Donald Trump is gaslighting the nation on his pussy-grabbing brag, blocking one of his 12 accusers from telling her story in court, and giving a bear hug to sexual predator Roy Moore, the GOP’s Alabama Senate candidate.
Mitch McConnell has fallen in Trump's line, turning his back on any principled stand against child molestation as the Republican National Committee goes full throttle on boosting Moore's candidacy and cementing the GOP's legacy as the party of sexual predation.
It's against that backdrop that the resignation of a civil rights crusader, Democratic Rep. John Conyers, was announced from the House floor Tuesday. It's certainly sad to see the tragic fall of a lawmaker who helped move the nation forward on racial justice, but it's also a highly principled stand for Democrats to hold one of their own accountable for his transgressions on gender equity despite his good works on other progressive issues.
The same goes for Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who after being accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by six women has acknowledged that he "let a lot of people down" and is working to "regain their trust."
Like Conyers, Franken has been a solid elected official and great progressive ally. Unfortunately, this moment in history is bigger than an apology, especially after a pattern of behavior has emerged.
But bottom line: Democrats are in the process of demonstrating that morally they are walking the talk and they are politically in step with the movement toward greater gender equity in all walks of life.
We can strike Conyers from that list.
For Democrats, this is not only the right thing to do, it's the politically smart thing to do.
As Markos wrote last week, 54 percent of women identify as Democrats, while just 41 percent of men do, according to Pew.
Democratic women will be running for office in historic numbers next year, with organizations like Emily's List already hearing from more than 20,000 interested female candidates, up from less than 1,000 in 2016. In Virginia, women made up nearly one-half of Democrats' hefty slate of 88 candidates in what turned out to be a delicious referendum on Republican rule.
Democrats will absolutely benefit from a clarity of conscience and resolve on gender equity and against sexual misconduct heading into 2018 while Trump and Moore become the millstone around the neck of every Republican candidate. GOP men and women alike will be called upon to square their party's embrace of sexual predators while Democratic candidates will be freed up to discuss solutions to local, bread-and-butter issues that keep their voters up at night.
That’s the playing field we want Democrats to be on and it’s the one they are currently shaping.