Elevatorgate involved a man who asked a woman to come back to his room. She declined. He did not force the issue, grope her or pursue any action beyond that. No harassment there, just a dude that got shot down.
Franken wrote a skit that included a kiss. He then insisted on a practice session. Why would the practice session need a real kiss? Actors talk with each other about what is acceptable in these kinds of scenes; there is consent. Marlon Brando did not obtain consent from Maria Schneider for what he was about to do to her in "Last Tango in Paris," and I'm sure you can see why that was a problem. While obviously not on the scale of the "Paris" scene, essentially the same thing happened here; Franken did not obtain consent for a real kiss from Tweeden and she did not like it. Then he took a picture pretending to grab her boobs while she was sleeping.
Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call Franken a monster. But his behavior is on the same spectrum as any other sexual harasser in the history of sexual harassment. You can argue that this was minor sexual harassment if you want to. I argue that any sexual harassment is unacceptable.
Moore? He should drop out of the race. Trump? He never should have been elected. O'Reilley and Ailes? Already given the boot and with good reason. Franken? It's time for him to step down.
