A Republican Mile Marker...

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny



Is the GOP becoming less anal as a party? For a party that has maintained a predominately reactionary outlook when it comes to gay rights and gay unions perhaps Romney selecting openly gay Richard Grenell as his foreign-policy spokesman is a hopeful sign.

the Atlantic - The recent hiring of Richard Grenell, Mitt Romney's openly gay foreign-policy spokesman, represents a breakthrough in the world of Republican presidential campaigns.

Grenell isn't the first out gay person to serve as a high-level staffer to a GOP nominee, but as far as I can tell, he is the first such press spokesman -- the first to serve as the public face of the all-but-certain Republican nominee -- and on the historically sensitive issue of national security, no less. As an openly gay Republican in presidential politics, Grenell joins a small fraternity of out GOP staffers, instantly becoming the highest-profile of the band. His rise signals a remarkable new openness in a party often castigated for its social conservatism; in addition to being out, Grenell has waged some public battles for gay rights that contradict his new boss's own positions.

While Republican presidential campaigns have had staffers who were known to be gay before, these staffers, like the scores of gay GOPers working on Capitol Hill, have generally sought to avoid public notice, or even worked to stay hush-hush in the face of widespread social speculation about any single man of a certain age who is powerful but neither married nor a ladies' man. Many -- like Ken Mehlman, Bush's 2004 campaign manager and from 2005 to 2007 the chairman of the Republican National Committee -- didn't come out until they were safely out of politics. (Mehlman came out in an interview with The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder in 2010, confirming rumors that had been circulating in the city for years.)

Grenell, a former United Nations mission spokesman in the George W. Bush administration, has taken a different route. He has been publicly, outspokenly gay for years. He waged a public battle with the State Department to add his longtime partner to a diplomatic registry in 2008, only to be told it would violate the Defense of Marriage Act. He's also on the record as a supporter of gay marriage... {Read More}

This should be taken as a very good sign... for those republicans who have decided to stick with their party. Their tent just may have grown a tad bit bigger.

Via: Memeorandum

Comments

  1. It doesn't matter. Cheney has a gay daughter and the left still hates him...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm taking about the party as a whole and their need to grow the size of their tent. I could give a rats arse about the left and their dislike or like of a particular individual.

      Delete
  2. Bravo for the Romney campaign! Now if the GOP could just call off their dogs of war from the states that want to pass the marriage equality bill, we'd believe that the GOP believes in equal rights for the gay community.

    Yeah. Cheney is very understanding about gay rights--it's funny how having a daughter or son whom you love can open one's eyes to the folly of being anti-gay. It is my guess, however, that if his daughter were not gay, Mr. Cheney would be out there condemning them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Only liberal gays are acceptable to the left as is only black and women liberals.
    In other words liberals must be racist if they are against anyone who is anything other than liberal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wasn't a post on racism Lisa. But I understand your point.

      Delete
  4. well yeah I know RN but amazing how it always manages to sneak in there. Maybe racism was a poor choice of words,replace with "bigotry"

    ReplyDelete
  5. There was a point to that???

    It's good that Romney did this, but I get the feeling his overall stand on social issues will lean right, right through the campaign. But who knows? maybe as not afterwards. Remember, this really doesn't say anything about the party, Les, but rather Romney.

    JMJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Romney is a moderate running to the right to capture conservative support. Once elected he will govern as a moderate to liberal chief executive. Mark my words jmj.

      Delete
  6. Dallas has a politically gay conservative movement actually.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pushing the republican envelope so to speak. To survive republicans must rethink their strategy and increase the size of their tent. Romney may very be the most likely to succeed in accomplishing this.

      That and they must define a cohesive and positive vision and plan for America.

      Delete

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