By Lisa Keen
DINGED: Focus on Family founder James Dobson declared last week that he "cannot and will not" support former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the Republican presidential nomination. In a May 17 commentary posted on worldnetdaily.com, Dobson said his decision was based in part on Giuliani's support for domestic partnerships for gay couples and the fact that Giuliani has publicly dressed in drag three times. "In each instance," wrote Dobson, Giuliani "tried to be funny by dressing like a woman. Can you imagine Ronald Reagan, who loved a good joke, doing something so ignoble in pursuit of a cheap guffaw? Not on your life." Dobson did not mention Reagan's most famous attempt at trying to be funny -the time, as president, that he broadcast a fake radio announcement saying the U.S. would begin bombing Russia in five minutes.
UNDINGED: U.S. Senator Sam Brownback withdrew his hold this month on a gay friendly federal judge. The Republican presidential hopeful questioned Janet Neff, a Bush nominee to be a United States District Judge for the Western District of Michigan, during a May 10 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. He wanted to know whether a ceremony in Massachusetts for a same-sex couple at which Neff read a homily was a marriage ceremony. Neff said no, which should have been apparent by the fact that the ceremony took place two years before Massachusetts began enforcing equal rights for gay couples in marriage. According to Associated Press, Brownback has, nonetheless, insisted on a roll call vote when Neff's nomination comes before the full Senate.
DUCKED TWICE: During this month's Republican debate in South Carolina, sponsored by Fox News and the state Republican party, host Chris Wallace twice asked former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani whether his "pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control" positions are "the stands of a true conservative?" Giuliani managed to duck the question twice, though he did reiterate his support for a woman's right to make her own decision concerning abortion.
DUCKED II: Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney ducked essentially the same question when he was asked to explain how "clear and consistent" his position has been on "gay rights," a woman's right to choose abortion, and restrictions on assault weapons. Although in a 1994 Senate race, Romney famously promised to be a better advocate for equal rights for gays than Sen. Ted Kennedy and 10 years later he became one of its chief opponents in the marriage arena, Romney said, "I have always been somebody who opposes discrimination, but I also consistently feel that it's critical to have marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman."
CONFUSED: Even though Senator John McCain speaks against same-sex marriage every chance he gets, his conservative credentials are often challenged by Republicans uncomfortable with his vote against a proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage nationally. During the Republican debate in South Carolina, McCain attributed that vote to his desire to encourage bipartisanship in the Senate. But just the previous week, he said his main concern was states' rights: Campaigning in Muscatine, Iowa, May 7, McCain said "I think the states should decide" whether or not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Even that answer rang a bit odd since he had just finished saying he would do "anything" he could to protect the sanctity of marriage.
APOLOGY II: Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson has added to his reasons for saying during the May 3 GOP candidates' debate that he thinks employers who think homosexuality is immoral should be able to fire a gay person. Following the debate, Thompson said he hadn't heard the question and said he doesn't believe employers should be able to discriminate against gays. And May 14, at a state party convention in Wisconsin, Thompson said his hearing aid battery died during the debate and he was distracted by a need to go to the bathroom because of some lingering symptoms of bronchitis and flu. According to the Capital Times of Madison, Thompson told reporters there, where he was known as a generally pro-gay governor, "I didn't hear the question. All I was thinking about was getting off the stage. I said it, I'm sorry, and it won't happen again but it's not my record. There's nothing discriminatory about me at all."
