Word: packwoods
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...Packwood had suddenly become an unperson -- the Senator from Not. During freshman orientation time in Washington last week, 11 newly < elected Senators and 110 fledgling members of the House fumbled their way around Capitol Hill. But as they consulted with senior lawmakers about the bewilderingly complex rules of their august institutions, the office of Oregon's normally gregarious five-term Republican Senator was eerily silent, except for an occasional reporter's unwelcome call...
There was sufficient cause for Packwood's pariah status. His home state's Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence last week informed the Senate ethics committee that five more women had accused Packwood of sexual harassment. Those claims came in the wake of complaints by 10 campaign workers, lobbyists and senatorial staffers who had earlier told the Washington Post about his unwanted kisses and fondlings. In response to the Post story, the Senator denied specific charges but said he was sorry if his behavior had offended anyone...
...Packwood, however, did not answer the latest accusations: he was incommunicado, undergoing diagnosis for possible alcohol abuse at an undisclosed treatment center. Some viewed this as a calculated dodge. "Packwood is playing the role of victim, using the alcoholism excuse," said Thomas Mann, an expert on congressional affairs for the Brookings Institution. "It's clear that he is overwhelmed and is trying to figure out how to manage this scandal...
...least some of Packwood's new accusers are expected to file formal charges with the ethics committee, which quickly announced -- after being elbowed by majority leader George Mitchell of Maine -- that it had begun a preliminary inquiry. Female voters in Oregon were particularly shocked by Packwood's alleged improprieties. After all, he had an established record as an advocate of women's causes, including abortion rights and family leave. (So had Democrat Brock Adams of Washington, who abandoned his re-election campaign in March after published charges, which he denied, that he had sexually abused women...
...stories appeared before Nov. 3, Packwood might well have lost his costly ($7.8 million) re-election battle against Democrat Les AuCoin. A previous challenger for Packwood's seat, former state supreme court justice Betty Roberts, derided the implication that alcohol had caused the Senator's misbehavior as "an insult to the victims and the voters of Oregon. I think the only proper step for him to take now is to resign." Oregon Democrats were organizing a recall effort, even though legal experts say the state's law on $ recall does not apply to members of Congress...