Yes, we know the name of Kavanaugh’s accuser. Yes, an allegation such as that should get taken very seriously. Christine Blasey Ford should be afforded every opportunity to tell her side of the story.

But the idea that Brett Kavanaugh should withdraw his nomination is nonsense. Not only should he not withdraw, but the Senate Judiciary Committee should also go ahead and have their scheduled vote, and the full Senate should vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination.

This stinks of political machination 101.

This is not about Ford. In July she sent a letter to her Congressional representative and Senator Dianne Feinstein. She also went to the Washington Post but would not go on the record, and the Post didn’t run with the story.

All of a sudden, when Kavanaugh’s confirmation appears to be a slam-dunk, The Intercept gets the information about the letter Feinstein had. In today’s Post story, it says:

By then, Ford had begun to fear she would be exposed. People were clearly learning her identity: A BuzzFeed reporter visited her at her home and tried to speak to her as she was leaving a classroom where she teaches graduate students. Another reporter called her colleagues to ask about her.

Take a wild guess as to who it was that leaked her name to reporters. Name almost any Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and you’d likely be right. Just like when Joe Biden leaked Anita Hill’s name after she asked for confidentiality. What Democrats say is, “Screw you, we have politics to do.”

And so Ford went public. And as soon as she did, we witnessed the expected. Left-wing groups immediately demanded that Kavanaugh withdraw his name. One accusation is all it took for people to start calling him an “abuser” a “rapist” and other assorted names. Even Republicans (including on these pages) began to call for him withdraw his name. Why? Because it’s “the right thing to do.”

Since when? This is not like Roy Moore. This is not like Al Franken (where it took seven accusations of inappropriate behavior for Democrats to notice). Let’s assume for a moment the woman is not telling the truth. Why should it be incumbent upon Kavanaugh to be the one to take a bullet? You’re about ready to serve on the highest court in the land. A woman steps forward and makes a completely unsubstantiated allegation (and the fact that she told a therapist in 2012 is not “proof” it happened), and he’s supposed to just be like, “Ok, well that didn’t go as planned. I’ll go back to the DC circuit.”

No. That isn’t how it works in this country. When people like Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Kevin Spacey had to slink away, they faced multiple, credible accusers who all told variations of the same behavior. There was a pattern for those men, and it’s difficult to fathom they all coordinated with each other before coming forward.

With Kavanaugh, there is one accusation. One.

An investigation can get conducted. If it turns out Ford’s accusations have merit, Kavanaugh will face pressure to step down, and if not, he can get impeached. But this notion that he must step down now, in the face of one accusation is wrong.

But until that time comes, the Democrats should not be afforded any goodwill because they have shown they will offer none. They leaked Ford’s name to the press and did so because their hope is, Trump and the GOP could not get another nominee confirmed before the election in November. If this was so critical to Kavanaugh’s character, the Democrats would have made it an issue in July and questioned Kavanaugh during the hearings.

Instead they waited. For political purposes. They shouldn’t benefit from their behavior.