Republicans have been saying it a lot. Now David Axelrod, the evil genius behind Obama, has come right out and said it.
As two new senators are sworn in today, I can’t help thinking that Al Franken was sacrificed by Senate Dems to enhance their chances against Moore in Alabama. Perhaps an ethics review would have led to the same result, but Franken never got a hearing.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) January 3, 2018
"As two new senators are sworn in today, I can’t help thinking that Al Franken was sacrificed by Senate Dems to enhance their chances against Moore in Alabama. Perhaps an ethics review would have led to the same result, but Franken never got a hearing," David Axelrod tweeted.
Let's think about what Axelrod is saying here.
The Dems were never sincere about cracking down on sexual harassment at the highest level. That was a pose to gain a Senate seat. And it worked. Now that it worked, many Dems were saying that Franken shouldn't resign.
Axelrod is dancing rather close to saying the same thing. Except now it's too late to 'unresign' Franken. The Groper was clearly upset that his party had hung him out to dry to gain another Senate seat and refused the post-election calls to reverse his resignation. And Axelrod is joining with those voices saying that Franken got a raw deal.
(The trouble with that whole line of argument is that there were two bad choices here. An ethics investigation is worthless. But so are instant resignations based on accusations. Still Axelrod and Co. had no problem expecting Moore's supporters to live by those same rules. They belatedly think they shouldn't have applied to Franken.)