Does the fear of "false accusations" pose a threat to the left in upcoming elections?

[LAS14]

And in 2020?

The posts about Gillibrand for president brought these ideas to my mind.

I'm afraid of the power of fear of "false accusations" becoming a thing that sways independents to the right. How many of us were totally amazed at the amount of support Kavanaugh got after the hearings? Wasn't it screamingly obvious who was lying and who wasn't? The scary thing is that non-Trump-base people took Collins' position.

Below is a link to excellent article by Margery Eagan about the fallacy of "false accusations." But the very fact that we have to argue this point suggests to me that it is a fight best fought to the side of the presidential race. We all thought it was screamingly obvious that Hillary did nothing criminal with her e-mails (or even stupid, as Comey claimed). But that didn't mean that it didn't become the tail that wagged the dog.

So whatever you think about Gillibrand and Franken, maybe we'd best not bring this long education challenge into the presidential race.

Whadda ya think?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/10/14/the-myth-false-accusations-sexual-assault/Qsy2s4MgJ0k0CXyVjSZcKM/story.html

[FSogol]

1. Midterms, midterms, midterms. GOTV!

[Funtatlaguy]

2. Plus she has no charisma. Harris, Warren, Klobuchar woukd all be better.

[LAS14]

3. Any thoughts re the point of my OP? I mean about the...

.... threat of focusing on believing rape victims.

[Funtatlaguy]

4. Sorry didn't mean to hijack...the OP is very valid. Good points.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Gillibrand is my Senator, and I'm fine with that. As President, we could do worse...

And have done worse, as you might have noticed.

She is highly educated, intelligent and nuanced, and doesn't immediately set teabaggers' and trumpons' hair on fire. I agree with most of her opinions and actions, Franken notwithstanding. I'm aware of her shifting attitudes towards guns, and much has been made of that during her campaigns, but the simple argument is that she once represented one upstate district and now represents the whole state.

She is not my first choice, but I would support her fully if she gets the nod.

[LAS14]

6. Do you have thoughts about my OP?

Or does your response mean that there is no danger of "false accusations" becoming the e-mail of the 2020 elections?

[TreasonousBastard]

7. There is always the danger of lies and false accusations of anything becoming...

a problem.

Look what they did to Kerry.

If you're talking about sympathy for Franken coming up in the election like it did for Kavanaugh, I can't imagine any Republican defending him for any reason.