Al Franken is getting away with it. That’s why Roy Moore will win

Embattled with multiple allegations of sexual abuse and inappropriate conduct, Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore refuses to quit his campaign in Alabama. He still thinks he can win, despite the pleadings of national Republicans and conservative media. The truth is, he’s probably right, and D.C.’s institutional hypocrisy is to blame. 

Moore’s voters are refusing to quit on him. Elected Alabama officials are defending him. Some are more enthusiastic about Moore’s campaign now than before The Washington Post first printed the bombshell allegations against Moore. 

Why are voters sticking with a man accused of such horrible things? Firstly, it’s because the alternative offered by the Democrats, candidate Doug Jones, is far too extreme in his support for unrestricted abortion – an anathema to pro-life Alabamians who share in the disgust toward Moore.

Secondly, there are elements of Moore’s core support that frankly don’t give a damn what The Washington Post and some Senate Republicans say because they believe Washington is a corrupt, hypocritical den of vipers and would like nothing more than for the whole Swamp to go to hell. 

Why? Here’s one example. Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., is accused, with photographic evidence, of sexually groping and kissing Leeann Tweeden. He is also accused by another woman, Lindsay Menz, of molesting her while taking a photograph in 2010 – placing his hand “tightly” on Menz’s butt cheek. Both of these accusations are just as credible as the accusations against Moore, if not more so.

Many on the Right justly want Franken out of the U.S. Senate. Even groups on the Left are calling for Franken to step down (though some for shamelessly partisan reasons, like the “Democrats’ credibility on sexual harassment is at stake”).

Franken offered an incredible “apology,” managing to cast himself as a champion for women while saying he does not recall shoving his tongue down Leeann Tweeden’s throat — and also saying that “we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences.”

Now, a spokesperson for Franken flatly told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sunday he won’t resign, stating, “He is spending time with his family in Washington, D.C., and will be through the Thanksgiving holiday, and he’s doing a lot of reflecting.”

“Reflecting” on what? How much of a sick and perverted freak he is? It is an outrage that Al Franken remained a U.S. Senator even 10 seconds after Tweeden shared that picture of him groping her breasts with sick delight in his eyes.

Yet, not a single Senate Democrat has called for Franken to step down. Franken’s friends in the media defend him. The impending Senate Ethics Committee probe into Franken’s behavior is largely a formality – 1862 is the last year a sitting U.S. Senator was expelled.

Then, there are the Republicans. Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other party leaders demanded Roy Moore step aside after the allegations against him first came out. But there is still no chorus of Senate Republicans calling for Franken to be expelled from Senate.  

What this all means is Al Franken is likely to get off scot-free, like Bill Clinton before him. It’s disgusting. It’s hypocritical. It’s pure Washington, D.C.

And so, for Republican Alabama voters, what’s one more alleged sexual deviant in that Swamp to them? Holding Washington in contempt, voters in the Yellowhammer State will still make a real effort to hurl Roy Moore to the Senate because he will hopefully make their lives hell — because they deserve it.

It’s not right. But it’s the way things stand.

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