Often times, in politics, it seems as though people vote according to party lines, instead of voting for the individual person who is running for the position. While I understand that many people are "single-issue" voters and will vote according to a candidate's particular stance--such as being either pro-life or pro-choice-- or only vote Republican or Democrat, the candidate matters. Recently in ruby red Alabama, voters made the right choice in voting for Doug Jones, a Democrat, over Roy Moore, a former judge who has been accused by nine women of sexual harassment and assault.

Despite Jones' victory, the first Senate win for a Dem in more than 20 years, many Alabamans still made the choice to vote for Roy Moore. Judge Moore pursued girls as young as 14 when he was a district attorney (D.A.) back in the 1970's. He was even banned from the Gadsden, Alabama mall for trying to pick-up these children.

Local news interviews showed staunch Republican voters showing their support for Moore, going as far as to say that the women who accused Moore were lying. Some said they didn't care that Moore was an alleged pedophile and that they would rather vote for a pedophile than a Democrat. Moore even got the support of the RNC (Republican National Convention) and President Donald Trump, who has been accused of harassment and assault by 19 women.

It is time to stop thinking solely about party lines. Blindly following party lines like a flock of sheep shows how truly ignorant and immoral some Americans can be. In this time of reckoning spawned by the #MeToo movement, high-powered men have lost their jobs due to harassment allegations, including several politicians, so electing someone to a job who has claims against them seems to go against the current climate.

It is also troubling that women are calling other women liars and refusing to believe their stories. This sort of behavior is what has kept these women silent for years, if not decades. Shoving these women back into the woodwork is not going to solve the problem of men behaving badly; the only solution is the cleansing we are currently experiencing, coupled with educating young boys on what is appropriate.

It seems that women in Hollywood are believed more than women who accuse politicians of these heinous acts. For example, after women accused former Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member and (now former) Minnesota Senator, Al Franken, of sexual misconduct, his famous friends defended him. Deadline Hollywood quotes his former SNL cast mate, Jane Curtin as saying, "'If he did that ... that’s really stupid, but I have never seen him in a situation where he has been sexually aggressive with anybody.'"

While the Franken situation--a former actor who has recently become involved in politics--seems unique, it is not; look no further than current President Donald Trump, the former business and host of NBC's The Apprentice. Even after the infamous Access Hollywood bus tape in October 2016, even after 19 women came forward and accused him of sexual misconduct, he was still elected president. Of course, this was exactly a year prior to the Harvey Weinstein scandal breaking, but the taking down of politicians seems so much harder to accomplish.

Why is this? Maybe it's because we hold our politicians to a higher standard than a Hollywood actor or a morning news anchor; or maybe it's because we elect these people to lead our country and expect that they have the utmost standards and morals. Either way, if we keep ignoring politicians as people and voting according to party lines, Senators will continue to resign.

I never thought I would ever say this in my lifetime, but Alabama did something right last night. Instead of electing a serial child abuser, they (the majority of voters) voted against their own political agendas, in order to elect a man who represents high morals and values. They voted not for a political party, but rather for a man they knew put KKK members in jail for the deaths of four young, African-American girls.

So in the next election, I encourage you all to do your research on candidates and vote for a person, not for a politician.