Seven months

Hey, the leader of the Provincial Conservatives just resigned, seven months before the election.  There are differences and similarities to the case of other politicians in the world since the #MeToo movement arose.  It came just after two women came forward and claimed sexual improprieties towards the leader and he denied them, and within ten hours he resigned.  

There are differences between what he did and what happened in the States.  In the states some of the politicians stood their ground and stood for election despite the claims.  President Trump was one of them, Roy Moore was another.  Bravo, Patrick Brown stepped down.  He did it the correct way too, he announced it in public as soon as it happened and then he took time to think about his future before resigning.  Unfortunately, his career is over, but because he fessed up so quickly and he may have helped himself.  He may indeed be innocent, but if he waited longer or resigned immediately, he would have looked more guilty.  

The similarities, are not in the person.  They are in the reactions.  My gut reaction was that of typical of a conservative politician, but I quickly tempered that, because it is not typical of any career politician*.  It was the reactions in the comments section.  Partisan politics is here.  He is not guilty, the liberals planted the allegations to win the election.  That sort of stuff.  That sort of stuff hurts.  It could be true, except if it was the timing would be off.

If the Liberals had planted the women, the best time two have the allegations arise would be two weeks before the vote, a month before the vote, two months before the vote.  As it is they came forward seven months before the vote.  Time enough to get a convention together and elect a new leader and enter the election after that.  If it were a Liberal plot it was a bad timed one.  The conservatives have plenty of time to elect a woman to the leadership.

Why a woman, because men are going to be suspect from now on.  Seriously.  Think about it.  Men grew up in a culture where they had opportunity to act with impunity and women were raised to not make a fuss.  So some men were allowed to be predators and some men were casually sexually offensive to women.  Many weren't, but enough were.  Right now, the smart thing would be to elect a person above reproach, like the other provincial leaders, a gay woman and another woman.  

That is what it is going to be like for a while.  Then what we will find is that the gender balance in politics will swing to mostly women.  It will happen.  Initially it will be because men will be afraid of women stepping out of their closets.  Why, because for the longest time men in power were an aphrodisiac and they could get sex easily, through slight coercion: see President Clinton, President Kennedy.