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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2014 / Long Read: “Clay Aiken Doesn’t Sing Any More”

Long Read: “Clay Aiken Doesn’t Sing Any More”

by Anne Laurie|  November 2, 20147:38 pm| 84 Comments

This post is in: Election 2014, Excellent Links, Local Races 2018 and earlier, Proud to Be A Democrat, Daydream Believers

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Allison Glock, in Esquire:

… For him, it is a question of solemnity. “I recognize there is a little bit of preposterousness to me running for office,” Aiken says as we drive away from the fundraiser and past the lantern-lit Kinkadeian houses of Southern Pines, one of the more conservative hamlets in an already absurdly gerrymandered district. “People like me. But I need them to take me seriously.” (A struggle his campaign team dubbed WTF mountain.) “It’s still a laugh line: ‘Clay Aiken running for Congress? Ha ha ha!’ But when I’m done here, the people of North Carolina will know I’m serious. That this is real.”

Aiken has been the butt of the joke since grade school, where other kids tormented him “like it was their job.” He was poor, raised by a single mom, wore glasses and cheap, clunky tennis shoes, had freckles, walked with his toes pointed east and west, was redheaded and clumsy and effeminate. He was a nesting doll of vulnerabilities, a bully’s fever dream, but especially in the South, where the signifiers of masculinity do not stretch to include musical theater or kindness to Down-syndrome kids…

Part of his unease came from his being in the closet, as much to himself as anyone else. But the more salient truth is that Clayton Holmes Aiken was never constructed for modern celebrity. He was a natural introvert with a soft spot for kids who struggled, and if you’d asked him in middle school what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would have said a teacher or possibly Senator Terry Sanford.

“There was no man I admired more than Terry Sanford,” Aiken recalls, his enunciation crisp and deliberate, as if to mirror his respect for the North Carolina politician who built the community-college system and founded the first U. S. state-run arts school. As governor, Sanford was also the first southern politician to fight conspicuously against segregation in the sixties. In eighth grade, Aiken interviewed him for a school paper. “I didn’t know what my deal was yet, but I knew I was different. And here was this man who was looking out for people who were different.”

That same year, Aiken invited Raleigh Congressman David Price to visit his class. After Price spoke, Aiken went home and designed CLAYTON FOR CONGRESS! posters on his mother’s computer.

“This isn’t a new dream for me,” he says coolly, lifting his brows for emphasis.

It was, however, a dream deferred until a former nurse and Saturday Night Live caricature, Republican Renee Ellmers, was elected in the district where he lives, sailing into Congress on a raft of outside money, shrieking the one-note Tea Party platform of Death to Obamacare, inspired it seems not by a genuine impulse to protect the greater good but by the profit margins of her husband’s surgical practice. In the four years since, the Michigan native has revealed herself to be a particularly flawed mouthpiece, calling President Obama Louis XIV; getting into a snit on Anderson Cooper, in which she accused him of being anti-Christian; and explaining at the start of her new election cycle that if men want to court the female vote, they need to “bring [the conversation] down to a woman’s level.”

“My decision to run was a slow burn,” Aiken explains, citing the fight over raising teachers’ pay and the newly restrictive voter-ID laws as red flags. “In many ways, I don’t recognize my hometown anymore. But when Renee said she ‘needed’ her paycheck during the government shutdown? Boy, that fired me up!” (While more savvy members of Congress donated their earnings when almost a million federal employees were involuntarily furloughed in 2013, Ellmers took a different route.)…

Aiken admits if Ellmers weren’t in office, he probably wouldn’t be running. He says there are Republicans he admires, like John McCain and most members of his own family. His younger brother is a former Marine; his cousin owns a local shooting range. Aiken knows his “ain’t a swing district by any stretch,” and his odds, on the outside, appear needle thin.

But he also knows his people. His family has lived in North Carolina for eight generations, as has Aiken for most of his life. And he sees what the political professionals don’t, which is that Ellmers is vulnerable. The Second is a disparate district, encompassing the young tech workers of Cary, the military communities of Fayetteville and Fort Bragg, huge swaths of sleepy country farms, and the odd retirement village filled with rich Republicans from the North. “Look around,” he says, nodding toward the view outside. “These are all small towns. Everybody talks to each other,” he says flatly. “And no matter where you go, you’ll never meet anyone who is excited about Renee Ellmers.” He takes a beat, considers. “Hell, I’m not 100 percent sure she is.”…

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84Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    November 2, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    His McCain admiration aside, good for him for the effort he’s making.

  2. 2.

    PsiFighter37

    November 2, 2014 at 7:47 pm

    Clay Aiken, when asked directly, did not say he supported same-sex marriage.

    He can go fuck himself, for all I’m concerned. There are enough self-hating gays in the GOP; we don’t need them in our party.

  3. 3.

    geg6

    November 2, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    The dude is running in a GOP district in bum fuck Carolina. He’s doing what he has to do. They know he’s gay and has a kid. No need to rub their faces in it.

  4. 4.

    Brian R.

    November 2, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Life must be wonderful on Planet Naive.

  5. 5.

    Mike E

    November 2, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    @PsiFighter37: I’d crawl over broken glass for Clay Aiken if it meant ousting that teaharpy fraud Ellmers.

  6. 6.

    catclub

    November 2, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Yeah, Bill Maher in his rant that democrats should support other democrats, mentioned that Clay Aiken probably has not gotten Clay Aiken’s vote.

  7. 7.

    Trentrunner

    November 2, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    Aiken not saying he’s for gay marriage.

    Grimes not saying she voted for Obama.

    EVERYONE in both states/districts knows where these two stand.

    So they only look craven and cowardly when they don’t stand their ground and state their position.

    How is this not obvious?

  8. 8.

    PsiFighter37

    November 2, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    @geg6: That’s the point – he has zero to gain from renouncing gay marriage, and he had everything to lose by pissing off national donors.

  9. 9.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    November 2, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    @geg6: Yup. He knows his district.

  10. 10.

    srv

    November 2, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    Purity is a sign of strength in some parties.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    November 2, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    Conservative districts like their Democrats somewhat contrite about their more icky views. And since we know where he stands, we should give him some deference on his strategy to win his district. It’s not like he said he opposes marriage equality.

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    November 2, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    We should demand he confess who he voted for in 2008 and 2012.
    Then we should see if he weighs less than a duck.

  13. 13.

    Mike in NC

    November 2, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    @Mike E: Yeah, Ellmers is horrible. She’s a nurse and married to an MD, as I recall. They surely know the ACA benefits the people in her district, but ideology always has to come first.

  14. 14.

    Mike J

    November 2, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    If Aiken were running against Elizabeth Warren there’s no way I’d vote for him.

  15. 15.

    geg6

    November 2, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    He has nothing to gain by pushing his gayness to the nth degree in his district. He grew up there and I’ll take his knowledge of the district over your obvious and unstandable frustration that socially liberal policies aren’t universally beloved, especially in the small towns of the South.

  16. 16.

    geg6

    November 2, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    @Mike J:

    Exactly.

  17. 17.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    November 2, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Lots of gay folks here in Minnesota who cared less about gay marriage than I did, and did less to support the bill than I did. I wouldn’t call that a reason to say they can fuck themselves, or to characterize them as self-hating.

    and he had everything to lose by pissing off national donors.

    Had you donated to him prior to his refusal to support gay marriage?

  18. 18.

    Aaron S. Veenstra

    November 2, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    And he sees what the political professionals don’t, which is that Ellmers is vulnerable.

    I assume a correction will be forthcoming on Wednesday after Ellmers wins by double digits.

  19. 19.

    piratedan

    November 2, 2014 at 9:08 pm

    would I like stronger Democrats who run on their convictions rather than playing the arcane calculus of trying not lose votes in order to win votes, yes… yes I would. I also understand that in some places, you do what you have to do… (I live In Ron Barber’s district in Arizona and these races are eerily similar). Does Barber make a video stating that he took a bullet for Democracy while serving as Gabby Giffords’s chief of staff, no.. no he doesn’t. Does Martha McSally make sure to mention that she was one of the first American female fighter pilots, yes, about as often as it is mentioned that John McCain was once a POW. Not sure how flying a plane somehow makes you fit to hold elected office, but then again, with all of the money being tossed around in this district, I’m surprised that there haven’t been ads promoting Ron’s history with small furry creatures and if there’s anything “funny” about that. Because there are already ads claiming that he’s not independent enough or that he votes with Nancy Pelosi most of the time (yes, there are ads to that effect in constant rotation here) and that his opponent will obviously be different because she’s a Republican and they are always free to vote however they wish…..as long as its with the GOP. So let Mr. Aiken run his race and let’s hope that he wins it, because we already know what a crappy choice the alternative is.

  20. 20.

    Schlemazel

    November 2, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    EDIT: fuck it. Never mind. Have at it.

  21. 21.

    geg6

    November 2, 2014 at 9:24 pm

    Christ, if he even makes it a semi-competitive race, that’s a win for him as far as I’m concerned. I feel the same way about Erin McClellan who is running against my own congresscritter, Teapublican Keith Rothfus. My district is full of old, lower middle class (with a few 10%ers thrown in) ignorant white people who are still bitter over the death of the steel industry back in the late 70s/early 80s, which they blame on Jimmy Carter, the Japanese and lazy union black people. She’s running as a centrist. I’m not a centrist, but I’m canvassing and phone banking for her because she’s the best we can hope for here.

  22. 22.

    J R in WV

    November 2, 2014 at 9:31 pm

    Not being a TV watcher or Country Music fan, I was only vaguely aware of Clay Aiken, and had to look him up.

    He seems like a great candidate, and a good person. Working hard to better himself, so he can do good for others. Best of luck to him. I’ve donated all I can, and it’s too late now anyway. Sounds like he doesn’t need money and already has plenty of personal recognition too.

    Now if people just don’t believe the Republican lies!!

  23. 23.

    Belafon

    November 2, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    @Trentrunner: How do ordinary Americans not know that the GOP has not passed a single budget out of the House since they took control in 2011? How do ordinary Americans not know that the GOP has been obstructing Obama’s nominations for the Surgeon General, judges, and other offices? How do ordinary Americans not know that the only reason the Republicans control the House is because of gerrymandering?

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    November 2, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    @Schlemazel:
    What people really want is a purity pony. That’s like a unicorn without the spikey bit in the forehead. And seen in politics just about as often.
    Me, I voted for DiFi in 2012 because as bad as she is(and make no mistake, she is bad) she is light yrs ahead of her last opponent. But then I already know that purity ponies are unrideable.

  25. 25.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    November 2, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    @Schlemazel: Meh. No attacks from me. :-)

    I’ve given Aiken money something like 3 times. He seems like a good guy and deserves support and recognition for the nearly impossible task he has undertaken.

    Yeah, the desire to make the perfect the enemy of the good is baffling sometimes.

    The time to go thermonuclear on Democratic candidates is during the primaries. Aiken won the primary. It’s hard to find details on the other candidates (one died), but it’s hard to imagine that the losing candidates were somehow more-liberal-while-simultaneously-being-more-electable if they couldn’t win the primary…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  26. 26.

    geg6

    November 2, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    @Belafon:

    Exactly. How do they not know that both sides DO NOT do it? How do they not know that those sweet new health care bennies are Obamacare? How do they not know that opinions are not facts? Who, exactly, is given great freedom under the Constitution to be a non-governmental check and balance on the three branches of our government, both on a federal and state level? It’s on the tip of my tongue…

  27. 27.

    Trentrunner

    November 2, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    Watch me, dolts:

    “Yes, I voted for Obama, and Old Man O’Connell wants to you to focus on that instead of how he thinks women should get paid less for the doing the same job, how women shouldn’t make their own choices about their lives, how…”

    “Of course I support marriage equality, but that’s not what concerns most of the people in my district and in North Carolina. We’re concerned about equal pay for equal work, and about creating jobs that pay a living wage, about securing health care….”

    Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

  28. 28.

    Corner Stone

    November 2, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    Yes, I voted for Obama

    Yeah, and something like 110% of the 86% white voter pop in KY just blitzed out when they saw the word “Obama”.
    Now. Is that so hard to grasp?
    Dumbass.

  29. 29.

    Corner Stone

    November 2, 2014 at 9:50 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    Of course I support marriage equality

    gay. Gay. GAY. GAYYY!!

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 9:53 pm

    @Corner Stone: As we have said before, ALG was avoiding filming a campaign ad for the Turtle. In KY, it was probably a good idea. In Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Vermont, and a bunch of other states, it would probably be stupid. Kentucky is not one of those states.

  31. 31.

    geg6

    November 2, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    All I can say is that if you think it’s that simple, you have no clue what it is like living in places like Aiken and I do. No one would get past the first sentence. That’s what the local talk radio, VFW/Legion/VVA members, Talibangicals and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Richard Mellon Scaife, may he have suffered mightily at the end and I can’t tell you the joy I got when I heard how much his estate got hit for huge estate taxes…how stupid was he?) would focus on. And I’m in Western PA. I can’t imagine that it’s more progressive in the hills and farmlands of North Carolina than it is here.

  32. 32.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    November 2, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    @Trentrunner: Riddle me this – If it’s so easy, why do you think ALG and the rest aren’t doing that? Is it because they’re stupid? Is it because she wants to lose?

    Maybe your simple analysis isn’t correct. Could that be it?

    A DU comment in 2010 said that there were ~ 600,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Kentucky. Yet McCain won KY by about 300,000 votes in 2008 and Rmoney won it by about 400,000 votes in 2012. Maybe running as a strong Democrat isn’t a good idea in KY right now?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Of course, how he reconciles the contradiction of being an openly gay Republican in 2014 is way beyond my comprehension.

    Laudanum?

  34. 34.

    Schlemazel

    November 2, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    @efgoldman:
    Nah, it would only have proved Omnes right about me.

    I for one welcome our new Koch whore overlords.

  35. 35.

    mai naem

    November 2, 2014 at 10:29 pm

    Seriously, does anything the majority of people in the vast majority of districts vote based on somebody being pro-gay marriage? A majority of people may not like homophobia but I doubt they vote on it and keep in mind the pols who don’t hide their homophobia would be in red states. I am guessing even Ted Cruz and Rand Paul haven’t been caught on tape making overtly homophobic statements.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    November 2, 2014 at 10:29 pm

    That’s a nice piece, AL. Nice story.

    I’m only watching governor’s races Tuesday. I’ll be mildly pleased with FL and PA (I consider those most likely, on the scale) and I’ll be happy if you add Michigan and very happy if you also add Wisconsin, so please all of you who live in those states be sure and get that done :)

    Thank you in advance.

    I would have my own governor’s race to watch but the Democrat was too stupid or lazy to renew (or get?) his driver’s license so it’s a huge fucking disaster here for the whole ticket. God almighty. How are you a former FBI agent who doesn’t have a driver’s license? How does that happen? It’s mystifying, but in a boring, pathetic way.

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    @Schlemazel: The thing is, despite your lack of hope, you soldier on. Gotta give you credit for that.

  38. 38.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 10:33 pm

    @Kay: I have voted already and hectored everyone I know. The one person I work with who I suspect is a Republican is out of town this next week. I hope she forgot to vote.

  39. 39.

    PsiFighter37

    November 2, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    @Brian R.: @geg6: If any of you guys bothered to read what I’ve posted in the liberal blogosphere the past 10 years, you’d know I’m not a purity troll. But denying gay marriage when you, yourself, are gay, is just stupid. ‘No, I don’t think I deserve equal rights’

    That’s not about being a purist. That’s being crassly opportunistic.

  40. 40.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 2, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    Good on Clay for running. He should have won American Idol way back when. I hope he gives his opponent a run for her money. Who knows? He may come close.

  41. 41.

    Keith G

    November 2, 2014 at 10:44 pm

    @geg6:

    The dude is running in a GOP district in bum fuck Carolina. He’s doing what he has to do. They know he’s gay and has a kid. No need to rub their faces in it.

    What if this candidate was an ethnic minority candidate who was encouraged by polling data to scrub away any ethnic identifiers and act a lot more “mainstream all-American” IOW…articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking. Why rub being Black, Hispanic, Asian, Jewish, etc in the faces of their dear community?

  42. 42.

    Kay

    November 2, 2014 at 10:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I almost envy you. Right down the the wire, where you’re hoping one particular Republican doesn’t vote :) Michigan looks really close so that might be exciting too.

    It’s just doldrums here. If they win one state race they’ll be doing well. I think I can confidently predict that Chris Redfern will be gone by January. I don’t know how he recovers from a fuck up this big.

    I have a very busy November ahead at work so I won;t have time to dwell on Kasich”s repulsive “compassionate conservative” victory lap(s), thank God. We all realize now he’ll run for President, right? He’s best buddies with Joe Scarborough and Rupert Murdoch. They’re all going to be pushing him. Just kill me now.

  43. 43.

    Keith G

    November 2, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    @PsiFighter37: It’s not opportunist, it’s chicken shit. It’s saying that civil rights can be dished out as half a loaf and the recipient has to like it. It’s the lunch counter protestors apologizing for rubbing their demands for equality in the face of the crackers trying to enjoy their meal at Woolworth.

  44. 44.

    Mike E

    November 2, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    @Keith G: Heh. Aiken ain’t no Obama. And, Bill Clinton was our 1st black president. Too.

  45. 45.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    @Keith G: More and better Democrats is not as contradictory as it may seem. Take what you can where you must, and push for better where you can. Is Aiken better than his opponent?

  46. 46.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 10:54 pm

    @Kay: I’ve met Chris and I like him as a person. I’ll actually feel bad if he falls. It may be necessary, but I’ll still feel bad about it.

  47. 47.

    El Caganer

    November 2, 2014 at 10:55 pm

    I dunno; it seems pretty simple to me. If you’re that bothered by the way the dude runs his campaign, don’t vote for him. That should be especially easy for people who don’t live in his district. No problem, amirite?

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    November 2, 2014 at 10:55 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Of course, how he reconciles the contradiction of being an openly gay Republican in 2014 is way beyond my comprehension.

    IGMFY. It’s the only way any minority Republican could possibly justify their position.

  49. 49.

    Keith G

    November 2, 2014 at 11:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Ya know OO, sometimes votes matter and sometime the fight for what is right matters more. If all we do is worry about the next small increment, we lose sight of the important principles that inform and fuel the important battles.

  50. 50.

    sharl

    November 2, 2014 at 11:00 pm

    @Kay: I take it the censored video of the Cleveland Plains Dealer editorial board interview of the gubernatorial candidates is a non-issue for average Ohio voters? (It would get shrugs from my family back in Dayton, I’m sure.).

    The eff-up by the Democratic candidate is far more damaging, but it looks like the fix is in for Kasich from NE Ohio media.

  51. 51.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    November 2, 2014 at 11:02 pm

    @Keith G: If Aiken were a coward, why would he be listing groups like the HRC on his web page of groups and individuals who are supporting him?

    Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — HRC is the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. The organization represents a force of more than 1.5 million members and supporters nationwide.

    […]

    Victory Fund — Victory Fund works to elect LGBT leaders to public office by engaging donors to support campaigns of out candidates.

    He didn’t have to list them on his web page. A coward wouldn’t do that.

    Maybe he’s running his campaign based on what he knows about his district, and actually knows what he’s doing?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 11:04 pm

    @Keith G: I do know that. I also think the gay marriage battle has been won. Kicking someone over being hesitant about it, when he is better than the alternative. At the same time, I will note that I am a straight, white guy and that may well affect my views.

  53. 53.

    Kay

    November 2, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I don’t, like him, I mean, He always struck me as pure ambition, which isn’t really a bad trait in a political operative, I don’t think, but he’s not nice in any ordinary sense of the word.

    They have to get rid of him. They won’t have any choice, It’s just too big an error. There were a large number of people who wanted him gone after losses in 2010, but he was rescued by Obama/Sherrod win in 2012. I think he’s done.

  54. 54.

    divF

    November 2, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    @Keith G: This sort of thing was a controversy in the African-American community during the Civil Rights era as well. Woolworth’s lunch counter protestors very deliberately conformed to the highest white majority standards, by dressing up and putting on their best manners. As legal equality was secured, such “acting white” became a controversy. More AA’s (particularly younger ones) were of the view, “say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud”.

  55. 55.

    Suzanne

    November 2, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Concur. I understand the frustration, but there is nothing substantive to gain and a great deal to lose from insisting on purity. Winning more often sometimes means holding our noses. Even shitty Dems are better than the best Republicans at this point. ‘Twas not always so, but it is now. It sucks to accept or vote for or actively campaign people for someone with whom you have a major difference of opinion or someone who has a major failure of character, but in the grand scheme of things, I really think it’s better. It just sucks to have to make those choices.

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    @Kay: That’s fair. We can very reasonably disagree about the likeability of an individual. I also have not worked with him since 1996.

  57. 57.

    Keith G

    November 2, 2014 at 11:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I cannot think of any other American minority where the conventional wisdom as of today is…”Soft pedal who you are. Don’t scare the natives.”

  58. 58.

    Suzanne

    November 2, 2014 at 11:12 pm

    @Keith G: But SOME progress, even a very small amount of progress, is better than NO progress or a reversal.

    I will admit that I come to this viewpoint as a woman in a pretty damn red state. I cannot stand around waiting for the Best Candidate EVAR.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    November 2, 2014 at 11:14 pm

    @sharl:

    The eff-up by the Democratic candidate is far more damaging, but it looks like the fix is in for Kasich from NE Ohio media.

    They love him. My own take on it is they were wowed by the Wall Street businessman and the whole “21st century economy” aspect. They see him as taking us into the Big Time, modernity, leaving behind the union thugs and the rust belt industries. I just think he’s a crook, plain and simple, 21st century bullshit aside.

    I had a funny conversation with a older magistrate who is a conservative but we get along very well. He obsesses on the fact that Kasich doesn’t wear a tie. He seems to think that’s some “finance” thing, a Wall Street thing, like it makes Kasich “flashy” and untrustworthy. It makes me laugh, because it’s such an odd thing to seize on. He rolls his eyes when I bring up Kasich. NOT buying it.

  60. 60.

    Keith G

    November 2, 2014 at 11:16 pm

    @divF:

    Woolworth’s lunch counter protestors very deliberately conformed to the highest white majority standards, by dressing up and putting on their best manners…

    But they still sat at those counters and they still broke the law. They were willing to suffer near-term discomfort (and real danger) knowing that it was necessary for future victories.

  61. 61.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 11:16 pm

    @Keith G: Is the issue more important than the seat? That is the question. I cannot criticize anyone for choosing either side.

  62. 62.

    Keith G

    November 2, 2014 at 11:30 pm

    @Suzanne: Part of it is that I just do not imagine that little dance that he (or Grimes) has performed wins them any more support even as it erodes their dignity – and I would assume at least some self-respect. It makes them seem small and voters do not get inspired by small politicians. There are already too damn many of them.

    Politicians should stand for things – hopefully important things and fight for big beliefs. What we have learned from Elizabeth Warren is that there is a hunger for fighters out there on the hustings. I think in a troubling political climate, that strongly dedicated politicians can, in effect, create their own weather.

  63. 63.

    PsiFighter37

    November 2, 2014 at 11:39 pm

    @Kay: You don’t wear a tie if you work on the trading floor.

    If you’re an investment banker, you are damn straight you were a tie every day to work.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 2, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    @Keith G: There is always a balance between winning an election and standing for principles. The question is always where is that line drawn, both for candidates and voters.

  65. 65.

    RaflW

    November 2, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    @Ruckus:

    I already know that purity ponies are unrideable

    Thank you. I needed some sanity in this thread.

  66. 66.

    piratedan

    November 2, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    @Keith G: to a degree Keith, I concur, yet speaking from living in a battleground district where the outside money is frankly obscene, you have to get majorities, even if the bar is set by the least savory Dem, it still is better than what used to be identified as a sane Republican. The thing is, there are no sane Republicans anymore. They vote in lockstep or else their own ideological purity is called into question. Would I rather have a chickenshit Dem who I can only count on 50% of the time or do I vote for a Republican who will vote with his party no matter what fucking lunacy is proposed?

    Yes I would like the message and the principals to be more on target and more in line with my own political leanings but I am pragmatic enough to know that some people are reachable as long as you don’t bring the Black Man into it, or Nancy Pelosi… does it matter that much considering the Republicans will simply make shit up when there is no ready and available ammunition, I can’t say… but who can?

  67. 67.

    Roger Moore

    November 2, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    @Keith G:

    I cannot think of any other American minority where the conventional wisdom as of today is…”Soft pedal who you are. Don’t scare the natives.”

    Three points:

    1) It’s easier for gays to soft pedal their identity than other minorities.
    2) Gays are still in a much more precarious position than other minorities. There’s still a very active and vocal movement to deny them full civil rights, and we’re still one Supreme Court appointment away from reversing Lawrence v. Texas.
    3) I think you miss a lot of ways that other minorities try to avoid riling up white voters. Latino and Asian American candidates try to show how assimilated they are. Black candidates try not to act too black. My state Assemblyman and Senator and my US Representative are all minorities, and their campaign materials definitely fall into the “don’t scare the whites” category.

  68. 68.

    RaflW

    November 2, 2014 at 11:53 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    That’s being crassly opportunistic.

    And that differs from electoral politics how?

    Look, people in the American South can still get fired from their jobs just for being gay, and have no fucking legal recourse.

    But you know what Clay Aikin needs to say and do in his campaign to prove to you he’s not self-hating?

    Got it. Thanks ever so.

  69. 69.

    divF

    November 2, 2014 at 11:55 pm

    @Keith G:

    But they still sat at those counters and they still broke the law. They were willing to suffer near-term discomfort (and real danger) knowing that it was necessary for future victories.

    That is not in dispute. However, they were also using shrewd PR tactics. To get the non-racist component of white America on their side, the protesters used how they presented themselves as they protested to get whites to identify with them. Clay Aiken is using similar tactics. He is no more hiding his sexual orientation than the protestors at Woolworths’ could hide the color of their skin. But he is trying to get the socially conservative community in which he is running for office in to identify with him as a member of that community, and trust him with their votes. Not as dangerous as the 60’s Civil Rights movement, but a heavy lift nonetheless.

  70. 70.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    November 2, 2014 at 11:59 pm

    @Keith G:

    I cannot think of any other American minority where the conventional wisdom as of today is…”Soft pedal who you are. Don’t scare the natives.”

    Then you aren’t thinking very hard. Barack Obama was all about soft pedaling the fact that he’s black.

  71. 71.

    Keith G

    November 3, 2014 at 12:17 am

    @divF: I do not think that Aiken is an evil dude, but I do feel that he has cut loose some of the folks who need his voice the most. Maybe it was an inartful mistake. Maybe it was intentional.

    “It’s not why I’m in this race,” Aiken, 35, noted [about gay marrage]. “It’s not an issue that’s really on the radar for most people in the second district of North Carolina. It’s not something that effects people’s daily lives.”

    It’s not something that effects people’s daily lives

    Well, yes Clay it indeed does. The NC 2nd has a bit more than 619,000 souls. There are gay citizens there. There are gay citizens who are in committed relationships there. There are gay citizens who are in committed relationships there who have children. There are gay citizens who are in committed relationships there who are facing serious medical issues. And on, and on, and on.

    Even in the whitest Congressional district in American, would my fellow Democrats be happy with a Democratic candidate who said about ethnic/race based civil rights, ” It’s not something that effects people’s daily lives here in my district.”?

  72. 72.

    RaflW

    November 3, 2014 at 12:29 am

    @Keith G: Are you kidding? Sure seems to me that Black politicians must still conform largely to all the dominant white cultural signifiers.
    A black man in 2014 who tried to run for office in nearly any part of America who stumped with the cadence and energy of, say, Jesse Jackson Sr. would be about as successful as he was in his presidential ambitions, and that was decades ago.

  73. 73.

    Keith G

    November 3, 2014 at 12:36 am

    @RaflW: I am not kidding.

    Marriage equality is matter of fundamental rights. Would your hypothetical Black politician consider the support for equal access to public accommodation a signifier that should be shelved in order to get White votes?

  74. 74.

    divF

    November 3, 2014 at 12:40 am

    @Keith G:
    Consider the first half of his quote.

    It’s not an issue that’s really on the radar for most people in the second district of North Carolina.

    In light of the current legal situation in NC (from Wikipedia).

    Same-sex marriage in North Carolina has been legal since October 10, 2014, when a U.S. District Court judge ruled in General Synod of the United Church of Christ v. Cooper that the state’s denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional. The state’s governor and attorney general had acknowledged that a recent ruling in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to hear an appeal in that case established the unconstitutionality of North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage.

    This is not the time to put it on the front burner, since the other side just lost. Rubbing the losers’ noses in it will lose him votes, to no good end.

  75. 75.

    Provider_UNE_AndPlayersToBeHatedLater™

    November 3, 2014 at 12:40 am

    @Keith G: I think I get it now. It has become clear to me.

    I now must renounce every black politition who did not make reparations the focus of their campaigns.

    It is gonna take a minute but I assure you that I will return with appropriate scorn and outrage.

    Thank you sir!
    …

  76. 76.

    Keith G

    November 3, 2014 at 12:54 am

    @Provider_UNE_AndPlayersToBeHatedLater™: Oh come now. Don’t fabricate a reductio ad absurdum. Well, actually…type whatever you want.

    @divF: As I typed earlier, maybe his statement was just inartfully constructed.

  77. 77.

    Anne Laurie

    November 3, 2014 at 12:57 am

    @Keith G:

    I cannot think of any other American minority where the conventional wisdom as of today is…”Soft pedal who you are. Don’t scare the natives.”

    Well, technically, women aren’t a minority — just a special interest group. But what do you think all the “lean in” BS from above, and the #gamergate BS from below, are about? “Look, we’re letting you have a careful percentage of power at a better-than-ever approximation of a real salary. Why can’t you dumb broads be happy with such progress?!?”

  78. 78.

    Provider_UNE_AndPlayersToBeHatedLater™

    November 3, 2014 at 12:59 am

    @Keith G: Appreciate your generosity, I do.
    …

  79. 79.

    Keith G

    November 3, 2014 at 1:27 am

    @Anne Laurie: Ironically, up thread as I was writing about how a politician might consider underselling her concerns, I thought briefly about Bella Abzug. Could you imagine a pollster meeting with Bella and trying to convince her to tone it down a bit so as to not ruffle any feathers?

    And yes I know, different times and different geography.

    I miss Bella.

  80. 80.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 1:43 am

    @Keith G:
    It is obvious that this is a major issue to you. And you are correct that it should be a major issue to everyone. Problem is that to a number of people it is a major issue, but not from the side you are on. He needs the vote of some of those people who disagree with you as well as people that agree with you. And as he actually stated a majority of the people probably are no longer concerned, we won the battle in his state. And have the momentum in most of the rest of them. We are winning, abet not at the pace you desire but don’t throw out people who really are on your side for not being on your side hard enough.
    This is a problem for dems, there are always a number of issues that affect us all that we’d like to fix, but we don’t all see them in the same order of importance. Conservatives have coalesced not so much about any individual issue but about being in power so they can get all of their issues over on all of us once they defeat us. If we fragment ourselves and don’t fight that power grab we will lose on all the important issues.

  81. 81.

    Schlemazel

    November 3, 2014 at 5:00 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    I’d a done great on the Titanic – positive words, bright smiley face & nothing but optimism in public, always trying to jin up another life boat or some way to stop the leak- all the way to the bottom.

  82. 82.

    Manyakitty

    November 3, 2014 at 9:18 am

    @Kay: Exactly. Just freaking exactly.

  83. 83.

    Kerry Reid

    November 3, 2014 at 9:34 am

    @geg6: Indeed – I think anyone who thinks it’s that easy should simply move to a ruby-red district and start organizing and running as an unapologetic liberal, rather than playing speechwriter-without-portfolio on the internet.

  84. 84.

    redoubt

    November 3, 2014 at 9:48 am

    @RaflW: It’s like certain people didn’t read about 2/3 of the way down, the part with the preacher getting in his face at the “prayer for peace” about “homo-sess-uality.”

    I can guaran-dam-tee that preacher preached a gay-bashing sermon this past Sunday, and probably several Sundays before that. And Aiken has to try to get that congregation’s votes. That’s what he’s facing.

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