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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
I have long endorsed the political strategy of supporting both GLBT friendly Democrats and Republicans. For pragmatic reasons, it made sense not to put all of our eggs in one basket. However, that was before the GOP leadership was hijacked by right wing basket cases. Sadly, I think it is time for the GLBT movement to reassess the political landscape and consider saying goodbye to bipartisanship.
The defenders of the status quo will claim that loyalty is an important commodity in politics and this is why we must continue to back friendly Republicans. How can we abandon those who voted with us, they ask?
This circular reasoning reminds me of the "cut and run" argument for keeping our troops in Iraq. In essence, we should continue to adhere to a failed plan and bleed because we have promised loyalty to a situation that might not be salvageable. And, in my estimation, the Republican Party's hostility towards gay people is not something that can easily be fixed. The entire party will have to collapse and remake itself into an entity that does not exploit fear and prejudice before GLBT people can return.
While most Republicans are not anti-gay, the party is still the undeniable home for most haters and homophobes. Whether it is placing anti-marriage measures on the ballot, the Southern Strategy that fanned the flames of racial dissension or igniting fear of immigrants, the GOP has long pandered to bigots and theocrats and still considers them important constituencies. Fear is the commodity in which the Republican Party profits and until they are soundly crushed, they will win elections on the backs of GLBT families.
For those that say we must be loyal to supportive Republicans, I must question how loyal these officials are to us. These "friendly" candidates get our checks as we put out our necks for their reelection. Our reward for such allegiance is the continued reign of Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate majority Leader Bill Frist. I'm no salesman, but this doesn't sound like a good deal.
Republican members of Congress in Blue states ought to be strongly urged to become Democrats or at least Independents if they want the support of GLBT organizations. Environmental and Pro-Choice groups ought to take the same principled stand, unless they think oil executives setting our energy policy and the ascension of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court have helped their respective causes.
I want to be clear that I still feel that bipartisanship is the best long-term plan. There is no substitute for broad based support that ensures less volatility with each election cycle. However, such a cross-aisle coalition is a fantasy until the GOP becomes a mainstream party that does not prosper by sowing the sulfur seeds of division. When Republicans finally leave the thrall of Neo Puritan preachers, the GLBT community can again responsibly resume bipartisanship.
Moderate Republicans have more to gain than anyone by temporarily abandoning the GOP. The quicker the Pat Robertson/James Dobson crowd is expunged and sent back into the woodwork, the sooner moderates can step-in to reclaim their party.
Indeed, the old saw for bipartisanship was that the crusty old fashioned Congressional members of the GOP just needed to meet gay people and be educated on our issues. Once this occurred, they would abandon their hostility and vote for equality.
Well, guess what? Gay people have been visible now for more than thirty years. These conservatives have had ample opportunity to meet and greet gay lobbyists in their Capitol Hill offices. Yes, they have seen us in our finely tailored suits and geeky bow ties, yet they still cynically tie us to a radical agenda. This can no longer be excused as ignorance, nor explained as anything but malice.
The enlightenment our community had banked on did not occur. The only epiphany GOP leaders had upon hearing our heartfelt personal stories was that they could win elections by demonizing us. They care not how many families are destroyed or how many gay youth commit suicide because of their dehumanizing rhetoric.
Bipartisanship looks good on paper, but the disastrous consequences that have come from this strategy cannot be papered over. If we help give Republicans a slim majority by endorsing and helping to reelect our so-called friends, the reception to our agenda on Capitol Hill will continue to be quite unfriendly.
20 Comments:
I've always thought that about non-homophobic republicans. They may have no personal malice against glbt persons, but they still have to vote in lockstep with their party; ESPECIALLY under this current administration. Anyone who doesnt play ball with the bush gang is quickly shown the gate out of the ballpark. Rep. Chris Smith, of NJ, a very conservative and loyal member of the GOP was quickly booted off the Veterans Affairs Committee for sticking to his guns in wanting to help vets when the bushies wanted more cuts in benefits. Ex GOP governor of NJ, Christie Whitman was put in charge of the EPA until she tried to do her job in protecting the environment. She was basically forced to resign when she wouldnt let the corporate polluters run amok as the bushies wanted. I'd still vote for a mediocre democrat before voting for a 'good' republican!
posted by Anonymous, at
8/15/2006 12:04 PM
It took you this long to figure that out?
The Democrats aren't much better, but at least they don't make it a habit of using homophobia to influence the electorate.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/15/2006 2:25 PM
Perhaps it's high time to support a third party, like the Greens? Just a thought, since the Demies really don't do anything for us. Richard Schillen
posted by Anonymous, at
8/15/2006 4:04 PM
I agree- time for a third party revolution.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/15/2006 4:36 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/15/2006 4:59 PM
Folks, please stick to the topic and I prefer as few "anonymous" posters as possible, as you are likely to be deleted by accident.
I agree to a point. But as a Log Cabin friend of mine said a few years ago, to paraphrase, It's better to fighting from the inside of the party than from the outside. Granted, I haven't seen much pull in the party, but the bush reign is nearly at an end. For the next administration, be it Republican or Democrat, I would prefer to see progressives and moderates in both, instead of liberals on one side and conservatives on the other. Just a thought.
For the record, I'm an independent, my parents are communists and my siblings are liberatarians.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/16/2006 12:55 AM
Forget not only the "bipartisan" strategy but the failed strategy of backing Democrats as well. Remember Clinton and DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell?
We ought to avoid the electoral trap all together, correctly condemned by historian Howard Zinn as the dissipation of protest into the ballot box. Elections are a charade.
Direct action protest has always delivered the goods for the oppressed and marginalized in the US. African Americans (remember that Civil War incident) and the mass movements of Reconstruction and the later Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Ditto women,labor and gays beginning with pickets at the White House and Stonewall.
Our objective ought to be a gay liberation unbridled by alliances to political parties concerned about personal and organizational aggrandizement.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/16/2006 10:48 AM
It is delusional to think that our interests will be represented properly by either the Repubs or the Dems.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/16/2006 2:51 PM
I'll be Al Qaida and Hezbollah want to see more moderate republicans as well.
posted by Anonymous, at
8/16/2006 3:34 PM
The problem is not whether to support Democrats over Republicans, although if I had to invest my loyalties, it would be to the Democrats (aka the party who doesn't list opposition to gay rights in their party's mission statement). The problem is that fact that we are a two-party government. Democrats are forced to court right-wingers who dislike gays to win in many circumstances. We need to divorce ourselves from a system that requires people to constantly appeal to a theoretical middle ground. Any 3rd party is almost instantly crushed by this archaic system on a national level. Gays need a party that will consistently stand up for them regardless of the political climate, not attack them for political gain like the Republicans or sell them out at the first opportunity like the Democrats.
Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats can be trusted. Maybe the solution is not to put all our energy in establishing a third party, but to establish several new parties at the same time. The Republicrats will take deadly aim at any serious third party effort, but they can't shoot as effectively at several targets. These alternative parties would focus on specific issues rather than ideology. Maybe one party focuses on health care issues, another on the environment, another on poverty, and another on national security. None of these new parties would have much in the way of clout at first, but once they built up their resources and settled on platforms (this would take ten years at the very least), we could finally be looking at a real multi-party system in this country. No one "third party" is going to attract everybody. The priorities of the American populace are much too diverse.
posted by DC HAMPTON JACOBS, at
8/19/2006 12:28 PM
