Low blow?
I don't get it. Republicans are up in arms that Kerry and Edwards mentioned in passing that Mary Cheney is gay. In this morning's New York Times, columnist Bill Safire wrote this:
The memoir about the Kerry-Edwards campaign that will be the best seller will reveal the debate rehearsal aimed at focusing national attention on the fact that Vice President Cheney has a daughter who is a lesbian.
That this twice-delivered low blow was deliberate is indisputable. The first shot was taken by John Edwards, seizing a moderator's opening to smarmily compliment the Cheneys for loving their openly gay daughter, Mary. The vice president thanked him and yielded the remaining 80 seconds of his time; obviously it was not a diversion he was willing to prolong.
Until that moment, only political junkies knew that a member of the Cheney family serving on the campaign staff was homosexual. The vice president, to show it was no secret or anything his family was ashamed of, had referred to it briefly twice this year, but the press - respecting family privacy - had properly not made it a big deal. The percentage of voters aware of Mary Cheney's sexual orientation was tiny.
The lowest blow, New York Times, 10/18/2004
Only if a tiny percentage of voters watched the Vice Presidential debate in 2000.
Only if Alan Simpson, a long-time friend of the Cheneys, also delivered a low blow during celebrations at President Bush's inauguration:
In his opening remarks, Mr. Simpson noted, "Not one of us doesn't have someone close to us who is gay or lesbian." Then he invoked Mary Cheney, the daughter of the vice president, who attended the inauguration with her partner. Mr. Simpson said that after Ms. Cheney said she was a lesbian, her father, Dick Cheney, "protected and loved her as his very special, special daughter." (NYT 1/26/2001)
Kerry and Edwards deserve an apology from Safire and his ilk. Mentioning that Mary Cheney is a lesbian is no more embarassing than mentioning that Lynne Cheney is married. Safire will, I hope, assert his essential decency by apologizing with sincerity.
(You'll have to read the last paragraph of the Safire column to understand the last sentence.)
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Unfortunately, the republicans WERE successful in keeping what many of us see as a non-issue out there as the MAIN TOPIC of discussion after the final debate. And, unfortunately, it seems a majority of people agree that it's in bad taste to mention this fact, her lesbianism - regardless of her own openness, and regardless of the fact that she uses it as a professional qualification - COORS wouldn't have hire her if she were str8, or closeted! But, their point is that this is private, shameful, and the dems showed poor judgement and bad taste - and I bet a majority of Americans would agree. We can only hope it blows over and folks get back to actual ISSUES - which is the only way Kerry can win - and these Republicans know that which is why they jump at any opportunity to change the subject.
I have only contempt for the Cheney family, especially since Mary instigated the response!
The fact that they are making such a big deal out of the mention during the debate would seem to indicate that homosexuality is an issue with them. And they are certainly not on "our" side by their words.