The Eric Bauman Quandry

Nevada Democratic congressman, Ruben Kihuen, didn't run for reelection because he was accused, credibly, of sexual harassment of women over whom he had some degree of power. Last week the House Ethics Committee concluded that he was, indeed, a sexual harasser, detailing repeated instances of Kihuen harassing women who either worked for him, worked for a company that he'd hired or lobbied him during his time in the Nevada State Senate. I think he's planning on running for the Las Vegas City Council. (Hey, two weeks ago, Nevada voters elected Republican brothel owner Dennis Hof to the state legislature. Hof was a Trump-like reality TV celebrity, who had died several weeks earlier. He won!) Kihuen is hardly the only member of Congress who gets carried away with a sense of his own power and last week the 10 members of the House Ethics Committee urged Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer to quickly pass anti-sexual harassment legislation to overhaul the Congressional Accountability Act.

Do you know what "gay panic defense" is? Usually it involves a heterosexual man who is trying to accomplish something-- perhaps defending himself in a murder or assault case-- by claiming a gay man's advances triggered a psychotic state in him. Since 2014 California became the first of only 3 states to ban it from jury trials. This morning a seemingly coordinated effort was reported in the press claiming that California Democratic Party chairman Eric Bauman is a serial sexual harasser and assaulter. I imagine some of the straight guys who he touched-- innocently enough from his own perspective-- may have been panicked by a superior rubbing their shoulder.

Recently, I was sitting with a young Democratic consultant in a posh DC restaurant when a prominent political figure swept down the aisle with an aide and plopped herself down at our booth. Congress isn't a big enough playing field for her; she's running for president. She's around my age-- triple the age of the young consultant, "Jolting Joe," who I had brought along so she could interview him for a campaign job. She must have found him attractive because introductions were barely made before she started fondling his hair. That happens to him a lot-- older women and horny guys politics are drawn to him. Joe shrugs it off. He's good at his job and feels secure in his skin. Not everyone is so sure of themselves.

A longtime top Democratic Party activist, who first introduced me to Eric Bauman, told me this morning that "These so called shoulder massages, which I have witnessed myself, last maybe 30 seconds. They are done in public, usually while several people standing around talking. They are just Eric's way of saying 'thank you' for a job well done. There is nothing sexual about them. Eric has been in a  monogamous thirty year relationship with his husband whom he adores and who adores him. I find the timing of this attack, coming after Eric and the Democratic Party's spectacular success in the midterm primaries, particularly  suspect. There is a clean way to become Chair of the California Democratic Party-- run against Eric and win-- but I guess if you can't beat him in a fair election then you have to play dirty."


And Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

by Jolting Joe

Hide it in the hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret just the Robinson's affair
Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids

Koo-koo-ka-choo, Mrs. Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo wo wo
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey, hey, hey hey, hey, hey

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates' debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose

Donald Trump is a sexual predator. In addition to the countless women who have come out and said as much, Trump himself boasted about it in a tape recorded conversation between himself and spoiled imbecile turned fake-news anchor Billy Bush. Trump fits one classic definition of a sexual predator-- a rich, silver spoon fed child-man who believes he is entitled to whatever he wants. He's at the top of the food chain among sexual predators; his actions are disgusting. Period.

Eric Bauman, chairman of the California Democratic Party, on the other hand, is not.

The #MeToo movement has played an important role in exposing reprehensible behavior. There are a lot of malicious, disgusting men and women who have used their positions of power inappropriately and their punishments are welcomed with open arms. However, there' a flip side.

I can tell you firsthand that after spending 10+ years in the political industry, men and women in office are often aggressive in their physical-- not necessarily sexual-- expression. Just look at men and women courting votes on the trail and you'll see a male politician hug a female voter for more than a few seconds as a way of expressing affection or gratitude or some kind of relief. You'll see a female politician throw her arms around a male voter and stand there with cameras on her as she tries to express her desire to earn his vote. It happens every day. Assault? No.

I can tell you that in office settings, male and female politicians express affection, admiration, and often gratitude, physically-- not sexually-- and sometimes its met with appreciation and sometimes its not. For example, recently, a politician had his arm around me for a bit too long and I simply said, "enough, please." And he stopped and that was it. We even laughed about it. I didn't think I was being assaulted, because I wasn't! It was a politician being a politician. Don't like 'em, don't work for 'em.

One time I was at a restaurant with a prospective female candidate and in the middle of the dinner she began stroking my hair like Mrs. Robinson did to Dustin Hoffman's character in The Graduate. Strange, but well, she was (and is) an extrovert. I'm sure she still does that type of thing often! Weird and annoying? Yes. Assault? NO.

My point is, the nature of a politician leads them-- men and women-- to be touchy and quick to express their emotions and feelings. That is not assault. Are people on the receiving end not able to simply say "please stop," or "no thanks," or "get off me?" We are losing the fight against the true abusers-- the rich CEO's who use their power for unwanted sexual gain and even the gross President of the United States who boasts about this type of behavior freely-- if we let politicians' behavior blind us from the actual realities of a very serious topic.

I do not know Mr. Bauman's accusers and I agree that protecting them is key. But, this apparent witch hunt is now apparently consuming California Democratic politics. It's just wrong to launch a coup without properly examining the situation at hand. Maybe Eric crossed the line. Then it's time for him to go. But I would bet that there is an awfully good chance he didn't. And this current exercise in finger pointing and demonizing will lead us off track on the real fights at hand.

We should all look forward to Daraka Larimore Hall's investigation here. I'm sure he is prepared to adequately assess the situation. But if he's not, and this is just another one of his ego-driven power grabs, lets move on.

Politicians are extroverts, it's in their nature.

Donald Trump is a predator.

There's a big, big difference there.

Let's not forget that.