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In reply to the discussion: I don't know why we couldn't wait until the ethics investigation played out with Franken [View all]Proud Liberal Dem
(24,403 posts)It seems like they panicked and then all leaped to push for his resignation either because they thought Franken was becoming a political liability for Doug Jones in the Alabama Senate race and/or the Democratic Party (even though what Franken and Moore are accused of are VASTLY different things) or they felt like they had to kick him to the curb to solidify our moral superiority over the Republicans. Either way, it was a bad move for all kinds of reasons, not the least of which that it establishes a precedent, at least for Democrats, that may make it impossible to continue serving in the Senate (or Congress) if enough accusations of impropriety - even if unproven- accumulate against a sitting member. Gillibrand and the others thought they might have thought that they were doing the right thing by embracing the #metoo movement but it may turn out that the cost they paid- pressuring Franken to hurry up and resign without an investigation- to show their solidarity with #metoo may be too high in the long term.