Al Franken is in his second term as a Democratic Senator from Minnesota. Roy Moore is running for his first term as a Republican Senator from Alabama. Both have been accused of bad conduct with women years ago. For Franken, six years ago; for Moore, as much as forty years ago.

The two cases are closely connected because Democrats are trying to block Moore’s election by smearing Moore and they think pushing Franken out of the Senate helps that claim.  The issue here is a Senate seat, not Franken’s behavior. A young woman asked me what the issue was as, in fact, that in her opinion, he’s done nothing seriously wrong.

The issue is that Franken will be replaced by a Democrat in Minnesota, probably a woman, maybe a minority woman. If Moore loses in Alabama, they gain a seat in the Senate and Democrats will go to any extreme to gain that seat. In short, the fury over Franken ends on December 12, whichever way the Alabama election turns out.

In the interim, Democrats, especially Democratic women, will be signaling virtue by battering Franken.  I hope he has the courage to withstand the onslaught that will only increase in ferocity as Roy Moore gains in the Alabama election polls.  After Tuesday, it will be all over. He can withstand six days.