baltimike]

244. are you saying you haven't bothered to do a simple google search before

calling me out?

It certainly looks like you have...

[Baltimike]

245. Admit you're WRONG now. Thanks

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kirsten-gillibrand-calls-on-al-franken-to-resign

(...)

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was the first of Franken’s colleagues to publicly urge him to resign, writing in a Facebook post that “while it’s true that his behavior is not the same as the criminal conduct alleged against Roy Moore, or Harvey Weinstein, or President Trump, it is still unquestionably wrong, and should not be tolerated by those of us who are privileged to work in public service.” Several other senators, mostly women, followed suit. Franken did ultimately resign, admitting to some of the allegations and refuting others.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/11/kirsten-gillibrand-al-franken-2020-election.html

(...)

They would time their statements so that the *****first one came from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York,***** who's been at the forefront of sexual harassment legislation in recent years. Her statement landed on Facebook at about 11:30 a.m. ET, roughly the same time she started an already-scheduled news conference on sexual harassment in the workplace.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation/index.html

(...)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/26/al-franken-kirsten-gillibrand-2020-1014697

[Trumpocalypse]

254. Did you bother to read the links.

First, none say that Gillibrand "led the charge", just that she was the first to call for his resignation and was followed immediately by several other Senators.

As stated in the CNN article:

(CNN)Nearly three weeks after sexual harassment allegations first emerged against Sen. Al Franken, a wave of Democratic senators — in coordination and following a flurry of text messages and phone calls — called for his resignation in rapid succession Wednesday morning.

Starting around 11:30 a.m. ET, the senators posted statements in a coordinated effort, one after the other, on social media, saying the Minnesota Democrat should step down.

Women Democratic senators had been talking behind the scenes for at least the past week about how to deal with Franken, multiple aides told CNN. But those talks reached a tipping point Wednesday morning, they said, when Politico published a report at 9 a.m. ET of another woman alleging that Franken touched her inappropriately in 2006, before he was elected to office.

The story prompted a flurry of calls and texts between Senate offices within minutes, and it was decided sometime between then and about 10:30 a.m. ET that the women senators would go public in a show of unity with their desire for Franken to step aside.
"Their patience had worn incredibly thin," said an aide to one of the women senators.
Soon after that, Franken was given a heads up about what was coming, according to an aide to one of the women senators.

The Daily Beast article confirms this:

A spate of female Democratic senators, starting with Kirsten Gillibrand, called upon their colleague Al Franken to resign amid mounting sexual-harassment allegations against him.

Immediately after Gillibrand posted her statement, several other prominent female Democratic senators came forward to call for Franken’s exit—including Sens. Kamala Harris, Maggie Hassan, Claire McCaskill, Mazie Hirono, Tammy Baldwin, and Patty Murray.

Neither said that Gillibrand led the charge just that she was the first and was immediately followed by others in a co-ordinated effort.

Nor do any confirm that Gillibrand began any effort three weeks earlier as you claimed:

Those antecedent three weeks are when Gilibrand led the charge.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=71332

The other two are opinion pieces, not news. But maybe you should have bothered to read the Slate article that states:

When seven women accused then–Minnesota Sen. Al Franken of sexual harassment or abuse last winter, Democrats were put in a tight spot. If they demanded Franken’s resignation for alleged acts far less severe than those the sitting president has been accused of perpetrating, they’d lose a reliably progressive—and extremely popular—women’s rights advocate in the Senate in order to claim a moral high ground the GOP has no interest in competing for. If they let Franken stay, they’d be normalizing sexual exploitation as a thing powerful men inevitably do, and any future calls they might make for alleged abusers to step down from public office could be dismissed as hollow and hypocritical.

If Gillibrand hadn’t called for Franken’s resignation, it would have been fair to label her an opportunist, because she’d have been contravening her beliefs to avoid upsetting donors and causing intraparty conflict. In that sense, accusations of opportunism from aggravated donors are self-refuting. If she was behaving disingenuously to gain support, then where’s the support?

Even if Gillibrand ends up losing more than she gains as a result of her stance, Democratic Party boosters shouldn’t be badmouthing her for spearheading the movement to hold Franken accountable. They should be thanking her for saving the Democratic Party’s reputation among young voters who have plenty of reasons to think Democrats are just as corrupt and sleazy as Republicans. Women who’ve been moved for the first time to progressive activism by the #MeToo movement and the presidency of an accused sexual abuser could easily be disillusioned by a party without principles.

All the donors directing disapproving slights at Gillibrand over the past year (“[Gillibrand] did the damage that Republicans could not do themselves”; “what she did for women in politics was dreadful”) have sidestepped one major thread of this story: sexual harassment and abuse. These are people more eager to fault a woman for opportunism—for having the audacity to lead on an issue she cares about, possibly with the hope of becoming president someday—than to take bold measures to keep alleged gropers out of public office. The Democratic donors abandoning Gillibrand accuse her of putting politics over principle, of protecting her own career at the expense of Franken’s. They’re either too stubborn or too stupid to realize that they’re guilty of a much more despicable offense: protecting party loyalty at the expense of all women.

[Celerity]

177. funny thing I have noticed about some people who toss out the buzzy buzzy meme

of gaslighting.

They are sometimes the ones attempting it.

Go figure.

We aren't singling her out either...

Is literally an attempt to gaslight.

None of the other 40 plus Senators (especially including the initial GROUP of women Senators who coordinated for weeks on this) have been raked over the coals to anywhere near the degree Gillibrand has been on here by certain people.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.

I am no supporter of Gillibrand for POTUS at all, but I will defend her against these revisionist attacks.

Each of these women's claims were specious

Tina Dupay, was far from specious, for instance.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/i-believe-frankens-accusers-because-he-groped-me-too/547691/?utm_source=twb


Hardly a Stone plant or a RW hack.

Tina Dupuy is the former communications director for Congressman Alan Grayson, and has been a nationally syndicated op-ed columnist, freelance investigative journalist and comedian.

She freelances for Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Fast Company, LA Weekly, Newsday, Mother Jones, and Skeptic. Her weekly op-ed column is nationally syndicated through Daryl Cagle's website Cagle Cartoons. Dupuy's writing has also been published in books including a collection of short stories called What Was I Thinking? (St. Martin's Press, 2009) and the English textbook Exploring Language 13th Edition (Longman, 2011).

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Finally, as I posted before, even his fellow Minnesotan Senator, Klobuchar, called on him to resign


http://www.startribune.com/sen-amy-klobuchar-says-franken-s-legacy-will-last-but-adds-he-should-have-apologized/462628583/

snip

As for the farewell speech itself, Klobuchar said: “I thought the speech was short. ... I know that he didn’t really apologize to the people and that would have been nice.

“I think the bigger deal for me was that he was able to talk ... with a lot of love for our state, what he liked about his job and what he wanted to be his legacy.”

That legacy, she said, would include Franken’s work on issues like health care and privacy.

But the legacy will also be shadowed by more than half a dozen sexual harassment allegations against Franken. On Wednesday, Klobuchar said, as a seventh accuser came forward and other Senate Democrats began calling for his resignation, she called Franken to privately urge him to do the “right thing” and step down.

snip


https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/08/politics/amy-klobuchar-senate-al-franken-minnesota/index.html

"I had condemned his conduct early on when the first allegation was made," she told CNN's Dana Bash on "Inside Politics." "I felt I was in a different role as his colleague, that I'm someone that has worked with him for a long time, there's a lot of trust there, and I felt it was best to handle it in that way."

In a coordinated effort, female Democratic senators called for Franken's resignation in rapid fire Wednesday. Klobuchar did not join in that effort and said in a statement at the time that she spoke with him privately. By Wednesday evening, more than two dozen senators -- including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer -- had called for Franken's resignation.

"I talked to him about the fact that you had reached the situation with the mounting allegations and the fact that there was an ethics investigation going on," Klobuchar told CNN Friday.

snip

When asked about the ramifications of Franken's decision to resign, which Bash said was "under duress" -- and Klobuchar agreed -- the senator said it's "not about just toppling men." "This is about guaranteeing we will have better workplaces where people treat each other fairly," she responded. "And there is a lot of good men in the workplace. You know some of them. I think the key here will be due process."

snip


Over 40 Democratic Senators called on him to step down, many coordinated for weeks before (btw, Gillibrand was not the first to actually go on television, Kamala Harris was)

:

yet the burn the witch treatment is almost solely reserved for Gillibrand

[Baltimike]

189. see post 175. nt

[Baltimike]

246. Man. Me too. It's like they didn't live through this or something. nt

[Baltimike]

248. Funny thing I have noticed was the ACTUAL GASLIGHTING pretending Gilibrand

didn't do this...

It was amazing.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=75169

[Baltimike]

168. Oh, and scapegoating my royal Irish ass. nt

[Celerity]

169. if the shoe fits.......

Slàinte!

[Baltimike]

170. It doesn't.

But she won't be the nominee and Al Franken is why

[BlueStater]

175. She tried to make money off Franken's downfall for her campaign not too long ago.

Link to tweet

None of the others have done this. To say it's completely baseless why she's been singled out more than the others is incorrect.

She's made herself the face of the Franken scandal and it's backfiring horribly. That's not an opinion, but a fact based on her own actions.

[Trumpocalypse]

181. No she was made the face of it

long before that tweet. Please don't try to revise history.

[BlueStater]

185. And by trying to make money off of it, she's doing nothing to dissociate herself from it.

Regardless of whether you feel Franken was unfairly treated or not, trying to fundraise off what happened to him is tacky as hell.

She hasn't been helping her situation is what I'm saying. Not at all.

[Trumpocalypse]

186. OK

You have a point. It is tacky.

[Baltimike]

247. No. She MADE HERSELF the face of it

Don't revise history indeed.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=75169

[Celerity]

249. nope, it was a group effort, but keep on spinning

Female Democratic senators coordinated a wave of calls for resignation

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation/index.html

Nearly three weeks after sexual harassment allegations first emerged against Sen. Al Franken, a wave of Democratic senators — in coordination and following a flurry of text messages and phone calls — called for his resignation in rapid succession Wednesday morning.

Starting around 11:30 a.m. ET, the senators posted statements in a coordinated effort, one after the other, on social media, saying the Minnesota Democrat should step down. Some comments were elaborate, lengthy and loaded with a moral message. Others, like that of Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, were straight to the point. "Al Franken should resign," she simply tweeted.

Within the next 90 minutes, 16 Democrats -- 10 of them women -- and one Republican senator -- Susan Collins of Maine -- had publicly urged their colleague to vacate his seat.

The flood of calls came just one day after Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, announced he was resigning following calls from leaders in his own party to quit.

snip

Women Democratic senators had been talking behind the scenes for at least the past week about how to deal with Franken, multiple aides told CNN. But those talks reached a tipping point Wednesday morning, they said, when Politico published a report at 9 a.m. ET of another woman alleging that Franken touched her inappropriately in 2006, before he was elected to office.

The story prompted a flurry of calls and texts between Senate offices within minutes, and it was decided sometime between then and about 10:30 a.m. ET that the women senators would go public in a show of unity with their desire for Franken to step aside.
"Their patience had worn incredibly thin," said an aide to one of the women senators.

snip



You use the term 'face of it', but Gillibrand was not even the first to actually go on television, Kamala Harris was:

This is less than an hour after the GROUP of women Senators started publicly calling for Franken to step down:

[tonedevil]

250. Since announcing as a Presidential candidate...

how many times has Senator Harris been asked or volunteered to talk about her role in operation get Franken? Senator Gillibrand has sent out fundraising requests that feature her role in standing up for women by demanding that Senator Franken step down. Your timeline is correct and yet irrelevant. You may not be happy with Gillibrand as spokesperson for the get Franken movement, but she seems to relish it.

[Baltimike]

253. thank you. nt

[Baltimike]

252. Gilibrand was INDEED the first to call for his resignation

and no amount of spin can change the FACT of the matter.

[Celerity]

256. she posted on FB first, but literally 10 or 15 more posted and went on telly within minutes and they

all had pre-planned it

she was not some all powerful Svengali type who mesmerised the entire Democratic caucus other than Manchin

that is laughable

what she does now is not germane to those facts, I don't support her for POTUS but I sure as hell want her in the Senate

lowest Trump score in the Senate and the only Senator to vote against every one of the orange bloat's nominations

[Trumpocalypse]

255. No

Those links just prove the media made her the face of it.

[Baltimike]

257. Nice try. No dice. They prove she led the way.

PS. You demanded media links and then lampooned the media links.

[Trumpocalypse]

258. No they didn't prove that

Did you even bother to read them?

[Trumpocalypse]

144. Good post

unfortunately the cult of Franken is strong here. You’ll never shake them of their belief that Gillibrand blackmailed all 7 women to accuse Franken, then hypnotized over 30 other Senators to call for Franken’s resignation and finally went to Franken’s office with the resignation letter and a gun and told Franken either his signature or his brains would be on the letter.

[Celerity]

165. It was over 40 others, all but 5 (and 4 of them either could not (3) or chose not (Menendez)

called on him to resign. The rest, either in public or private, including his MN colleague, Klobuchar, told him he had to go. It is madness to give Gillibrand that much power credit, especially as Schumer himself went along. The initial group of women (NOT A WOMAN) had talked about it for weeks before they went public. If Gillibrand was the only main power vector, the others would have shut her down in private. Sad to see so many fall into a wolfpack-like, revisionist mentality. No wonder we fail so much.

[Trumpocalypse]

166. Very true

Unfortunately it is not only the right that engages in fact less pack thinking.

[JHan]

173. +++++++

I've said this was.a collective decision by leadership. Yet....gillibrand is the one made an example of.

[LakeArenal]

111. Bs. the truth is the truth.

So we can fire at Gilli but not the “precious”? Forget it.
Those senators invented the circular firing squad.

[sfwriter]

106. Warren and Booker were not first.

Warren has serious policy chops and fresh ideas.

Booker is WELL known in the party.

Gillibrand seemed to seize on Franken to raise her visibility.

[LakeArenal]

114. Well I'm glad the post above brought up circular firing squad

Which shots were Harris, Booker and Warren’s?

As I said before. Those Senators invented it.

[Trumpocalypse]

130. Raise her visibility?

Any proof of that?

[PatrickforO]

219. Indeed. I'm the littlest of the little, and I will not be donating to her campaign,

ever.

[TeamPooka]

4. They're just not that into you.

[TexasBushwhacker]

56. Yup. Sucks to be her n/t

[Trumpocalypse]

86. But Harris also called for Franken to resign

only a few minutes later.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Angry because she "stood up for women who came forward with allegations

of sexual harassment"? No, Kirsten. Try angry because you used a hit job perpetrated by a friend of Roger Stone and Sean Hannity as an excuse to jump on the #MeToo bandwagon in order to further your own ambitions, by stabbing a colleague in the back without even giving him the courtesy of a fair investigation. Karma sucks sometimes, doesn't it?

[Va Lefty]

12. This post!👍

[demtenjeep]

13. This +100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

a hundred clap emojis

[Wellstone ruled]

17. You go!

BTW,Kristen,major story about the Abuse of the Janitorial Staff by Congressman and you did not hear or see anything.

You must have missed the text or something,I know I know,Hanniety and Stone blocked your view.

[delisen]

41. Kamela Harris called for Franken resignation.

[wasupaloopa]

74. Kamala Harris would be a much better President too.

[Trumpocalypse]

89. But she also called for Franken to resign

within minutes of Gillibrand. Seems like a double standard.

[wasupaloopa]

151. She would make a great president Gillibrand wouldn't

along with here treatment of Franken.

[Trumpocalypse]

153. Yet Harris was the first to go on TV

to call for Franken’s resignation. https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/al-franken-democratic-senators-resign/index.html

Seems like a double standard.

[Celerity]

178. here is the video btw

notice the time

it is less than an hour after the 10 Democratic women Senators started coordinated posting on social media calling for Franken to resign.

[Trumpocalypse]

183. Thanks

But unfortunately all the facts in the world won't penetrate the cult.

I liked Franken and thought he was a good Senator. What I don't understand is why he deserves this slavish devotion other than being a celebrity.

[NanceGreggs]

18. ...

...

[LuvNewcastle]

19. Well said!

[catrose]

27. THIS

[delisen]

42. How do you give a pass to Kamela Harris?

[LakeArenal]

68. Or Sanders, or Booker or Warren.

[LongtimeAZDem]

79. None of them get a pass from me, and Harris gained her seat on Judiciary because Franken

was railroaded.

That said, I think Harris' record and positions make her a desirable candidate, and purity tests only harm us. Gillibrand, on the other hand, does not have a record that in any way mitigates her continuing attacks on Franken.

However, any female Democratic candidate (with the exception of Klobuchar) that calls for Biden to apologize to Anita Hill needs to first apologize to Al Franken, IMO.

[Trumpocalypse]

91. So having the most anti-Trump voting record

doesn’t count?

[LongtimeAZDem]

100. Not really, no. her record isn't that far off of the rest of the pack, and has shifted to the "+"

with her votes this Congress.

[Merlot]

29. Also, her actions caused the democratic party to miss an opportunity

to actually show how to handle accusations using the rule of law and investigations. By short-circuting this process, she cheated every democrat of the truth.

Franken would have been found guilty or innocent, but we'll never know. A rush to judgement and a mob-mentality is what the republicans stand for, democrats don't need to do that.

So, there you go, Kristin, you made accusations enough to prosecute someone. Now, no one wants to hear what you have to say. Tough luck.

Oh, and enough with the victim stuff.

[delisen]

40. Bernie, Corey, Harris called for Franken resignation

Also Warren-although she was not as fast as the others. Even Sherrod Brown who had been considering running for president called for him to resign.

Apparently there were 2 staffers or former staffers on in congress who had made verbal complaints who talked to senators. I think their words carried a lot of weight but don't think they ever went public.

I myself was opposed to the calls for resignation because I am a believer in due process. I also think Scumer's strategy was wrong-trying to differentiate from Republicans. I believe it was Schumer who really rounded up the calls for resignation after the first few hours.

The public complaint against Franken just seemed too weak.

I am least resentful of Gillibrand because of all the work she has done on the Armed Services committee - one has to del with lots of nasty testimony regarding sexual abuse of women nd its being covered up or discounted, or perpetrators given promotions and women punished-lots of depressing stuff.

I do not support Biden's candidacy but I spoke against the attacks upon him.

[Trumpocalypse]

93. Well said nt

[Trumpocalypse]

92. Sorry but rule of law does not apply

because no one accused Franken of committing a crime. And an ethics committee investigation does not determine guilt or innocence. It is a hearing to determine if Congressional ethics rules were violated. Plus do you really think the republicans on the ethics committee would have given Franken a fair hearing?

And their was not just one Senator who called for Franken to resign. It was over 35. Blaming one while giving a pass to the others is hypocrisy.

[Merlot]

113. Who said I gave the others a pass?

Having a full investigation would have been better than a rush to judgment. As for guilty or innocent, no one thinks that Franken would have gone to jail, but we the public were cheated of the opportunity to make our own decision on these claims.

Whether or not republicans would have given Franken a fair hearing is not the issue, we all know how the repbulicans would have handled this. Still better than having Franken slink off into the night.

Like it or not, Gilliabrand is seen as both the instigator and major rallying cry to have him step down.

[Trumpocalypse]

140. Full investigation?

There would have been no investigation like the Mueller investigation. It would have been an ethics committee hearing which is closed to the public.

And in the end Franken chose to resign. No one put a gun to his head.

You want to blame Gillibrand but Harris was the first to go to TV to call for Franken’s resignation. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/12/06/kamala-harris-calls-on-franken-to-resign-bts-ip.cnn/video/playlists/al-franken/

So there is a bit of a double standard here.

[tonedevil]

191. Even if he had a gun to his head...

using your logic it could still be said that Franken chose to resign. His choice was not made in a vacuum and to pretend it was a free choice is to make a mockery of free choice. You point out, with great repetition, that it wasn't only Senator Gillibrand who demanded Senator Franken resign. It was well over half of the Democratic Caucus that made that demand. This quote from An article in the Atlantic puts into words what I have thought about the "choice" that Franken made:

When you’re being compared to a serial killer and your colleagues are promising to ostracize you and competing to denounce you, it’s hard to make the best strategic choices.

Despite her best efforts to take the credit for and fund-raise off this event Gillibrand did have a lot of accomplices and their combined effort left no effective choice for Franken except to leave.

[Trumpocalypse]

193. No He always had a choice.

He chose to resign. He could have fought on but instead he gave into peer pressure and resigned.

[tonedevil]

194. Sure we can go with the idea he had a choice...

and he would still have a choice if there were a gun to his head.

[Trumpocalypse]

196. Not an idea

But reality.

[tonedevil]

201. I can find myself in agreement...

if I start from the premise that Senator Franken had roughly the same freedom of choice he would have had if the Senate held a gun to his head.

[Trumpocalypse]

206. Please stop with the straw man argument

Using such an extreme ridiculous argument is dishonest and an admission that you can’t make a factual, logic one.

[tonedevil]

209. As if the argument that...

the pressure of a majority of your caucus is of no consequence. Stop trying to referee the conversations you are involved in. You are just being a bully.

[Trumpocalypse]

210. Stating the facts

is not being a bully. Making a ridiculous straw man argument is.

[tonedevil]

222. It is absurd to contended...

there was a viable way for Franken to remain in the senate. While he may have retained his seat for a while he would have no colleagues to work with. Since the majority of his caucus had made public announcements demanding he resign they could not have allowed him to stay on any committees or work with him on any legislation as that would have shown them to be two-faced and toothless. He would not be able to do any Senatorial work at that point and there is no way his reputation could be restored so that he could realistically hope to in the future. Senator Franken was given an offer that he could not refuse and that adds up to a choice that is no choice.

[Trumpocalypse]

224. He still could have stayed and fought on

Sure it would have been difficult but in the end he chose to resign.

[tonedevil]

225. Could he have written..

any legislation that would be voted on? Could he have participated in Senate Committees? Would any of his fellow Senators, who called on him to resign, have been willing/able to work with him on any Senate business? You suggest that he could have stayed on, but what do you think he could have done if he didn't resign? Wait for his name to be cleared by an Ethics Committee investigation?

[Trumpocalypse]

229. Maybe/Maybe not

But we will never know because Franken chose to resign.

[tonedevil]

230. A choice in the tradition of...

Hobson and Sophie.

[Trumpocalypse]

231. More like in the tradition of

Edward VIII

[tonedevil]

233. I guess I hadn't understood...

the contempt you feel for Senator Franken. King Edward's abdication was cowardly and despicable. When he made his choice it put the country in a crisis and likely led to the early death of his brother. When Franken stepped down it was at a significant personal cost, but it made the situation of the remaining Democratic Caucus members considerably easier.

[Trumpocalypse]

234. Not contempt

Just acknowledging the facts of what happened. He chose to resign instead of fight.

And what personal cost. He’s hardly destitute.

[tonedevil]

235. OK /nt

[Funtatlaguy]

31. Bingo....center square wins the prize!

[leftieNanner]

46. Perfect-a-mundo!!!

I will not vote for her in the primary. And no $$$.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

48. Amen, Velveteen One, AMEN.

[Honeycombe8]

57. +1. Except she didn't jump on the bandwagon. She created the bandwagon.

She did nothing, not one thing, to verify the "stories," most of which were not even allegations of harassment. No questions were asked, much less getting testimony under oath. She was HAPPY to have an excuse to railroad Franken.

Goodbye, Gillibrand, goodbye.

[Trumpocalypse]

87. But there were 7 other women

including an army veteran and former Democratic staffer. Were they all friends of Roger Stone.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

88. We'll never know, will we?

Because there was no fucking investigation.

[Trumpocalypse]

90. Investigation?

What investigation was there going to be? An ethics committee hearing in not something like the Mueller investigation. It is a hearing to determine if Congressional ethics rules were violated. It doesn’t determine guilt or innocence of the allegations. And do you really believe that the republicans on the ethics committee would have given Franken a fair hearing?

[sfwriter]

109. Franken ASKED for that hearing.

He must have figured those Republicans would give him a fair hearing, or that these were bullshit charges.

[Trumpocalypse]

126. But then he chose to resign

instead of waiting for the hearing.

[Demsrule86]

98. Yeah and it was a hit job with jumping on the band wagon.

None of those allegations were credible. The Gop tried to take down Northam and Fairfax too. The Virginia AG was next yet the usual suspects called for their resignations.Thank God sanity prevailed, and we didn't hand over the statehouse. And surprise, the accusers didn't want an investigation. I doubt Franken's would have either,

[Trumpocalypse]

128. Any proof that all 7 were lying

including the army vet and former Dem staffer?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

154. We'll never know, because they weren't interviewed in connection with

the investigation Franken asked for and never got. And having been an Army veteran or a former Dem staffer isn't a guarantee of truthfulness - they can have their agendas just like everybody else.

[Trumpocalypse]

156. What investigation?

An ethics committee investigation is a hearing.

And if all 7 were lying why hasn’t Franken sued them for slander?

[sfwriter]

108. yeah... this.

[The Wizard]

115. Nailed it

[Bettie]

142. This is why

I can't support her in a primary. IF she were to be the nominee I'd vote for her, of course.

On Facebook, all of her (many) fundraising posts reference Franken and how she was "brave" to take him out...I've not seen a positive comment on any of them. None.

Perhaps she shouldn't have used her betrayal of Franken as her primary reason she thought people should vote for her.

[Baltimike]

171. THIS is perfect!!!! nt

[dem4decades]

7. First Senator calling for Al to step down, last one I'll support.

[rzemanfl]

8. Al Franken was the victim of a ratf**king. She called for him to resign.

That's on her.

[Trumpocalypse]

95. She and over 35 other Senators

on the same morning.

[rzemanfl]

101. You were up late last night defending her. At least it

was late in my time zone.

[Trumpocalypse]

132. So what?

But I guess you can’t didbute the facts in my post.

[rzemanfl]

138. Indidbuteably. n/t

[TexasProgresive]

9. You think, Kirsten? n/t

[msongs]

10. I cannot find any compelling reason why she should be the democratic nominee nt

[enough]

70. This puts it best. NT

[demtenjeep]

11. ya think?

she is still hanging her hat on that one

[aeromanKC]

14. Quarters 2,3, and 4 will be the same

Gillibrand will be among the first ones to drop out.

[LuvLoogie]

15. Maybe she thought being the junior Senator from New York

meant she could fill Hillary's shoes.

But Hillary would never do that to another Dem.

[LakeArenal]

69. She stepped in Hillary's shoes then proceeded to poop on both Clintons

[LuvLoogie]

71. KG was more concerned with building her brznd6

than building relationships.

[dalton99a]

208. +1. The worst bus driver ever

[LakeArenal]

213. Exactly.

[flotsam]

16. Thw hunting and killing of Franken is only half the story

and should always be served up with a side dish of this-"A former aide to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand resigned last year after accusing top aides to the senator of mishandling a sexual harassment complaint she filed against a colleague. Ms. Gillibrand’s office investigated the claim and kept the worker on staff, but dismissed him last week after Politico presented new details about the allegations to her Senate office."
So a disgusting hypocrite too!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/us/politics/kirsten-gillibrand-sexual-harassment.html

[Haggis for Breakfast]

49. There has been a lot published about her lack of concern over this young woman's torment.

Not only did she do nothing to alleviate the situation, she made it worse. Over and over again. One bad decision after another. Totally tone deaf to this young woman.

She is NO defender of women's rights if she fails to protect the female members of her own staff.

[delisen]

20. Corey Booker, Kamela Harris, Bernie Sanders

and eventually Elizabeth Warren called for Franken's resignation

[Merlot]

32. And it's a black mark on all their records.

However, none of them are using it as a rallying cry on how they "stand up for women."

These other candidates all have other strengths to offer, not clear on what Gillibrand brings to the table.

[Kahuna7]

38. Hmmm. What did they all have in common?

[demtenjeep]

50. we saw this the first 4 times you posted

we heard you

[delisen]

72. This was my first post on topic; on the others I was asking

individuals who were backing candidates who had themselves called for Franken to resign.

Sherrod Brown had also called for Franken to resign, as did the Senate minority leader.

I reserve my right to ask questions or make comments in the public space-

I also support your right to do so.

[LakeArenal]

119. !!!!!

[jaysunb]

60. And none of them will ever get my vote or money. n/t

[brush]

21. Duh! Not a surprise.

[LiberalFighter]

22. The Franken issue was a big bug in my craw.

She didn't properly evaluate the situation.

[Cha]

54. She jumped

the gun.

[Trumpocalypse]

96. Based on what?

[walkingman]

23. She might be right :)

[OnDoutside]

24. And she doubled down on Franken just a couple of months ago ..

[bitterross]

25. DUH, Captain Obvious. It's why I won't support her in the primaries.

Dang, captain obvious. People ARE pissed off still. I know I am. Not going to give her an ounce of support in the primaries. There are far too many better choices.

If, by some strange miracle, she makes it through the primaries and becomes the nominee I would have to change on that.

[cp]

26. No sh*t, Sherlock

[no_hypocrisy]

28. It wasn't courage. She took a risk and she lost.

[Kahuna7]

36. Yeah she a didn't know that her move to get rid of Franken would

be so obvious that she viewed him as a rival for a primary challenge.

[KPN]

30. Now there's a stretch if I ever saw one.

Withholding support for a candidate because one disagrees with the candidate’s position or action(s) is now punishing the candidate. Poor, misunderstood and innocent candidate.

[LakeArenal]

82. Yep. That's how politics work. You make a bad move and it follows you around.. It's called baggage.

[Vogon_Glory]

33. No, Kirsten, not just Establishment Democrats

Or big donors. There are many of us smaller fish still very resentful about your leading the pile-on on Senator Franken, a pile-on based on the questionable say-so of a mid-level Fox News crony of Sean Hannity.

[MyOwnPeace]

34. It's about judgment.........

You've shown how you do your thinking - your planning - your decision making.

It wasn't good.

We can do better..........................

[Kahuna7]

35. I was certain that she wanted to run for president and Franken would

present an obstacle. I do believe it was self serving that she wanted Franken gone. Not just her. Most of the Dems running also spoke out against Franken.

[Indykatie]

37. Many saw Gillibrand's Reaction to Franken Being Accused as Opportunistic.

None of the behavior Franken was accused of rose to the level of abuse or harassment that warranted him stepping down in my opinion. I don't want a candidate who is not capable of nuance when it comes to evaluating these types of complaints especially when it's clear some might be exaggerated or made up. How much abuse can really be perpetrated in public settings with cameras rolling or the person's husband standing next to them? Shame on the Dems for not insisting on an investigation as Franken requested. Beyond her Franken issues I still couldn't see Gillibrand doing well when there are so many other capable women candidates. She'll be stuck in the 1%-2% range until she drops out.

[doc03]

39. Good

[BlueStater]

43. That's not's why your critics are "punishing" you.

But great job mischaracterizing our ire towards you. How very Republican. It's also sounds very fucking pretentious at that. We care about standing up to sexual assault just as much as you do, but we're not about to start demanding that everyone who gets accused immediately lose their jobs and have their lives and reputations destroyed based on allegations alone. That's idiotic.

Judging from your campaign's statement, you apparently like your standing in the polls and seem content to have them remain where they are. Keep it up. You're doing a great job.

[IluvPitties]

44. Glad her campaign is going down in flames.

[marble falls]

45. Gee. I wonder why she might possibly think that?

[BlueFlorida]

47. Duh nt

[Blue Owl]

51. Frankly my dear I don't give a damn

n/t

[SMC22307]

52. That memo screams "victim"...

and I REALLY don't do victim.

[Wounded Bear]

53. Ya think?

[stonecutter357]

55. thoughts and prayers.

[fleabiscuit]

58. My hunch is this thread may provide some catharsis.

[chillfactor]

59. That is the man reason I would never vote for her..

I consider her a traitor to our Democratic party! We could sure use Franken in the Senate now.

[barbtries]

61. ya think?

every time i encounter a tweet from her campaign asking for support, i respond, "no. because Al Franken."

scrolling through the threads it's a common theme. she made a cynical political calculation and it was a big mistake, and she was wrong to do it.

[DoctorJoJo]

62. Congrats Gilly, You Sure Nailed It!

[mac56]

63. From the Department Of No Shit, Sherlock.

[USALiberal]

64. DUH!!!! nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

65. Sometimes life just isn't fair, Kirsten.

If you don't understand what I mean,






ASK. AL. FRANKEN.

[mac56]

66. "Gilly...."

[George II]

73. I guess she should have thought about that back in 2017.

[helpisontheway]

75. It is exactly why she will not get my vote. Nt

[EveHammond13]

76. Al Franken more beloved than her. Period.

[Trumpocalypse]

97. No

There is more of a cult of personality around Franken, the white male celebrity.

[USALiberal]

110. Nice try! Nt

[Trumpocalypse]

136. No

It’s the truth.

[Historic NY]

77. You think

[zaj]

78. ... for allowing a good person to be "rat f*cked"...

... during a hard moment when her leadership might have helped.

[Polly Hennessey]

80. Best news I've heard.

Would never send her money because of what she did to Al. Then I heard and saw her in Iowa with Chris Hayes. Shrill, robotic, over-anxious and a complete lack of empathy emanating from her twitchy speeches. Not even close to presidential material. If by some twist of fate she becomes our candidate (I shudder to envision that possibility), I will be forced to vote for her.

[peggysue2]

81. The fact that Gillibrand and her campaign acknowledge the damage done . . .

with the hasty Al Franken condemnation (even though she defends her decision), goes a long way in explaining Gillibrand's far more nuanced comments regarding Joe Biden. There was no head-long jump into the accusation seat when the Joe Biden brouhaha emerged. The pattern of accusations was very similar--the first complaint, followed by two more then several others. The end note was quite different, however. I suspect the finale was quite disappointing to those behind the scenes.

Gillibrand has been a strong voice in women's issues. But she really got burned by the whole zero tolerance mantra: believe every woman with a story, rather than listen to every woman's story, give it serious consideration but then make damn well sure the stories are more than a political pile-on before you demand an ouster.

Live and learn, I guess.

[hotrod0808]

102. Fundraising is hard

I am not a fan of Sen. Gillibrand at all. That said, I do admire that she prefers small, private donors over big business. If that is the case, she needs to travel to some of the historically Democratic hotspots to meet the people.

[WeekiWater]

103. I was one of those who didn't think this was going to hurt her outside of the online community.

I was clearly wrong as it has damaged her immensely. Maybe that is because in this day and age having the online community on your side is almost a necessity to take off. She really does speak well for us. I am a big supporter of hers. No, I do not support what she along with most Senators did to Franken.

[democratisphere]

107. I like Al Franken.

[BlueStater]

112. It continues to astound me that the Franken thing is the hill she thinks is worth dying on.

She's not being courageous, she's being stupid. She's also lying about why people are upset with her, which is disgusting.

People AREN'T upset with you because you stood up for (alleged) sexual assault victims. They're upset with your methods of doing so. Your knee jerk call for his resignation before all the accusations had been fully investigated was a terrible way of standing up for victims.

Get your head out of your posterior, Senator.

[beachbum bob]

117. Gillibrand unable to apoligize for her actions agsinst Franken is seen the same way by many

as a marked failure of leadership and decency

she won't ever get a penny from me

[Bayard]

120. I will never forgive her for leading the charge against Franken

Would any of the others that jumped on the bandwagon have done the same?

I never saw a credible allegation against him. These unsubstantiated claims took out one of the best senators we had--and would have been in the forefront against all things tRump. Much more valuable than Gillibrand.

[BlueStater]

122. I have to say that I also resent that she keeps calling every accusation against him "credible".

Leann Tweeden was not fucking credible. At all.

[zipplewrath]

124. She'll be calling Franken.

Waddaya bet her staff will be calling Franken hoping that he'll come out with some statement of support asking people not to hold this against her going forward?

[aikoaiko]

125. I will give KG credit for being resolute that it was the right thing to do

She has not cracked.

On the other hand she shows little apprciation that many Democrats are not as certain.

[Faux pas]

127. Good

that is all.

[EveHammond13]

131. Silver lining: She is a good Senator and we need her in the Senate. For real.

[Gothmog]

135. I am not going to to contribute to Gillibrand due to the treatment of Al Franken

[Vinca]

137. I'm glad she's finally hearing the opinion of the masses via lousy fund raising.

She had Franken tried, convicted and sent into oblivion before anyone had time to even suggest an investigation first. I know I wouldn't give her a dime.

[Trumpocalypse]

159. She and over 35 other Senators

including Warren, Harris, Booker and Sanders.

[Rustynaerduwell]

139. Kirsten Gillibrand is my Senator and I agree with her.

I am angry with her because she "stood up for the women who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment" against Senator Franken. That's on me.


She stood against him without any critical examination of the facts. That's on her.

[Trumpocalypse]

141. What facts?

Are there any facts that all 7 women were lying?

[Rustynaerduwell]

147. What critical examination of the facts ever occurred?

She called for his resignation before there ever was any.

[Trumpocalypse]

152. Was there any proof

that all 7 women, other than Tweeden, were lying?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

155. It's in the same location as proof to the contrary.

Which is nowhere. Because there was no investigation.

[Trumpocalypse]

157. There was no hearing

because Franken chose to resign.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

160. He resigned only because he'd been sandbagged and realized that he couldn't be effective

after having been stabbed in the back. Would you want to keep working at a job where people you thought were your friends had fucked you over like that?

[Trumpocalypse]

161. No one held a gun to his head

He could have stayed and fought if he thought he was innocent. I would.

[USALiberal]

221. +1000

[Baltimike]

145. Another Gilibrand campaign memo links the Pope to Catholicism. nt

[lillypaddle]

163. Damn straight, Skippy

[pamdb]

176. al franken

You reap what you sow.

[matt819]

179. Well duh? (Nt)

[shanny]

180. in other news, water is wet

[donkeypoofed]

202. Step aside, Kirsten - you have zero chance; just like you gave Al

[PatrickforO]

216. I don't see it as 'punishing her for standing up for the rights of women,' though

that is the best possible spin they could have put on it.

And it is more than a 'few powerful donors.'

I for instance, will:
1) fight against Gillibrand tooth and nail in the primaries because she led the charge to railroad Al Franken.
2) never, ever donate to her.
3) and, yes, if she is the nominee, which looks increasingly unlikely, I will hold my nose and vote for her.

But Gillibrand lost me for good. Others may not feel that way, and I don't ask you to. But I'm telling you this is how I feel. And I don't think I'm alone.

[Soxfan58]

226. ...

[samnsara]

227. y'know...thats the first thing i think of when i see her or hear/read about her...

..I know I shouldnt but i just do.

[TruckFump]

228. How perceptive of them!

[McCamy Taylor]

238. You reap what you sow.

[Trenzalore]

240. She isn't that interesting of a candidate

Rightly or wrongly she was the face of ousting Franken.

Every other Senator that is running was also part of that travesty. The others played it politically smarter.