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Sympthsical

(11,039 posts)

14. People thought the party was taking crazy pills

Mon Apr 13, 2026, 08:48 AM

Apr 13

It was really strange. As the Prospect notes, it was an open secret. Like Spacey or Weinstein in Hollywood, if you moved in Bay Area political circles, you knew the guy was a total sleazebag at best with a bevy of scandals just waiting to burst forth.

And then he started getting endorsement after endorsement, moved up in the polls, and the party seemed totally fine with this.

When he announced, my political friends - none of whom went to work on his campaign - were messaging amongst themselves. They couldn't believe the audacity of it. He worked fine as a media personality, but just in reaching for that office, he was guaranteeing future shit.

And what sticks in my craw a bit is this is California. It's not some random red state where maybe you have one or two viable Democrats to run in a race, so you're sitting there like, "Well, this is the best we've got, so we kind of have to go along with it and pray nothing happens." We have a deep, deep bench of Democratic politicians who did not have this bomb waiting to go off. That's what makes it crazy. With so many options, the party at the highest levels went with this ragingly sociopathic misogynist.

In California.

A friend in Long Beach who worked for Maxine Waters for years joked, "Who does he have blackmail on?"

It's a question people in the know in California politics have been asking from the word go. And I still kind of want an answer on this one. Why did they line up behind him like that? In this day and age, with social media and all the rest, open secrets do not remain secrets for long once some critical mass was reached.

The man could have ended up our general election candidate. They really played a lot of unnecessary dice with this election.

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yardwork jfz9580m LeftInTX CrispyQ csusan moonscape raging moderate rictofen AloeVera oberle scipan Attilatheblond adnoid BlueHurricane

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Highlight:

Eric Swalwell and the Death of Accountability [View all] Celerity Apr 13 OP

KNR niyad Apr 13 #1

Tribes protect valuable members. OC375 Apr 13 #2

It's California Bettie Apr 13 #4

Agreed. OC375 Apr 13 #5

Which makes the question posed in the article even more compelling. yardwork Apr 13 #12

If this was known Bettie Apr 13 #3

Yes. "Open Secret?" I certainly had not heard the rumblings but perhaps within the beltway... hlthe2b Apr 13 #6

"So, yeah. It appears the pump was fully primed on Friday within the circles who fully "knew" but amazing to me, did not WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #8

I Believe The Term Refers To Those Working With Or For Swalwell, Not "Us". ColoringFool Apr 13 #78

My daughter is a CA Dem delegate and a caucus chair, and she had never heard those rumors. deurbano Apr 13 #93

I concur. In this world there are "upstanders" snd Ninga Apr 13 #104

I have never come across any decent humans who are cheaters jfz9580m Apr 13 #124

Same here.... I guess 'open secret' meant within the House of Reps ONLY--- Jack Valentino Apr 13 #145

Exactly WSHazel Apr 13 #7

One of the reasons I didn't quite believe it at first Bettie Apr 13 #9

Madoff is the epitome of this behavior WSHazel Apr 13 #59

Broken stair analogy, plus organizations like to hold on to high performers, even when they're terrible people. WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #10

And the biggest missing stair in our politics happens to be President! (n/t) thesquanderer Apr 13 #94

Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a son with the family's housekeeper, kept the child a secret while he was sop Apr 13 #11

The sad fact is that a lot of men get away with it. yardwork Apr 13 #16

Thank you jfz9580m Apr 13 #27

Just to be clear, a lot of the "wait and see" was about not SEEING all the facts yet RandomNumbers Apr 13 #28

Wait and see is one thing. yardwork Apr 13 #31

Yes, I agree with you on that point. RandomNumbers Apr 13 #35

It has helped me make a final decision jfz9580m Apr 13 #77

"Immediately blaming every woman in sight is something else." MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #123

Nope. I'm not calling out any DUer. yardwork Apr 13 #128

There was someone here yesterday asking what was expected if a drunk woman goes to a man's hotel room EdmondDantes_ Apr 13 #45

Should be asking, why would a responsible man RandomNumbers Apr 13 #67

More than one poster suggested that the bank accounts of the victims needed to be investigated MichMan Apr 13 #68

The question was MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #125

That's not the post I was referring to EdmondDantes_ Apr 13 #129

I have seen post, that in my opinion suggest voting for him Lifeafter70 Apr 13 #60

That's what stood out to me jfz9580m Apr 13 #82

It is VERY sad that a Democrat who has been so effective against Trump, Jack Valentino Apr 13 #146

Based on Arnold, obviously he had a good reason to think so. LisaL Apr 13 #62

I had no idea this was an open secret. Disgusting. Passages Apr 13 #13

People thought the party was taking crazy pills Sympthsical Apr 13 #14

I imagine the Republicans were hoping he'd be the nominee. yardwork Apr 13 #17

I still haven't heard a credible explanation from "The timing is suspicious!" crowd Sympthsical Apr 13 #19

There was a spontaneous eruption of that phrase on DU. yardwork Apr 13 #20

Hasn't hurt many of the GOP members samplegirl Apr 13 #15

The death of accountability is a good headline. yardwork Apr 13 #18

The difference between virtue signalling and actual virtue on full display Sympthsical Apr 13 #21

And every other woman in sight was blamed, too. yardwork Apr 13 #23

I think Katie Porter will actually be hurt by this Scrivener7 Apr 13 #25

Absolutely. She's getting the Hillary Clinton Kamala Harris treatment. yardwork Apr 13 #37

There's another element here. She's running against a man people liked a lot who turned out to be a dog. Scrivener7 Apr 13 #44

On the other hand - I suspect many Democratic voters will now see her as more of a sure bet peppertree Apr 13 #54

As a former CA member of the House, she was in karynnj Apr 13 #92

Probably true. Scrivener7 Apr 13 #102

OMG, nobody said anything like that on here. MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #135

She clearly is being hit on this karynnj Apr 13 #90

Tribal reaction. Dems are not immune from it. paleotn Apr 13 #49

Exactly! This is not a game, folks. paleotn Apr 13 #43

there's been nothing but accountability from the party and Dem supporters, including Swalwell's bigtree Apr 13 #143

nothing in that article backed up the claim that 'His sexual misconduct was an open secret' bigtree Apr 13 #22

It was very much an open secret Sympthsical Apr 13 #24

That's sad. I wonder if this was known more than locally? Many will blow it off as "just gossip" LeftInTX Apr 13 #32

Unfortunately, it seems to be considered 'acceptable' for men to behave like that RandomNumbers Apr 13 #33

For years. Incredible, one would imagine he was the only politician they could back. Passages Apr 13 #36

Why encourage him to run for governor? MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #132

"Everybody just turned a blind eye and went about their lives for years?" Sympthsical Apr 13 #137

Kevin MCarthy on CNN question everything Apr 13 #52

not one of the sources I'd trust for anything bigtree Apr 13 #85

Whatever else is true about how "known" Swalwell's behavior was, My Kevin is not a reliable reporter. deurbano Apr 13 #99

Kevin MCarthy??? MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #131

I noticed the word "misconduct" people knew of his "misconduct" and chose to ignore it. But "misconduct" has now Ninga Apr 13 #66

Stop blaming Nancy Pelosi. yardwork Apr 13 #79

Excuse me. There are "upstanders" and "bystanders" Ninga Apr 13 #107

Exactly. No matter their last name or gender. N/T AloeVera Apr 13 #120

"Inappropriate" behaviour by a person in power is grooming. AloeVera Apr 13 #119

Here is a possible explanation karynnj Apr 13 #96

it's not clear anyone knew except the people claiming it was well known bigtree Apr 13 #121

Just because you didn't know... Random Boomer Apr 13 #100

internet gossip bigtree Apr 13 #122

There is this tweet from Dec 2025 LeftInTX Apr 13 #26

great reply Celerity Apr 13 #29

what did he do with that information bigtree Apr 13 #41

The answer is right in the article. Nanjeanne Apr 13 #47

more background as well Celerity Apr 13 #57

He's an interesting read. Did you see this one? Sympthsical Apr 13 #69

I figured as much. Unless Becerra finds rocket fuel and blows up out of his months-long 2 to 5 per cent level, it looks, Celerity Apr 13 #88

I see the problem with Becerra Sympthsical Apr 13 #97

"...what did both of these men do other than this political chit-chat on social media?" WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #48

that's still just conjecture bigtree Apr 13 #86

Because the victims had to come forward Sympthsical Apr 13 #51

That's how it was with Tony Gonzales. LeftInTX Apr 13 #70

Yep. Just like Weinstein and Ronan Farrow Sympthsical Apr 13 #81

The comments made by some poster here Lifeafter70 Apr 13 #72

Humans gonna human Sympthsical Apr 13 #84

Threat of lawsuit? RoseTrellis Apr 13 #65

Wow. Passages Apr 13 #42

The Democratic Party doesn't allow this kind of behavor. Escape Apr 13 #30

True. Shades of Gary Hart. peppertree Apr 13 #46

Wait-a-sec mr715 Apr 13 #111

Sure. peppertree Apr 13 #113

I'll have to check out Ms. Kelley's book. mr715 Apr 13 #114

That could have something to do with it peppertree Apr 13 #116

Thanks for the insight mr715 Apr 13 #133

You're very welcome peppertree Apr 13 #140

Well, The Democratic Party Apparently Does So "Allow," Until...., ColoringFool Apr 13 #80

True - but at least they have limits peppertree Apr 13 #105

Sent me to the all knowing internet to find out who Rielle Hunter is... Escape Apr 13 #136

Nobody wants to be the messenger. milestogo Apr 13 #34

That's true... LeftInTX Apr 13 #38

The Gary Hart of our times peppertree Apr 13 #39

My exact thought this morning. paleotn Apr 13 #50

Gary Hart may have been a reckless philanderer, but Jose Garcia Apr 13 #56

There's still issues of consent going after a parade of young women EdmondDantes_ Apr 13 #95

I believe the House introduced a resolution in 2018 prohibiting any sexual contact between a member and staff MichMan Apr 13 #103

Luckily for Lady G, it didn't apply to the Senate peppertree Apr 13 #106

"Accountability" only applies to Democrats. valleyrogue Apr 13 #40

Sad - but true. And you see that in many other democracies. peppertree Apr 13 #108

Gandhi??? LeftInTX Apr 13 #126

So Gandhi was quite the dandy. peppertree Apr 13 #141

Scene from the 1933 movie 42nd Street LeftInTX Apr 13 #144

If party leadership knew about this & didn't discourage him from running for gov, then they're complicit, too. CrispyQ Apr 13 #53

That's the part that got me Tree Lady Apr 13 #74

The weird thing is jfz9580m Apr 13 #55

He is resigning. Accountability is taking place. Martin68 Apr 13 #58

Philandering is one thing but Billsdaughter Apr 13 #61

"Was an open secret for a long time" sunnybrook Apr 13 #63

The open secret appears to have been that he was sleeping around while married. LisaL Apr 13 #64

If higher ups in the party knew, they shouldn't have encouraged him to run for governor. LeftInTX Apr 13 #76

I agree. LisaL Apr 13 #83

I'd like to see those sources too MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #130

I think a lot of people just liked that Swalwell that was an attack dog against Trump and didn't care about much else MichMan Apr 13 #71

Too many people repeat everything Trump says and seem to believe it as well Just_Vote_Dem Apr 13 #75

that's not evident in anything bigtree Apr 13 #87

This message was self-deleted by its author MichMan Apr 13 #98

"The rumors that are being discussed as being generally known are of consensual relationships, not sexual assault or WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #101

I never understood the Avenatti stanning. He always seemed like a plonker to me. I certianly never got invested in the Celerity Apr 13 #91

DURec leftstreet Apr 13 #73

I'm not a fan of situational ethics. democrank Apr 13 #89

Yes. And a horror I have heard applauded jfz9580m Apr 13 #112

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 Apr 13 #109

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 Apr 13 #110

I mean like, what 50 year old man sends dick pics to his girlfriends? Jersey Devil Apr 13 #115

This is another dispiriting revelation peggysue2 Apr 13 #117

Power does strange things to some people MustLoveBeagles Apr 13 #139

I have counter evidence for the last sentence. My daughter endorsed Swalwell before hearing any rumors, then "quickly deurbano Apr 13 #118

Obviously most of us (in general public) LisaL Apr 13 #127

I certainly did not, even thoI fancy myself to be rather well informed. 3catwoman3 Apr 13 #134

With all due respect Sympthsical Apr 13 #138

As The "Old Folks" Say..........🎶........ ColoringFool Apr 13 #142