{"id":15749,"date":"2020-08-30T12:41:09","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T19:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=15749"},"modified":"2020-08-30T12:41:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-30T19:41:11","slug":"alex-morse-was-accused-condemned-and-then-vindicated-will-his-experience-change-anything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2020\/08\/30\/alex-morse-was-accused-condemned-and-then-vindicated-will-his-experience-change-anything\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Morse Was Accused, Condemned and Then Vindicated. Will His Experience Change Anything?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Vague allegations against the Massachusetts congressional candidate offer a case study in how progressives navigate issues of sex and power in politics when judgment is often swift and unforgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/21\/us\/politics\/00morse1\/merlin_175959009_a3ce0ae8-412e-45e3-841f-f38e9c0f2d51-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Alex Morse, the 31-year-old, gay mayor of Holyoke, Mass., says the allegations have only helped his campaign to unseat a Democratic incumbent in Congress.\"\/><figcaption>Alex Morse, the 31-year-old, gay mayor of Holyoke, Mass., says the allegations have only helped his campaign to unseat a Democratic incumbent in Congress.Credit&#8230;Tony Luong for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/jeremy-w-peters\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2018\/11\/06\/multimedia\/author-jeremy-w-peters\/author-jeremy-w-peters-thumbLarge.png\" alt=\"Jeremy W. Peters\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/jeremy-w-peters\">Jeremy W. Peters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Aug. 23, 2020 (NYTimes.com)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Political careers usually don\u2019t survive allegations like these. And for about a week, it seemed as if&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/08\/25\/us\/politics\/alex-morse-richard-neal-aoc.html\">Alex Morse\u2019s<\/a>&nbsp;might not either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Aug. 7, the student newspaper at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst reported that the state chapter of the College Democrats had disinvited Mr. Morse, a congressional candidate and former guest lecturer at the university, from its future events, claiming \u201cnumerous incidents\u201d of unwanted and inappropriate advances toward students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Morse is a 31-year-old, gay, small-city mayor and a rising star in national progressive politics. It wasn\u2019t just his job on the line, but also the hopes of an entire movement: His primary challenge against one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress is being closely watched as an indicator of the strength of the Democratic Party\u2019s insurgent left wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He quickly apologized to anyone he made uncomfortable with his behavior, while also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexBMorse\/status\/1292634553669091329\/photo\/1\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">acknowledging<\/a>&nbsp;some consensual sexual relationships with college students over the years. He said none were with anyone he taught or supervised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nevertheless, within hours after the story broke, Mr. Morse went from role model to pariah. Progressive groups said they would stop campaigning for him. The university called the news \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d and opened an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Morse said he even considered dropping out, despite his suspicions about the motives of his accusers and the vagueness of the charges. \u201cThis was no accident that it was happening three weeks before the primary,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then the story flipped, with a cascade of head-spinning revelations.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2020\/08\/12\/alex-morse-college-democrats-chats\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Messages<\/a>&nbsp;between some of the students that were published by The Intercept showed they had discussed how they might damage Mr. Morse\u2019s campaign, with one suggesting it might help his career prospects with Mr. Morse\u2019s opponent, Representative Richard E. Neal, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was more. The Massachusetts Democratic Party acknowledged that it had provided legal advice to the College Democrats about the letter, leading Mr. Morse to accuse Mr. Neal and his allies in the state\u2019s Democratic leadership of having a hand in a homophobic plot to smear him. Mr. Neal has denied any involvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Mr. Morse is still in the race and says the allegations have only helped his campaign. Since the initial story appeared, he has raised more than $410,000, and 800 volunteers have reached out offering to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though the university is still investigating, the activists who distanced themselves from him at first are now back on board. The students involved in writing the letter have mostly gone underground, and the state Democratic Party has opened an independent investigation to determine if anyone acted improperly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/21\/us\/politics\/00morse2\/00morse2-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Representative Richard E. Neal, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, was first elected in 1988.\"\/><figcaption>Representative Richard E. Neal, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, was first elected in 1988.Credit&#8230;T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind the drama and plot twists \u2014 imagine scenes from \u201cVeep\u201d spliced into an episode of \u201cHouse of Cards\u201d \u2014 is a case study of how first impressions can be misleading when someone is accused of having improper sexual relationships, and what happens when those charges are leveled against a popular progressive politician in the social media-turbocharged culture of swift retribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>News of the complaints against Mr. Morse first surfaced in an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycollegian.com\/2020\/08\/college-democrats-allege-inappropriate-misconduct-between-holyoke-mayor-alex-morse-and-college-students\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">article<\/a>&nbsp;in The Daily Collegian, the student newspaper at the University of Massachusetts. The paper reported that the state chapter of the College Democrats had sent a letter to Mr. Morse claiming that he had \u201croutinely\u201d made \u201csexual or romantic advances\u201d toward students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there were no specific episodes of misconduct cited, no named victims or sources and no indication of how many students had complained, beyond the assertion that the group had heard \u201ccountless\u201d reports of Mr. Morse adding students as his friends on Instagram and sending them messages \u201cin a way that makes these students feel pressured to respond due to his status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reaction was swift. As the news rocketed across social media, several groups suspended their support for Mr. Morse, including the Sunrise Movement, an environmental organization made up mostly of young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are a youth movement and most of our members are students,\u201d said Evan Weber, the group\u2019s political director. \u201cWe felt a really deep accountability to listen to and take allegations from young people and students seriously. And we really wanted this guy in office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group reinstated its support once The Intercept\u2019s reporting came to light, and Mr. Weber said he now believes the allegations were a cynical attempt to manipulate the powerful emotions surrounding sexual misconduct and assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey exploited young people, our generation\u2019s very good inclination to listen to people who are speaking out about harm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But other groups questioned the veracity of the accusations from the beginning, leading to a schism inside the coalition of progressive activists and politicians backing his candidacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rumors about Mr. Morse\u2019s dating life had circulated anonymously for months, and his campaign said it received several queries from reporters looking into them. His supporters were warned about them. The Victory Fund, a group that has endorsed Mr. Morse and works to elect lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender candidates, heard through an intermediary in June about a vague and unsourced complaint that the candidate had a checkered dating past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the timing of that warning was suspicious, coming just after the organization voted to formally endorse Mr. Morse but before word had been put out publicly, said Elliot Imse, the Victory Fund\u2019s communications director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group looked into the allegations, spoke with Mr. Morse and was satisfied there appeared to be nothing there. And shortly after The Daily Collegian published its article, the Victory Fund was one of the few to publicly declare it still supported him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really important for us that attacks on a candidate\u2019s sex life and sexuality backfire,\u201d Mr. Imse said. \u201cWe do not want this to go down as a successful tactic to use with L.G.B.T.Q. candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Morse\u2019s defenders said that whatever the motives of the students were \u2014 in a follow-up&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CollegeDemsofMA\/status\/1292521048861220864\/photo\/1\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a>&nbsp;the president of the College Democrats insisted that the group\u2019s intent was always \u201cto hold the mayor accountable for his actions, and to protect our members\u201d \u2014 they clearly understood how little benefit of the doubt the accused often get in these situations, and how damaging the charges would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is the concern around a trigger-happy cancel culture, as it gives undue credence to the initial allegation without due diligence,\u201d said Julian Cyr, a state senator in Massachusetts who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JulianCyr\/status\/1293604310450950144\/photo\/1\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">argued<\/a>&nbsp;shortly after the accusations surfaced that withdrawing support from Mr. Morse would set a bad precedent for progressive candidates, especially gay ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere is a very sad, well-documented history of the dating lives of L.G.B.T.Q. people being used against them,\u201d said Mr. Cyr, who is gay. \u201cAnd there are potential L.G.B.T.Q. candidates who look at what Alex Morse has gone through and decided there is a price, a risk that they don\u2019t want to put themselves through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/08\/21\/us\/politics\/00morse3\/merlin_175824153_ba536ed4-9d25-4f4c-bf3e-355a56324c04-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"The allegations came weeks before Mr. Morse and Mr. Neal face off in the Democratic primary on Sept. 1.\"\/><figcaption>The allegations came weeks before Mr. Morse and Mr. Neal face off in the Democratic primary on Sept. 1.Credit&#8230;Don Treeger\/The Republican, via Associated Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The students involved in writing the letter and discussing how they could harm Mr. Morse\u2019s career \u2014 including a suggestion to find him on dating apps and bait him into saying something incriminating, according to the messages reviewed by The Intercept \u2014 have mostly gone quiet since the episode started receiving widespread attention online. Several of them did not respond to requests asking for elaboration on the claims in the letter or declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For left-leaning groups that work with the Democratic Party like the Victory Fund, supporting Mr. Morse was no small matter because they were going up against one of the most powerful Democrats in the House. Mr. Neal, in his 16th term, runs the committee that oversees the tax code, Social Security and other government functions dealing with funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Neal\u2019s clout, combined with the legal advice the state party provided the College Democrats, has led Mr. Morse and his supporters to conclude that bigger players and egos were at work. The state party, which has a policy of not involving itself in primaries, has commissioned an independent investigation into whether any rules were broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the lawyer who reviewed the letter, James Roosevelt Jr., said the party\u2019s involvement had been overstated. As the party\u2019s counsel, he offered the same help he would to any affiliated organization, which in this case involved advising the students to change \u201ctwo or three words\u201d that he said were \u201ctoo inflammatory or accusatory\u201d in the draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said he also advised the group not to make the letter public, as it told him it planned to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn a case of libel and slander, truth is a defense,\u201d Mr. Roosevelt said he advised them, adding: \u201cI don\u2019t know what the truth is and you don\u2019t either. So make it a private letter.\u201d The students sent the letter to Mr. Morse privately, but soon The Daily Collegian had a copy and published its article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Experts who study questions of sex and power in politics said that Mr. Morse would most likely not be the last L.G.B.T.Q. politician thrown on the defensive about his sex life, and that we have most likely only seen the beginning of those attacks as more people who are open about their sexual orientation and gender identity run for office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though the presidential candidacy of Pete Buttigieg broke barriers, his sexual history was never much of an issue because he came out relatively late in adulthood and has been with his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, for much of that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But for younger, single men like Mr. Morse, their dating history is often subject to a troubling level of scrutiny, said Joseph Fischel, who teaches a class at Yale University called \u201cTheory and Politics of Sexual Consent\u201d and has written extensively on the subject of sex and power dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAmericans are OK with gay politicians as long as they\u2019re sexless,\u201d Mr. Fischel said. That thinking, combined with the quick judgment people often make about political sex scandals, he added, could be especially dangerous for L.G.B.T.Q. candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are other things we can fabricate or make up that would sink someone\u2019s career. But suggestions of sexual impropriety take on a life of their own and so often lead to quick and sloppy thought,\u201d Mr. Fischel added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Morse said the situation left him deeply conflicted \u2014 as someone who was wrongly accused but who believes victims should not feel intimidated to speak out, and as a gay man worried about enduring homophobia in American society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe expectation shouldn\u2019t be that we have to be in monogamous, heteronormative relationships before we enter public life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As he watched the condemnation of him from complete strangers spread across social media, Mr. Morse said he was devastated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI have often been an observer of this but never at the center of it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut what I don\u2019t want this to lead to is a diminishment of people\u2019s very real experiences and trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a difficult line to walk,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014792127-Copyright-notice\">\u00a9&nbsp;2020&nbsp;The New York Times Company<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vague allegations against the Massachusetts congressional candidate offer a case study in how progressives navigate issues of sex and power in politics when judgment is often swift and unforgiving. By&nbsp;Jeremy W. Peters Aug. 23, 2020 (NYTimes.com) Political careers usually don\u2019t survive allegations like these. And for about a week, it&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2020\/08\/30\/alex-morse-was-accused-condemned-and-then-vindicated-will-his-experience-change-anything\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15750,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15749\/revisions\/15750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}