LGBT
Related: About this forumGay Republicans Deserve Support From the LGBTQ Community
By Vanessa VitielloGay Republicans aren't just a punch line anymore. Not one but three of themCarl DeMaio in Californias 52nd District, Richard Tisei of Massachusetts 6th, and Dan Innis in New Hampshires 1stwill be running for Congress in the upcoming 2014 midterm elections.
These guys arent crazies or novelty candidates, either. While all three have tough roads ahead of them, facing fellow Republicans in the primaries followed by incumbent Democrats in November if they prevail, theyre legitimate contenders. Two years ago, Tisei came within a hair of unseating incumbent John Tierney. (2014 will be a repeat of that 2012 race.) Both DeMaio and Tisei have held political office in their respective states previously, and Innis was, until recently, the dean of the business school at the University of New Hampshire. All three of the seats theyre fighting for have made it onto lists of the most vulnerable House Democrats, and if any of them win, theyll make history as the first Republican(s) to be out when first elected to Congress.
To be sure, the Republican Party has lagged far behind the Democrats on LGBT issues, as well as other issues of diversity and equality. In the past, this has resulted in some pretty ugly attacks against gay Republicans from prominent gay activists on the left. But you can't have a healthy democracy without a minimum of two strong, functional political parties. In a country as diverse as ours, this means that both major parties need a variety of voices, and both of them need to appeal to more than just a single, ever-narrowing constituency. If the Republican Party continues to decline in relevancy, well all suffer in the long term if were forced to default to a Democratic Party that doesnt have to work at being better than the alternative.
With this in mind, I talked to one of the three candidates, Carl DeMaio, to ask the big question liberals always ask about gay GOPers: Why would an openly gay man ever be a Republican? DeMaio began by stressing that his orientation is only one facet of who he is. He's also a reformer! He believes in individual freedom! Local control! Competition and the free market! (Seriously, its as if the guy were running for office or something.)
more
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/02/17/gay_republicans_gays_should_support_them.html?
Scuba
(53,475 posts)DURHAM D
(32,610 posts)Sounds like Paulites to me.
CurtEastPoint
(18,644 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Why would I vote for a jerk just because he's gay?
Behind the Aegis
(53,957 posts)Shouldn't he be trolling for votes among his republican peers?
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)This is a person who for years has been voting for the Republican Party platform and supporting candidates who are diametrically opposed to everything in which I believe. The only thing he "deserves" is my boot up his ass. What freakin' nerve.
Behind the Aegis
(53,957 posts)...you'll have to ask him to remove his head first. It's the only conclusion I can reach as to why he would have the audacity to beg gay democrats to vote for him.
catbyte
(34,391 posts)I don't think like that, sorry.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)After all, the Log Cabin Self-Repudiators voted for her.
catbyte
(34,391 posts)mitchtv
(17,718 posts)help the GOP win Dem seats? TROLL BAIT
Behind the Aegis
(53,957 posts)If being gay is only one part of who he is, then why is he trolling to the community which is only "part" of what he is?! You can't choose to be gay, you can choose to be Republican!
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Let's help them take our rights away. USA! USA! USA!
Rowdyboy
(22,057 posts)self-respect can be a Republican. No way, no how. You have to be heavily self-loathing to identify with those jackasses.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)'Nuff said.
Rhythm
(5,435 posts)...because in our party-driven republic, majorities matter.
I can say aloud that i am proud of a politician for coming-out (or for being a vocal ally), but I cannot in good conscience vote for a Republican, and have them potentially occupy a seat in the HoR, Senate, White House (or even state legislature or city council) that my party needs to hold.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)joeybee12
(56,177 posts)mitchtv
(17,718 posts)G GOPer splits puke vote,throws election to Dem