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Straight talk about gay Republican congressional candidate Carl DeMaio
By Dana PerinoPublished April 28, 2014FoxNews.com
Let's pretend you're a screenwriter assigned to develop a character to run for Congress in California in 2014. You need a compelling story, so you make him an orphan at 13 – wait, even better his dad leaves the family two weeks before his mother died – and then social services splits up his brothers and sisters leaving him alone in the world.
Despite those challenges he perseveres, putting himself through a top-tier college and then building and selling two multimillion-dollar companies.
Thus financially secure, he decides to dedicate himself to public service and runs for City Council.
Isn’t his story what the people who fight for equality say they’ve been fighting for?
In his first term he works across party lines and four years after his first election he passes major pension reform that saves the city money and protects the retirement savings of thousand of people.
For good measure, you make him openly gay and in a committed relationship, the first to feature his partner in campaign literature. He’s the perfect candidate to send to Washington, D.C. and, of course, he’s a Democrat, right?
Wrong. The real story proves that truth is stranger and sometimes better than fiction. Your character already exists in Carl DeMaio of San Diego – except that he’s not a Democrat, he’s a (gasp!) Republican.
No one in Hollywood would write this screenplay -- unless it was a tragicomedy that ends with the candidate realizing the error of his ways and fleeing to the nurturing embrace of doe-eyed and loving Democrats. Exit weeping.
Isn’t his story what everyone who fights for equality says they’ve been fighting for?
When I talked to DeMaio, he said he doesn’t want to emphasize his sexual orientation or his challenging childhood – he prefers to talk about the fiscal condition of the country and his candidacy to defeat freshman Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat. But because he is who he is, and because his opponents are making an issue about his sexual orientation and lying about his record, he’s willing to talk about it. And he’s disrupting all of the stereotypes.
For instance, DeMaio has been the target of homophobic attacks. But where are those attacks coming from? It’s not always from the far right social conservatives you’d expect; rather, it’s been from DeMaio’s left – the liberal and Democrat-affiliated groups that you’d think would be proud that an openly gay successful businessman has decided to run for office.
One false attack drew the attention of the San Diego Ethics Commission. An anonymous left-wing group funded a SuperPac and sent mailers of DeMaio Photoshopped next to a drag queen to neighborhoods with a majority of elderly and African-American voters, knowing that such a photo would depress support for DeMaio.
That was so egregious and false that the group was fined by the city’s Ethics Commission, but even after that, and with his 100 percent voting record with the LGBT community, the Left still didn’t speak up to defend him. They told DeMaio, “It’s complicated.â€
I’m sure. The Right, on the other hand, did speak up about it.
"I've found more tolerance, acceptance and inclusion from social conservative groups who have to reconcile that I'm a Republican who happens to be gay...versus the intolerance the LGBT leaders see me as a gay man who happens to be a Republican," DeMaio said.
As the race heats up and DeMaio gains in the polls ahead of the Republican primary on June 3rd, the LGBT groups have gone from silence about his candidacy to actively working against him.
“Despite claims that they insist on tolerance, diversity and acceptance on all political issues, I suspect that they really want to keep intact their alliance with unions so that they don't upset their funding sources and coalition. The Democratic groups need the GOP to remain the bogeyman because if the Republicans are no longer a threat, who needs to donate to these LGBT political groups?†he said.
Full disclosure: I am a former employee of the San Diego city council, where I worked with Ric Grenell, now again a colleague of mine at Fox News Channel, and who currently consults on the DeMaio campaign.
I left San Diego in 2001 and never spoke to DeMaio until recently. But I still know some of the players, know the political terrain and how the district in which he’s running leans-conservative (it’s relatively new district because of redistricting, but the area’s seat traditionally has been held by Republicans).
Which makes me wonder: If they work actively against a Carl DeMaio, how exactly have the LGBT groups come to define “equality� What do they actually want, if not someone like DeMaio? Does he not embody the openness, financial success and equality they envisioned?
By Dana PerinoPublished April 28, 2014FoxNews.com
Let's pretend you're a screenwriter assigned to develop a character to run for Congress in California in 2014. You need a compelling story, so you make him an orphan at 13 – wait, even better his dad leaves the family two weeks before his mother died – and then social services splits up his brothers and sisters leaving him alone in the world.
Despite those challenges he perseveres, putting himself through a top-tier college and then building and selling two multimillion-dollar companies.
Thus financially secure, he decides to dedicate himself to public service and runs for City Council.
Isn’t his story what the people who fight for equality say they’ve been fighting for?
In his first term he works across party lines and four years after his first election he passes major pension reform that saves the city money and protects the retirement savings of thousand of people.
For good measure, you make him openly gay and in a committed relationship, the first to feature his partner in campaign literature. He’s the perfect candidate to send to Washington, D.C. and, of course, he’s a Democrat, right?
Wrong. The real story proves that truth is stranger and sometimes better than fiction. Your character already exists in Carl DeMaio of San Diego – except that he’s not a Democrat, he’s a (gasp!) Republican.
No one in Hollywood would write this screenplay -- unless it was a tragicomedy that ends with the candidate realizing the error of his ways and fleeing to the nurturing embrace of doe-eyed and loving Democrats. Exit weeping.
Isn’t his story what everyone who fights for equality says they’ve been fighting for?
When I talked to DeMaio, he said he doesn’t want to emphasize his sexual orientation or his challenging childhood – he prefers to talk about the fiscal condition of the country and his candidacy to defeat freshman Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat. But because he is who he is, and because his opponents are making an issue about his sexual orientation and lying about his record, he’s willing to talk about it. And he’s disrupting all of the stereotypes.
For instance, DeMaio has been the target of homophobic attacks. But where are those attacks coming from? It’s not always from the far right social conservatives you’d expect; rather, it’s been from DeMaio’s left – the liberal and Democrat-affiliated groups that you’d think would be proud that an openly gay successful businessman has decided to run for office.
One false attack drew the attention of the San Diego Ethics Commission. An anonymous left-wing group funded a SuperPac and sent mailers of DeMaio Photoshopped next to a drag queen to neighborhoods with a majority of elderly and African-American voters, knowing that such a photo would depress support for DeMaio.
That was so egregious and false that the group was fined by the city’s Ethics Commission, but even after that, and with his 100 percent voting record with the LGBT community, the Left still didn’t speak up to defend him. They told DeMaio, “It’s complicated.â€
I’m sure. The Right, on the other hand, did speak up about it.
"I've found more tolerance, acceptance and inclusion from social conservative groups who have to reconcile that I'm a Republican who happens to be gay...versus the intolerance the LGBT leaders see me as a gay man who happens to be a Republican," DeMaio said.
As the race heats up and DeMaio gains in the polls ahead of the Republican primary on June 3rd, the LGBT groups have gone from silence about his candidacy to actively working against him.
“Despite claims that they insist on tolerance, diversity and acceptance on all political issues, I suspect that they really want to keep intact their alliance with unions so that they don't upset their funding sources and coalition. The Democratic groups need the GOP to remain the bogeyman because if the Republicans are no longer a threat, who needs to donate to these LGBT political groups?†he said.
Full disclosure: I am a former employee of the San Diego city council, where I worked with Ric Grenell, now again a colleague of mine at Fox News Channel, and who currently consults on the DeMaio campaign.
I left San Diego in 2001 and never spoke to DeMaio until recently. But I still know some of the players, know the political terrain and how the district in which he’s running leans-conservative (it’s relatively new district because of redistricting, but the area’s seat traditionally has been held by Republicans).
Which makes me wonder: If they work actively against a Carl DeMaio, how exactly have the LGBT groups come to define “equality� What do they actually want, if not someone like DeMaio? Does he not embody the openness, financial success and equality they envisioned?
Most women have experienced this but very few recognize it or talk about it. It's okay to have a serious career, a sexually opportunistic social life, serial live-in lovers, and so on. It's not okay to do that and vote against Democrats because then you are a sell-out. Who "gave" you sex? Why, liberals did. Who "gave" you work? Democrats. Who "gave" you anything? Not Republicans.
This despite the fact that it's Republicans and Libertarians who are concerned about your job, taxes, freedom of speech, and so on.
Progressive politics is just another religion except you don't have an opportunity for salvation, you have to repent but your sins aren't washed clean, you need to tithe but it's for the glory of the party, and you are only judged by a newer crop of zealots.
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