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Gay GOP Reformer Confounds Democrat Labeling
Carl DeMaio is a rising star in a California GOP woefully in need of them. Now that he’s running for a San Diego-area congressional seat, Democrats are doing everything in their power to destroy him.
DeMaio transcended a hard-knock childhood to create two successful businesses. He then was elected to the San Diego City Council where he instituted several groundbreaking reforms. DeMaio defeated tax hikes, improved accountability and led efforts to enact landmark pension reform.
Hell hath no fury like a public sector union scorned, so DeMaio earned some deep-pocketed enemies. They attacked him viciously when he ran for mayor in 2012, even using homophobic attacks to ensure that his morally upright opponent won. (Anyone remember Bob Filner?)
These days Democrats are rolling out the big guns, calling DeMaio a “tea party extremist.” This label might not hurt a candidate in Amarillo or Ogden, but it can be an effective scare tactic in SoCal. DeMaio’s latest ad was designed to stop this inaccurate branding:
http://youtu.be/qx8LmBtSoHc
The ad opens with “as a proud gay American,” feeling almost like an aside. “I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, but a Tea Party extremist? Nothing could be further from the truth.”
According to most polls, the “tea party” label is an unpopular one even though a large number of Republicans and independents approve of the limited government message. In pop culture the tea party has been rebranded as a mix of Todd Akin-style social conservatism, Bircher conspiracies and outright racism. False though it is, this misrepresentation won’t sell anywhere, least of all in the Golden State.
Though DeMaio doesn’t seem conservative enough for my tastes, he is vastly superior to incumbent Democrat Scott Peters. Also, his proven track record of governmental reform shows that he’s unlikely to join the Beltway caucus, even though that group is filled with politicians who talk conservative back home but cash in once they get to D.C.
After a cursory check of online responses, it appears the only people surprised that the GOP is running an openly gay candidate are those not in the GOP. (We wacko-bird Arizonans had a gay GOP congressman for nearly two decades; never seemed like a big deal.)
DeMaio’s latest ad seems like it will attract Democrats and independents without alienating many Republicans. Keeping in mind we’re talking about southern California here, do you think the spot will help his chances or hurt them?
Published in General
Brave dude. His campaign headquarters got trashed and he bounced back. His interview with Megyn Kelly was a good one.
If DeMaio is a true FiCon, I’d be happy to change my voting residency.
Megyn Kelly is annoying me because she refuses to discuss the issues and this candidate keeps trying to talk about them!
I am a “Tea Party Extremist” and I’d vote for him.
Sounds like big-talking, gay-friendly, keep-the-social-issues-to-the-side GOP moderates (like, uh, me) better open our wallets…or shut our mouths. Though to be honest, as an opinionated part-Scot, both alternatives seem almost impossible to abide.
Seconding the first comment: this guy has real guts. If you’re reading this in Amarillo (and by the way, are they hiring at the Pantex plant?) I’ll just say it’s hard to imagine the negative pressure he’s under.
Broaden the tent. Run the most conservative candidate that can win. Sounds great to me.
A more conservative candidate can win in San Diego, which isn’t LA or San Francisco. Nonetheless I’ll still vote for him over his socialist opponent.
He’s certainly confounding everyone in politics by firing his consultant and running his campaign himself. The democrats may not need to destroy him because there’s a good chance he’ll shoot himself in the foot.
I can’t speak to the demographics of his district, but I’m willing to bet it will work to his advantage. I don’t care that he’s gay, as long as he doesn’t support that absurdity called SSM. I wish him well.
Defensive ads can stop/reduce further loss from attack ads but don’t move the ball across the 50. I am not sure how you make middle class Democratic zombie voters see themselves as victims/adversaries of the government employee special interest lobby. How does a “reformer” get some juice?
Rinos/squishes (yeah, like you, Rob Long) usually win only when there is revulsion at an unusually (as opposed to routinely) corrupt Democratic incumbent. They don’t seem to ever have a passionate following by definition.
Is that a new word you just learned: “absurdity.” Because you seem to be running from thread to thread trying it out like a 3 year old who just learned something new.
I’m not crazy about the ad because I’m tired of the Tea Party being denigrated and I really care about social issues. But in city government he doesn’t have much to do with those anyway. San Diego is traditionally much more conservative than LA, though sadly has been drifting leftward in recent years. If he can shape up the city, more power to him!
He’s actually running for congress I think Merina, not city government. Though I agree with you I find it annoying to hear the tea party bashed from our side. I can understand not wanting to use the label if it’s got a bad rap with your constituents, but bashing it seems like unjustified overkill. I wonder if we don’t have Charlie Crist on our hands.
Until about a year ago I had very little idea how badly the Tea Party is viewed by moderates and leftists, then a colleague (who previously I had no real fix on politically) explained to me that all Tea Partier’s were racists motivated only by getting a black man out of the presidency. I had never been so flabbergasted in my life and tried to push back but he wouldn’t budge or accept any of my evidence like Col. Adam West being very popular with the Tea Party. I realized then that the Tea Party was a damaged label despite how much I personally associate with and respect the movement.
I am sorry folks. We need a new label.
One of the “reforms” DiMaio is looking to make is “reforming” the Republican Party on so-called “social” issues. Lots of conservatives are declining to vote for him. Luckily, my neighborhood got moved into Darrell Issa’s district in the last redistricting, so I’m spared that unfortunate decision. Oh, who am I kidding, I couldn’t vote for him.
I’m afraid we need a new party.
Then the new label will be vilified and smeared just as before, just as always. You don’t win by playing defense.
He’s probably not someone I’d vote for then. Our representative is Susan Davis. Blah. Double blah.
I don’t know. Have I used it much? It’s the one word that comes to mind everytime I think of two people of the same gender united in matrimony. It seems to me it’s the three year old mentality that swallows any idiotic notion.
By the way, what’s your problem? I thought there were rules of respect around here.
Unfortunately it comes down to the best of the two choices available. I’m sure he’s better than a Democrat.
He’s not bashing the Tea Party and if he were, I would have been offended.
What truly struck a chord with me was that he was beginning to talk like a FiCon — belittling the “sideshows on issues that should be left to an individual” and trying to focus the discussion on the “out-of-work,” “financial crises,” and “limited govt polices.”
Here’s a refreshing new strategy for the GOP : Start talking about the real impediments to success in this country and leave the personal issues to individuals. I found myself relieved to be listening to this and not the same old tired ‘bear-baiting’ arguments about SSM, abortion, blah, blah, blah…
I wish him well and hope the RNC picks up on what I perceive to be a real opportunity to stop pitting people and parties against one another and retrieve our Reagan Democrats.
Practice what you preach.