Editorial: Unfounded, at this point

A conservative Iowa blog this week reported that a former campaign manger for Democratic Senate candidate Mike Franken complained to the Des Moines Police Department in March that Franken made an unwanted advance — she said he kissed her on the lips. The police told The Des Moines Register that they determined the complaint was “unfounded.” The Polk County Attorney’s Office did not pursue the matter. The former campaign manager has not pursued it, and she declined comment to The Register. Franken flatly denies that the incident occurred. He acknowledges that he met the woman for a drink after her employment with the campaign was terminated.

Franken is innocent until proven guilty in the court of public opinion.

Republicans of course are making something of it, considering that Franken is nipping at Sen. Chuck Grassley’s heels. Take it with a grain of salt.

The allegation will hurt Franken. Many people will believe that a woman who felt it necessary to file a complaint with police had something to complain about.

We don’t know what to make of it, other than the authorities did not pursue it and neither did she. If someone thinks that the Polk County Attorney could just sit on a credible allegation without the police leaking it, they are mistaken.

Until something emerges, we do not know that Franken has done anything wrong.

We like Franken because Grassley has been around long enough to get drunk on power. His tenure has witnessed an epic decline in rural Iowa. His support for former President Donald Trump is astonishing, given the reputation for integrity that Grassley tried to groom. His refusal to allow President Barack Obama to seat a Supreme Court justice is a discredit to a long career in public service dating back to 1959. That’s long enough.

Franken is a retired three-star Navy admiral who swore an oath to defend the Constitution, and we think he believes it. He was reared in rural Sioux County, he is no snowflake, he has a brilliant mind and advanced scientific degrees, he has shot the big guns for real and understands what war is, he knows how government operates. Until proven otherwise, we know him as a gentleman who would represent Iowa with honesty and integrity.