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Newt Gingrich tells gay Iowa man to vote for Obama
By Jeff MillsDecember 21st, 2011, 12:15 pmComments (19)
Newt Gingrich must be feeling pretty confident these days, after his improbable, Lazarus-like comeback in the GOP presidential sweepstakes. He knows that when some of his fellow contenders start dropping, he'll pick up even more steam. So maybe that explains why, at a coffee-house event in Oskaloosa, Iowa on Tuesday, Gingrich had no problem telling an attendee to support President Obama.
According to Scott Arnold, associate professor of writing at William Penn University, who's a Democrat, and gay:
"I asked him, if he's elected, how does he plan to engage gay Americans. How are we to support him? And he told me to support Obama."
Gingrich may have more baggage than Louis Vuitton, but his grand ideas have captivated supporters willing to overlook his past misdeeds and prickly reputation. (Also, Mitt Romney is a stiff.) And Gingrich is indeed a strong debater, never reluctant to show off his extensive historical knowledge.
But it's well known that his own half-sister, Candace Gingrich-Jones, is a lesbian, and has said that she plans to support Obama. (Must be some Thanksgiving dinner.) So it's a little troubling that Gingrich said in September:
"I believe that marriage is between a man and woman. It has been for all of recorded history and I think this is a temporary aberration that will dissipate. I think that it just fundamentally goes against everything we know."
It's understood that, regardless of personal beliefs, a candidate is expected to hew closely to the party line. But it seems cold that Gingrich would so alienate his own happily-married family member due to naked political calculation. (Remember, Gingrich has been married three times.) Anyway, it will probably be a moot point, as the Republican base perceives Mitt Romney as being more electable in the long run. Then Newt won't have to deal with any more of this.
Arnold, who said he came to the event with an open mind, lamented:
"When you ask somebody a question and you expect them to support all Americans and have everyone's general interest, it's a little bit frustrating and disheartening when you're told to support the other side. That he doesn't need your support."
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Newt Gingrich
Commentarium (19 Comments)
Gingrich is on record about a thousand times over the years saying he believes homosexuality is an aberration. So why would any gay person attend a Gingrich rally? Yes, I understand gays, like anyone, can be fiscal conservatives, strong on defense, et al. (The "strong on defense" thing amuses me b/c 9/11 occurred on Bush's watch and OBL was killed on Obama's, but anyway.) It's like when Andrew Sullivan was disappointed on W's stance on gays, even though W had said during the 2000 election he'd never even consider appointing a gay person to his cabinet. (Insert Condoleezza joke here.) I totally get why gays don't want Democrats to assume they've got the gay vote sewn up and why gays don't want to be and shouldn't be treated as a monolith. But here's the thing: every prominent member of the GOP flat out hates gays. I don't know how much clearer they can make their reprehensible position. A gay voting for Gingrich is only slightly less inane than an African-American or Hispanic voting for Jan Brewer.
'But here's the thing: every prominent member of the GOP flat out hates gays.'
Except Ron Paul.
I hear your point, but he has no influence on GOP policy and my dog's chew toy has a greater chance of getting on the 2012 ticket.
Yeah, it's funny how a mere eight years ago the big banner for Republicans was foreign policy, and now it's "U-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan" and "We didn't really care about bin Laden anyway."
"Anyway, it will probably be a moot point, as the Republican base perceives Mitt Romney as being more electable in the long run. Then Newt won't have to deal with any more of this."
This wil hardly be moot if we have to deal with VP Newt on the GOP ticket.
You're assuming that the VP has any impact on policy. Biden doesn't seem to have any in the current admin with the possible exception of providing comic relief.
Doesn't every politician decide if he wants your support or not by their position on issues?
Obama wants environmentalist support so his position on the pipeline is do more studies to be sure it is environmentally neutral.
Obama doesn't want big oil support so his position on the pipeline is do more studies to be sure it is environmentally neutral.
All Newt did was voice what is a given based on his position on homosexuality.
Being environmentally neutral is a bit different then going on the record as bigoted. So there's that.
Well fine then, Obama does not agree with gay marriage, there for he's told that group of constituents that the doesn't really want their support.
Hey, Obama, what are you going to do for us people that demand things you don't want to do????
Newt's whole campaign message has been, "Vote for Obama". In fact, that's the message I'm getting from all of the GOP candidates.
Nice job. Completely agree.
I would never vote for Obama. But I'd never vote for any of this pack of GOP-tards either... we've never needed a legitimate, viable, electable third party candidate as badly as we do now. The Democrats are horrible, and the GOP horribler.
anyone with this kind of blatant prejudice most likely has other pejudices as well. gingrich needs to drop out now. i will definitely vote for obama, and i'm not gay.
I wonder if Gingrich is telling his lesbian sister the same thing. Actually, I bet he is.
Don't you wish instead he'd said, "You should support Michelle Bachman, just like Marcus does."
Newt may not like gays, but he's going to take it up the a-hole from the electorate.
@nope, I was being facetious...
In that case, I completely missed the point. I'm all ears.
A man in the audience asks how he will support his agenda. NG has no intention of supporting the agenda and tells the man to vote for someone who will. The real story here is that we have a candidate who won't pander to any and every constituency. And that, my friends, is amazing.