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DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania – With its colonial-era storefronts, glacier and open-air cafes, this suburb of Philadelphia could be the quintessential American city center.
In mid-September, the historic houses along its narrow streets are still draped with American flags and flags during the Memorial Day parade, which is the oldest in the country. It's a permanent swing district, roughly divided equally between Democrats and Republicans, where polls show that the race in Congress is a boost.
And like much of the country, people here are divided – and in many cases overwhelmed by the accusation of a woman who says that Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh has sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers in Washington. private schools in the region in the early 1980s.
In a series of interviews this week, voters tended to believe Judge Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, now a research psychologist in California – although some doubted her intent to manifest more than three decades later. . a teenager should be counted against him.
Republicans or Democrats, they almost universally described it as another infuriating turning point in the Tilt-a-Whirl show that surrounded Donald Trump's presidency.
"It's crazy that anyone would think that this woman would win without this being a reality," said Blair Elliot, 50, a Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and owner of Siren Records. "Someone who was lying about what had happened would not ask F.B.I. investigate."
When he read the first reports of an anonymous allegation that Judge Kavanaugh might have assaulted a woman in high school, Mr. Elliot said that he did not think much about it. But Dr. Blasey quickly became public and his account detailed – she told the Washington Post that Judge Kavanaugh, then 17, had laid her on a bed, had put her hand on her mouth so that she could not scream and rubbed her – the disturbed deeply.
"When you're 17, you know that this kind of thing is criminal," Elliott said. "We all make mistakes and we should be able to rectify them. We are not all trying to be in the Supreme Court. "
Judge Kavanaugh denied assaulting Dr. Blasey, claiming that the incident had "never occurred". His supporters have tried to argue that Dr. Blasey confused him with one of his high school classmates.
Heidi Froehlich, 38, who works at the record store, said he understood Dr. Blasey's reluctance to come forward, noting those who doubted him and the death threats that would have forced Dr. Blasey and his family to leave their homes.
"It's more expensive to come forward than to stay silent," said Froehlich, an independent who has registered as a Democrat to vote for Barack Obama in 2008. "Anyone who believes that something to win is n & # 39; 39 has no idea what it's like to be a woman in this country right now?
[[[[For Christine Blasey Ford, a radical shift from a quiet life in the academic world.]
In the street outside, Teresa Foster, 60, said she did not doubt Dr. Blasey's story, but she questioned her schedule after "so many years".
"What took so long?" Said Mrs. Foster, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump. "It seems so political to me. It's not that I think she's lying, but people are doing silly things in high school. He licked it, he put his hand on his mouth. He did not rape her.
But the details in the account by Dr. Blasey were what pushed Cindy Shoemaker-Zerrer, a 59-year-old real estate agent. "The fact that he put his hand on his mouth makes it a whole new level," she said. "She had no choice, she had no voice."
The appointment of Judge Kavanaugh, she said, seemed to symbolize the country's return to women under President Trump, himself accused of fumbling with many women over the years.
"He thought he could get by with what he thought he could do with it; he is one of the good boys, "she added, referring to Judge Kavanaugh.
Every four years, presidential candidates travel around Doylestown to try to seduce their constituents, who are rich and almost equally divided between Republicans and Democrats.
Many interviewees said they understood why Dr. Blasey may have remained silent in 1982 – at the time of Reagan's conservatism, a decade before there were many women in Congress. At the time #MeToo, they acknowledged, had made the task easier. Three people told their own story of sexual assault or harassment and described their long struggles to come forward or confide in someone.
Yet some have suggested a backlash.
"The current mode of distributing dirty laundry to everyone, as far as it is, without any credibility," said Bill Steele, 69.
His wife, Paula, like him a Republican who voted for President Trump, intervened. "I would tend to generally believe people who show up," she said. "What is the reason otherwise?"
But both said that the time elapsed since the alleged assault has most troubled them; that it happened in high school. "If we think back to some of the stupid things we did in high school," said Steele. "Not that excuse me, but it does."
"I hate to admit it with the Me Too movement out there," she added.
It is difficult to distinguish the facts in such turbulent and polarized moments, she said. "What is the political motivation?" Said Ms. Steele. "Since Trump came to power, that's what we need to worry about."
Ms. Foster, who works for a small canning company, agreed. "It seems that everything is frustrating about this moment," she said. "I think Trump could give everyone a million dollars and that would still not be enough for some people."
She mistrusted Dr. Blasey because of a story she had heard about Judge Kavanaugh's mother, herself a judge, seizing the home of Dr. Blasey's parents – a story that was debunked but that shows the capacity for misinformation.
[[[[Here are five viral rumors about Dr. Blasey that have been debunked.]
In a corner, Katherine Kydonieus, a retired executive assistant, was impatient with those who doubted Dr. Blasey. She herself quit her job because she was harassed, she said, and only told her story when the company asked her the question after that. another woman complained about the same man. And she expressed her frustration at the debate over whether Kavanaugh J. should be forgiven if the allegations are true because he was only 17 years old.
"Sometimes people make terrible mistakes when they are teenagers and drink, but I know my sons would not do it and my sons would not," said 70-year-old Mrs. Kydonieus. "They were raised to be moral.
"I wish we had more men of integrity, a higher level of people at the Supreme Court, for the President of the United States," she said. "It makes me feel sick because I love the United States."
Hillary Clinton won this area just a little on Mr. Trump. But as in many districts, The energy about the November mid-term elections was higher among Democrats. The interviews reflected that; Democrats said the way Republicans in the Senate responded to Dr. Blasey's allegations – refusing his calls for a F.B.I. An investigation and a quick vote on the candidacy fueled the passion of local militant groups.
Nobody cited Anita Hill, whose allegations of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas in 1991 may seem to be a parallel with Dr. Blasey. Several people, however, cited the example of Merrick B. Garland, whose appointment by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court was thwarted by Senate Republicans who refused to hold hearings for him.
"Republicans have a short-term vision in recognizing their own past shenanigans, ignoring a Supreme Court candidate for 293 days," said Spring Moore, 41, a Democrat, who ate pizza with his 7-year-old daughter. years.
And many of them have seen too many shortcomings and doubts about Judge Kavanaugh: the White House's withholding 100,000 pages of documents as a lawyer in the Bush administration; his credit card debts; and his celebration of alcohol abuse in a speech and in e-mails that were delivered to the Senate.
Mr. Elliot, at the record store, said he did not like Mr. Trump's first choice, Judge Neil Gorsuch, but he understood that it was the right of the president to choose. "I did not think there was anything that meant it should not be confirmed," he said. "There is so much to do with Kavanaugh. Why are they trying to keep this information from the American people?
Robert Pennington, 28 years old and a democrat, accepted. He had observed the hearings of Judge Kavanaugh, with growing doubt. "There are people I do not agree with their policies but they do not give me bad vibes," he said. "It gives me bad vibrations. He dodged so many questions.
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