Man who beat his wife has no business being in Congress -- but he’s the Democratic nominee

Archie Parnell, a Democratic congressional candidate in South Carolina, won the party’s primary on Tuesday despite the revelations that he violently abused his wife over 40 years ago. (Associated Press)

In the era of the #MeToo movement – when women who are victims of sexual misconduct and assault are courageously finding their voices  – it’s absolutely mindboggling that Democrats in South Carolina nominated a candidate for the U.S. House Tuesday who was accused in divorce proceedings by his then-wife of beating her.

Although there were three others Democrats competing for their party’s nomination for the congressional seat, Democratic voters chose to nominate Archie Parnell despite 11th hour revelations surfacing that he beat his former wife in October 1973. The physical abuse only came to light in the final weeks of the campaign, causing some on his staff to walk out and prompting calls for him to drop out of the race.

According to divorce documents, Parnell was a student at the University of South Carolina when he broke a door down with a tire iron and beat his wife repeatedly, before beating her again later the same night.

Parnell has not denied the allegations.

Kathleen Parnell filed for divorce after she was attacked and got a restraining order. She said she was afraid for her life after the abuse.

Archie Parnell, a Democratic congressional candidate in South Carolina, won the party’s primary on Tuesday despite the revelations that he violently abused his wife over 40 years ago. (Associated Press)

Archie Parnell’s campaign manager, Yates Baroody, quit abruptly after learning the specifics of the attack revealed in the divorce documents.

"As soon as I discovered them, I immediately resigned from the campaign and advised Archie he should withdraw from the campaign immediately,” Baroody said. “He has no business running for Congress and he never did.”

The chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, Tray Roberson, also called on Parnell to withdraw from the race, saying his actions “though long ago, directly contradict the values of the Democratic Party."

Even so, South Carolina Democrats had no problem choosing Parnell to be their nominee, giving him a whopping 60 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field.

Parnell will face Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican, in the Nov. 6 general election for Norman’s seat.

Democrats have long attempted to make the term “war on women” stick to Republicans like gum on the bottom of a shoe. Just do a Google search. Democrats want us to believe that Republicans started the war, President Trump is escalating it, and women and men concerned about us should be afraid – very, very afraid – of evil Republicans.

Never mind that it was Hillary Clinton who said women need their husbands to tell us how to vote, or comedian Jimmy Kimmel who mocked first lady Melania Trump’s accent on his late- night show. The first lady, by the way, is fluent in five languages.

And just recently it was comedian Samantha Bee who called Ivanka Trump a “feckless c---” on her tastefully named TBS show, “Full Frontal.” Bee later apologized for directing the vulgar sexist slur at President Trump’s daughter and senior adviser.

The war on women is definitely not coming from the White House. It’s being aimed at the White House.

To be fair, Parnell’s violent behavior, which he calls “inexcusable” and “embarrassing,” happened 45 years ago and he claims to be a changed man.

“Since then, my life has been changed by a remarkable woman, two amazing daughters, a forgiving God and a career that has taught me to cherish what I have,” Parnell said.

While Parnell may have changed, nobody really knows. Hopefully he has changed, especially now that children have entered the picture.

However, it’s disingenuous and more than a little hypocritical given the #MeToo flag-waving, for the Democrats to be so willing to hedge their bets en masse.

None other than the perpetual predator Bill Clinton himself said just the other day – in defending disgraced former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn: “I think the norms have really changed in terms of, what you can do to somebody against their will.”

If that line ends up in a TV ad aimed at Parnell and other Democrats this fall, all the supposed hatred for President Trump may just get trumped by the Democrats’ dishonesty and public disgust at mistreatment of women by men who tell us they are our greatest supporters.