Dick Cheney has a lesbian daughter
I've decided I've had just enough righteous indignation from Republicans over John Kerry's reference to Mary Cheney during the final presidential debate last week. Initially, I thought it was gratuitous as well, but all these valiant conservatives rushing to the defense of the Second Family have made me change my mind. Was Kerry's reference an invasion of privacy? Well, considering the Cheneys have openly discussed their daughter's sexuality in the past (when it suits their own political purposes, I might add) and given that Mary Cheney works for the Bush/Cheney campaign, then I would have to say no. Was John Kerry trying to pander to anti-gay bigotry without alienating homosexuals, who are reliable Democratic voters? Only he knows that. But I'm not sure why that should upset Republicans, considering the president is pushing for a constitutional amendment that would codify anti-gay bigotry, and that a big part of his party's base--conservative Christians--regard homosexuality as a sin. Dick Cheney and other prominent Republicans have said they don't believe in a constitutional amendement to ban gay marriage. So tell me--which candidate is really pandering on this issue?
posted by Jonathan Potts at
6:17 PM
1 Comments:
When a campaign immediately says in the furor after an outing, "Well, she is a campaign worker, so she's fair game," I cringe.
"Fair game" doesn't denote the loving, kind words of a feel-your-pain candidate on the debate stage. The comments were gratuitous, and so, likely, are the Cheneys feigned hurt.
But I'm judging the greater sin. And in this case, the Scarlet "B" for bigot goes to J F Kerry, who is trying to dampen Bush's bigot vote by outing his VP's daughter. In a sense (because he, too, opposes gay marriage), Kerry is saying, "Oh, yeah, the president is really straight, but I'm even straighter because I didn't sire no gays."
Of course there's absolutely nothing wrong with Mary Cheney being a lesbian. I see no stigma there, and I wish her and her partner well, and someday I hope they get the chance to wed. They're both out, and proud, and bully for them.
But Kerry and Edwards intentionally went out of their way to mention it, which tells this former campaign guy that there was polling that suggested the disclosure of such would hurt the president.
Now, I'm thinking maybe 2-3 percent of hurt, but that would be key in places like WV, PA, FL, etc.
It's why you also see Bush mentioning over and over again that Kerry is a MA "liberal." Duh. But that might be enough to get him 2-3 percent. By this, I mean not that 2-3 percent of his base leaps over to support Bush, but that the former Kerry faithful simply don't go to the polls.
That's a very cynical strategy, of course, but I think it's fair to attack someone's political record and have him defend the "label" in the debate. It's hard for Bush to defend Mary Cheney, or even for her father to defend her, on the spot, which is why it's so odious.
I would feel the same way if Bush had alluded to Kerry's wife in a swipe. Like the code of the mafia, attacking someone's family members should be off the table.
You think Kerry wasn't doing that. I strongly believe he was.
2:39 PM
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