What can sink a political career more quickly than allegations of sexual harassment or assault? Allegations of working to cover up sexual harassment and assault.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., understands this dynamic and has decided to target her Democratic Senate opponent, Phil Bredesen, over his handling of records documenting sexual misconduct of state employees during his time as Tennessee governor.

First, Blackburn attacked Bredesen for allowing sexual harassment claims to double in one year while he was governor, referring to a 2005 Associated Press investigation. Then, she singled him out for his policy of shredding documents related to sexual harassment allegations referencing another 2005 investigation, this one by the Tennessean.

“There was an issue where sexual harassment claims doubled one year,” Blackburn argued during their last debate. And those claims weren’t properly vetted she claimed because “they died in that shredder, and their voices were not heard, and the reason was, ‘Well, this is what happens when men and women are in the workplace together, these issues arise,’ and that is an inappropriate response.”

[Opinion: Don't let #MeToo turn into #MeCarthyism]

Blackburn was paraphrasing a quote from Bredesen who, at the time, said “anytime you mix men and women together in a work environment there's going to be issues."

Bredesen replied that he was glad claims doubled during his tenure, that shredding was necessary to protect the privacy of victims, and that his office was proactive in their approach to allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

"We encouraged — I have a zero tolerance policy and have always had on this — we encouraged people to come forward and I’m glad that the number of reported cases where people came forward increased in that process," Bredesen said.

Expect his back-and-forth to continue in Tennessee until Election Day. The #MeToo moment has reached its zenith paralyzing the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and threatening to end the career of any man anywhere who used their position or office to pursue or cover up sexual deviancy. Blackburn makes a good argument, and Bredesen offers a believable response.

Republicans are committing serious time and energy to convince voters to believe her over him ahead of the midterms — hence this digital ad from the National Republican Senate Committee nicknaming Bredesen as “Shredesen.”