How to get kicked out of politics

Plus: Franken speaks out No Images? Click here         What On Earth Do You Have To Do To Be Kicked Out Of Politics? Here’s a depressing question: Can someone be kicked out of politics? Sure, someone can fail in politics, but can someone fail out of politics? A person can lose an election, be booted from a committee or sprout fungus from too many decades on the back bench. However, can a person screw up so badly that they aren’t let back in? Are there personae non gratae in the world of governance? Are there proverbial ice floes upon which the truly ostracized are plopped, their phone calls never to be returned again? “I guess if you’ve murdered somebody, I assume that’s a bright line that exists,” mused Liz Mair, a GOP communications consultant. “Short of that, I’m not sure there’s anything you can say, 100 percent, that will kill off somebody’s career.”   Spurred on by Roy Moore’s continued competitiveness in the Alabama special election to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat ― this despite a mounting number of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, including charges as severe as sexual assaulting a minor ― HuffPost set out to answer a simple question: What on earth do you have to do to become so toxic that you can’t find gainful employment in or around politics? In conversations with disheartened journalists, activists, lobbyists and other political operators, the closest answer that could be found was somewhat less than heartening. Murder … maybe? READ MORE     WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING? President Donald Trump’s appointee to head the U.S. government consumer watchdog agency turned up for work on Monday, challenging the acting appointee of the outgoing Obama-era head in an unprecedented partisan showdown over how the U.S. financial system should be regulated. READ MORE Sen. Al Franken said Monday that it’s going to take “a long time” to regain people’s trust amid a series of sexual harassment allegations against him. “I’ve let a lot of people down,” Franken said. “To all of you, I just want to again say I am sorry.” READ MORE The GOP's extremist agenda is making it easy for Democrats to stand their ground. Not even the politically vulnerable ones are afraid to defy Trump. READ MORE    .     ICYMI The mother of a Las Vegas shooting survivor is pleading with a lawmaker to change gun laws. “Our schools, hospitals, concert venues and churches are now all battlefields.”   The GOP crusade against Obamacare's mandate says a lot about how the party changed. They were the ones who first put the idea on the agenda.   The best chance to defeat Roy Moore may be for the Democratic Party to lie low. Democrat Doug Jones is trying to distinguish himself from the national party while scandal swirls around his GOP Senate rival.    . Want more?  Donald Trump Seems To Be Getting A Little Defensive About All His Golfing Congressman Calls Trump ‘An Idiot’ For Using Egypt Mosque Attack To Promote Border Wall A Star Psychiatrist Swerves From Nuclear Armageddon To Climate Change     How will Trump’s administration impact you? Sign up for our email and find out. Did a friend send you this? Subscribe here. Like what you see? Share it. Want more? Here are two other newsletters you'll love: The Morning Email and Must Reads. ©2017 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from HuffPost Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe    . - - Preferences  |  Unsubscribe