Why 2020 Will Be the Year of the Woman
In this post-Weinstein moment, Democrats are pining for the karmic justice of defeating Trump with shards from a glass ceiling. Here’s how it could happen.
By BILL SCHER November 24, 2017
One year after a Republican accused of sexual misconduct was elected president, and Democrats are the ones in turmoil about misogynistic behavior in their ranks.
Renewed media attention on sexual harassment and assault led to the twin New York Times and New Yorker exposés on Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul and Democratic donor. But Democrats did not rally to protect one of their own, and his attempt to curry sympathy with a pledge to fight the NRA fell flat. The subsequent #MeToo phenomenon continues to upend the left-leaning political and media worlds, with accusations of inappropriate behavior ensnaring liberal darling Sen. Al Franken, dean of the House and single-payer champion Rep. John Conyers, Florida Democratic Party chairman Stephen Bittel, New Republic publisher Hamilton Fish, former New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier and Vox Media editorial director Lockhart Steele.
Even former President Bill Clinton, previously celebrated among Democrats for beating back impeachment charges, is being harshly reassessed. Sen. Kristin Gillibrand and Vox’s Matt Yglesias publicly changed their minds and said Clinton should have resigned over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg declared that because of Juanita Broaddrick’s rape allegation, “Bill Clinton no longer has a place in decent society.”
The last time America experienced such a jarring moment regarding sexual misconduct was the 1991 Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, which ended with the televised spectacle of his former assistant Anita Hill charging him with sexual harassment. Simmering anger over Hill’s treatment by the all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Committee spilled into the next election. When four new women were elected to the Senate, increasing their ranks to six, 1992 was decreed to be “The Year of the Woman.”
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https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/24/2020-year-of-woman-democrats-post-weinstein-kamala-harris-klobuchar-gillibrand-warren-215860
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