New voting criteria?

It is a changing world.

First take the rigid, closed British royal family.

Prince Harry is engaged to an American woman. She is bi-racial, divorced and older than he is. She is also an actress. She is a very unlikely addition to the royal family.

This engagement is heralded as very special. In fact, this soon-to-be union has been claimed by some to ensure the survival of the monarchy.

Even more rigid and closed is the Saudi royal family.

In Saudi Arabia, the new prince has started a campaign of modernizing the country. He has arrested hundreds of privileged citizens, some of his own family, for corruption. Women will soon be allowed to drive, and for the first time in decades movie theaters will open and show international films.

A third case may be America. Although America seems, at least officially, to be looking backwards instead of forwards, a new climate is affecting this country.

Sexual harassment has become a widening concern. Finally, it is being spoken about openly.

Claims and charges of harassment have so multiplied that every segment of the country has been touched by them.

Many of the more public charges are unconfirmed at this point, but some of the accused have accepted them, either resigning or trying to make amends.

A real test for the depth and breadth of this new movement is the Roy Moore senate race in Alabama.

Moore has been accused of harassment and sexual misconduct with minors. He has denied all charges.

He is a Republican and has been endorsed by the president and other powerful Republicans. The party came out strongly against him, only to back down and provide him campaign funds. Moore’s opponent for the senate seat was Doug Jones.

As of Tuesday night, Jones has been declared the winner.

Exit polls indicate that Jones led Moore by 17 percentage points among women and led in most demographic categories. About 60 percent of the voters said that the sex abuse scandal surrounding Moore played a part in their voting decision.

In the past, often accusations of sexual harassment and abuse have gone ignored in politics. This one race, and that is all it is one race, may be the harbinger of different voting criteria for many Americans.

There just may be a place in politics for morality.

It is a change that shouldn’t meet much resistance.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher