'If you drive a Volvo and you do yoga, you are pretty much a Democrat,' the Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman—soon to be the head of the Republican National Committee—reportedly told a meeting of Republican governors recently. 'If you drive a Lincoln or a BMW and you own a gun, you're voting for George W. Bush.'
Since he's so confident labeling people based on outward characteristics, Mehlman must understand why his being a 37-year-old 'bachelor' who refuses to answer questions about his sexual orientation is a tip-off to many that he's a pathetic closet case, and a pretty vile one at that, having used antigay hatred ( aka 'moral values' ) to help elect Bush. Mehlman was actually boasting to the governors about his slick new strategies, telling them that the Bush-Cheney campaign studied voters' consumer habits—basically snooping into voters' personal lives—in targeting them.
'We did what Visa did,' Mehlman bragged. 'We acquired a lot of consumer data. What magazine do you subscribe to? Do you own a gun? How often do the folks go to church? Where do you send your kids to school? Are you married? Based on that, we were able to develop an exact kind of consumer model that corporate America does every day to predict how people vote—not based on where they live but how they live.'
Surely Mehlman can't complain now that people are talking about his marital status and how he lives—right? Last week, the blogs were abuzz with stories about Mehlman, who refused to tell the Washington Blade when asked several weeks ago if he or others who worked in prominent positions in the campaign are gay. Reporters, according to long-time activist John Aravosis on his Americablog.org, have in recent days been popping the question to White House officials, now that Bush has chosen Mehlman to lead the RNC. They're apparently being told off the record by the White House that Mehlman is straight, and thus the reporters aren't running with anything. But if Mehlman really is heterosexual, why wouldn't the White House—and Mehlman—say so on the record? It would certainly end the speculation and calm the suspicions and fears of the irrepressible leaders of the Christian right.
Of course, if the White House or the RNC went on record saying Mehlman is straight, it would invite the media to study the issue further and report facts they may find to the contrary. By not saying anything, the White House keeps the topic off-limits entirely. The scared-shitless press corp wouldn't dare go there and thus be accused of invading Mehlman's privacy. And that still invites the question: What is the White House hiding, and why don't reporters see it as relevant to discuss in a year in which the Republicans gay-bashed their way to victory?
More than 20 years ago, the noted journalist and former Washington Monthly editor Taylor Branch wrote a piece in Harper's headlined, 'Closets of Power,' in which he predicted a future 'war of outage' launched by gay activists. That was 1982, almost a decade before the term and practice of 'outing' arrived on the scene, and long before the internet would become outers' greatest tool to circumvent the arrogant corporate media.
'If the 'war of outage' comes, and readers suddenly look up to find a homosexual on every street corner and a prominent official coming out of every closet, journalists will more than likely join in a panic they could have helped avoid,' Branch wrote, prophetically. Last week the 'war of outage' indeed arrived at the RNC, and journalists were certainly scrambling to figure out what to do. In addition to the speculation about Mehlman in the week that it was announced Bush chose him to run the RNC, a lurid story surfaced about Dan Gurley, the RNC's deputy field director, spurring a whole new round of phone calls and no doubt making Mehlman and the rest of the bunch very nervous.
Both Blogactive.com and Rawstory.com ran stories claiming that Gurley, whom both sites said oversaw antigay mailings that went out from the RNC, was seeking multiple-partner 'bareback' sex online with other men. Both sites have a track record on outing, and have made an impact outing closeted members of Congress and RNC staff. John Byrne at Rawstory.com reported that California Republican Congressman David Dreier ( who would not tell me in an interview on my radio program whether he is gay or straight ) was involved with his male chief of staff, with whom he shared a residence. Dreier, who'd been a primary surrogate for the Bush campaign, seemed to suddenly curtail all public appearances after the story was picked up in L.A. Weekly, and he refused to address the story or the question of his sexual orientation. Mike Rogers at Blogactive.com had posted the audio of Virginia Republican Congressman Ed Shrock's gay phone-line personals, forcing Shrock to resign in September.
Gurley had actually been outed as gay by Rogers on Blogactive.com several weeks ago, and confirmed to the Washington Blade that he is indeed gay after the newspaper inquired. He'd said he saw no conflict being gay and working for the RNC in such a prominent role, which is about as deep in denial as one can get. That may be why, if the story of his online sexcapades are true, he was trawling the Web last week, complete with face photos of himself that identified him completely, looking for unprotected sex and announcing that he's in an open relationship, which certainly doesn't square with the RNC's 'moral values' crusade. Blogactive.com and Rawstory.com had screen shots that depicted a Gay.com personals page with Gurley's photos and all of his sexual interests, including well-known abbreviations, such as b/b ( 'bareback' ) . When Byrne from Rawstory.com interviewed Gurley, he admitted the Gay.com screen name was his, but said he'd canceled it weeks ago and this was someone who'd recycled his screen name. But Byrne confirmed with Gay.com that screen names there are always retired forever when someone cancels them, never able to be used again.
Bizarrely, Gurley took a call from Mike Rogers too, who pointed out to Gurley that Gay.com screen names can't be recycled, to which Gurley had no adequate explanation. Rogers taped the conversation—and told Gurley it was all on tape—and played the tape for me, which included a receptionist or assistant at the RNC answering the phone and then putting it through to Gurley, who took the call. Gurley, who seemed completely rattled, stayed on the phone for 17 minutes, strangely trying to spin the information even as he denied it was his personal page. He noted that he'd soon be leaving the RNC, now that his work on the campaign—and helping to elect George W. Bush—was complete. No doubt Ken Mehlman and the gang are glad he's going, if indeed they didn't push him out. But the 'war of outage' at the RNC looks like it is only just beginning.
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