The daycare "child molester" hysteria of the '80s was not particularly liberal or leftist in origin. It affected and was supported by people of all political orientations. As with most "social panics," in retrospect it's hard to believe.
The mantras of the time were, "Believe the children," and "Children don't lie." Neither of these can be given any credence by an intelligent person.
My wife ran a successful home day care business at the time. She shut it down because of the potential for accusations of abuse.
Perhaps the saddest part of this whole thing is that actual children continued to be molested and abused, with the backlash from the hysteria possibly making prosecutions of genuine cases less likely.
I'm sure that you're correct about that. I would also agree that 'social panics' are not necessarily brought about exclusively by the left or the right, though I do believe that the left is far and away more adept at capitalizing on them. My 'left on the march' comment was more in context with the other events I mentioned (tailhook, Iran-Contra etc.) and my view that it was a detestable period. It's also a very good example of my inability to focus on one topic at a time.