I doubt there is any real danger that a Fox News item would convince most San Diegans that former Councilmember Carl DeMaio is our dream congressional candidate. Still, Dana Perino’s article (http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/04/28/california-house-race-no-one-puts-gay-republican-carl-demaio-in-corner/) Straight talk about gay Republican congressional candidate Carl DeMaio warrants some discussion.
Perino’s column begins by suggesting that DeMaio’s biography and Council record would make him a script perfect candidate for Congress if only he weren’t a Republican. If that’s true, her script is as loosely based on fact as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Yes, DeMaio overcame impressive obstacles in his life and became a successful businessman. Yes, he led the pension reform initiative. California’s 2014 dream candidate, however, would have been leading Republican support for marriage equality, not explaining away the help of “Yes on 8” stalwart Doug Manchester. He wouldn’t have been the lone Councilmember not to vote against Arizona’s “papers please” law. He wouldn’t have been booed at Pride.
Perino then does some NBA-level pivoting. First, she suggests that DeMaio’s story is what “everyone who fights for equality says they are fighting for.” Then she asserts that his “opponents are making an issue of his sexual orientation and lying about his record.” The next three paragraphs discuss homophobic attacks on DeMaio including a flyer that launched an ethics investigation.
I’ll agree with Perino that homophobic attacks on DeMaio, including the flyer as used, are abhorrent. If President Obama routinely addresses attacks from two-year-old mayoral races, he should condemn them when he visits. The rest of the discussion, however, is smoke. Perino never defines the parts of his record that are lied about. In wondering why DeMaio wasn’t defended against the flyer, she quotes “the Left” as having told DeMaio “It’s complicated.” I’m not sure how you fact check a quote from “the Left” (I looked over there), but it, like these other issues, were related to his 2012 race, not his 2014 opponent, Rep. Scott Peters.
Between a few disclaimers about her time in San Diego and some musings about a Republican woman who lost her endorsement from the National Organization for Women (I have some sympathy here), she wonders why LGBT groups don’t see DeMaio as the embodiment of their vision of equality. Specifically, she takes issue with the Victory Fund not endorsing DeMaio in 2012.
I’m on record on this one (https://lgbtweekly.jeffjungblut.com/2012/09/13/should-victory-fund-endorse-demaio/), though I was never able to directly confirm that DeMaio sought the endorsement (the Victory Fund comments only on endorsements they make, not those who applied). Interestingly, Perino doesn’t clarify if DeMaio asked for a Victory Fund endorsement this go-round, instead taking issue with the Human Rights Campaign for not endorsing him for mayor or Congress. She neglects to mention that HRC almost never endorses in mayoral races, or that HRC endorsed Peters for re-election.
Perino begs sympathy for DeMaio, who “does the hard work of taking the heat in front of social conservative crowds.” If DeMaio is taking heat because the Republican Party platform rejects his right to marry, that’s on them. If he’s been demanding that Speaker Boehner bring ENDA (which DeMaio has supported) to a floor vote, I’m sorry I missed it, and count me grateful.
Perino reports that DeMaio believes he represents the majority of Republicans, who have moved past the parochial issues of race, gender and sexuality. That will be a great day, but the GOP platform suggests it isn’t here yet. Until then, the problem with a non-fiction “Super-DeMaio” screenplay isn’t that he’s a Republican, but that he has limited his audience.
LGBT progressives aren’t interested because most aren’t single issue voters, and believe that discrimination leaves our community disproportionately in need of the safety nets that are contrary to his small government view. Groups that do support exclusively LGBT candidates, like the Victory Fund, either haven’t been invited to the show, or are looking for a different one. Social conservatives are giving him heat, though DeMaio may be “slowly winning them over.”
What’s left? People who support a conservative view of government and are open to an LGBT candidate. In an off year election, there may be enough of them to keep DeMaio competitive. If not, it’s the fault of Republicans and conservatives, not those who prefer to see “Scott Peters: The Second Term.”
