Pat Meehan got one thing right last week. The incumbent Republican 7th District congressman announced he would not seek re-election. It was the right call. But it only gets him a third of the way home. Now he needs to finish the job. Meehan found himself the latest focus of the #MeToo revolution amid a blockbuster story first reported by the New York Times that he used taxpayer dollars to settle a sexual harassment suit filed against him by a former staffer. Meehan denied any sexual relationship with the woman, and insisted the payment, done in accordance with House guidelines, was little more than a severance payment. Many of his constituents didn't agree, and let him know via a series of noisy rallies outside his Springfield district office. For some reason, Meehan then threw a little gasoline on the fire, committing political suicide in the process. Meehan did a series of interviews with local news outlets, including this newspaper, in which he tried to offer his side of the story. But the cringe-worthy effort only managed to dig the hole he found himself in a bit deeper. Meehan intimated he felt "invited" to talk about his feelings with his accuser. The married father of three told at least one outlet that he considered the woman, several decades his junior, his "soul mate." He also admitted he did not react well when he learned she was involved with another man outside the office. None of this painted the congressman in an especially good light. It followed his initial request after the first broke that the accuser waive a confidentiality agreement - which he had insisted on - so that all the facts in the case could be aired. Meehan's ham-handed attempt at explaining the situation earned him national scorn, including being wickely harpooned by late-night TV host Stephen colbert, who spent five minutes skewering the congressman. That Meehan could be so tone-deaf in this time of national examination of sexual harassment should not come as a surprise. He becomes the latest powerful man - from politics, entertainment and the media - to be hoisted on his own petard. His explanation that he somehow felt "invited" to offer his feelings by the victim, and subsequent description of the payment as "severance" is equally questionable. The congressman stands by his claim that nothing inappropriate happened. But he still does not seem to grasp the notion that was the woman's superior, in a position of authority. That is part of the harassment atmosphere. But nothing the congressman said changes the fact that he used taxpayer funds to quietly - some would say secretly - settle a harassment complaint. Meehan says he consulted it was done in accordance with House guidelines and vetted by House lawyers. That does not make it smell any better. The congressman has not revealed how much was paid, but has offered to repay the money - but only if the House Ethics Committee finds that he did indeed harass the woman. Shortly after the story first broke, House Speaker Paul Ryan removed Meehan from his post from the Ethics Committee, ordered the panel to investigate the incident, and suggested Meehan pay the money back. That brings us to the last part of this ugly case. Meehan did all this while sitting on the House Ethics Committe, actively sitting in judgment of other politicians and their misdeeds, all the while knowing this skeleton was sitting in his own closet. Meehan's announcement that he would not seek re-election is the latest bombshell in what could be one of the nation's most fiercely contested House races. Meehan was first elected in 2010 and cruised to three consecutive lopsided re-election landslides, in part because of the brutally partisan redistricting done by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2011 that recent court rulings confirmed was done to favor Republican incumbents. Republicans already were expecting a tougher race in November because of the anti-Trump fervor that resulted in unprededented victories by Democrats in winning two seats on Delaware County Council, something they have not done in decades, and sweeping all three county row offices. Add to that last week's state Supreme Court ruling throwing out the state's congressional map - including thta ridiculous 'Goofy Kicking Donald Duck' version of the 7th, and what was already expected to be a tough race has turned into a tossup. It is a race that will go on without Meehan. Now the congressman should finish the job. He should resign now. Not 11 months from now. His constituents deserve no less.