I’m old enough to remember when Republicans touted themselves as the champions of “family values.” Party moralists like Bill Bennett used to insist that only candidates of unassailable good character should pass muster; in Bennett’s words, “It is our character that supports the promise of our future…in the eyes of the world and the eyes of our children.”
But ever since they tested positive for the MAGA virus, their morals have become…how shall I put this…far more elastic.
They’ve currently got a guy in Georgia running for the Senate – that would be ex-jock Herschel Walker – whose ex-wife has testified that he was physically abusive, to the point where a judge issued a protective order that barred him from possessing a gun. Naturally, Donald Trump has endorsed him.
They’ve currently got a guy in Missouri running for the Senate – that would be disgraced ex-governor Eric Greitens – who was indicted in ’18 for allegedly assaulted his extramarital mistress/hairdresser. In testimony deemed credible by the state Republican legislature, he took her down to his basement, pulled down her pants, tied her to a piece of exercise equipment, tried to spit water into her mouth, blindfolded her, snapped a photo of her on his phone without her permission, and told her that if she blabbed, he’d ruin her by ensuring that the photo went viral. Naturally, a sizeable chunk of Trumpworld – including Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon and Don Jr.’s girlfriend – are buoying his candidacy.
And in Pennsylvania, the Republicans have Senate hopeful Sean Parnell. Good grief.
Back in the day, when unassailable good character was a metric, wife-beating would likely have been considered a no-no. But here we have a guy whose estranged wife has outed him in sworn courtroom testimony – according to Laurie Snell, “He tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him (to escape). He was strangling me” – but we get nary a word of protest from GOP leaders in Washington.
And naturally, Donald Trump has endorsed Parnell too.
In fact, Trump plans to fete him at a Mar-a-lago fundraiser and has already declared that Parnell will “make Pennsylvania very proud.” Clearly, someone who’s credibly accused of calling his wife a “whore,” and of hitting his kids, and of leaving the family “petrified” (his wife’s word) to the point that a court slapped him with two temporary protective orders, is truly Trump’s kind of dude.
Just for the record, Parnell says that his wife’s sworn testimony, in a current child custody trial, is “complete fabrications…just flat-out lies.” But, as I long remember from my own past journalistic work on domestic violence, abused spouses routinely stay with their abusers and drop their complaints. What they most typically don’t do is detail their abuse after swearing to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Indeed, Parnell tried and failed to impose a gag order on his wife, and to close the custody proceedings to public scrutiny.
Which brings us to Rick Scott, the Florida Republican senator who chairs the party campaign group that’s tasked with turning the Senate red in ’22. Appearing yesterday on CNN, he was asked whether a candidate facing serious domestic abuse accusations – accusations delivered under oath – was the right kind of candidate for the GOP.
In response, this was Scott’s word salad: “We have – as you know, we both have Republican and Democrat primaries across the country, and in Pennsylvania, we have both Republicans and Democrats have primaries, and so we’ll see who comes out of the primary. Facts will come out, we’ll find out exactly what people think. I think what ultimately happens is people are going to look at somebody’s background and say is that the type of person they want, and also, are they talking about the issues that I care about.”
Host Brianna Keilar tried again: “But is (Parnell) the type of person, sir, that you want? That’s pretty extraodinary, right?”
Scott: “Brianna, I’m not going to – “
Keilar: “I think that’s a fair question to ask you, if this is the right guy for this job.”
Scott: “I’m not supporting or opposing people…The voters of each of the states will decide who the right candidate on the Republican, Democrat side are.”
There you have it, today’s GOP distilled to its essence. Trump has debased whatever virtues it purportedly once stood for; the leaders at the top, like Scott, dare not impose any standards of behavior. At this point, the bottom of the barrel is however The Base chooses to define it. If duh people, in their wisdom, choose to make Sean Parnell their standard-bearer in the crucial Pennsylvania Senate race, then, apparently, so be it.
You know what? If that’s what the MAGA voters want, fine. Former Pennsylvania congressman Ryan Costello recently warned in a tweet that Parnell “would lose to a golden retriever by double digits,” but if that would help Democrats win the seat and keep the Senate, I say bring it on.