Inside Politics

Indecent tactic

“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 [Dick] Cheney has a daughter who is a lesbian,” New York Times columnist William Safire writes.

“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,” Mr. Safire said.

“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.

“But Edwards’ answer in the vice-presidential debate raised that percentage. Because Cheney refused to react and the media did not see the spotlight on lesbianism as part of a political plan, the opening shot worked.

“Emboldened, members of Kerry’s debate preparation team made Mary Cheney’s private life the centerpiece of their answer to the question, especially worrisome to them, about same-sex marriage.”

Mr. Safire added: “Kerry will, I hope, assert his essential decency by apologizing with sincerity. Other Republicans hope he will let his self-inflicted wound fester. They have in mind a TV spot using an old film clip of a Boston lawyer named Welch at a congressional hearing, saying ‘Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?’”

Indecent tactic II

“John Kerry clearly felt he was riding high in the final presidential debate last week in Tempe, Ariz., when he impulsively and inexplicably noted that Vice President [Dick] Cheney’s daughter Mary is a lesbian,” syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak writes.

“That shocked politicians of both parties, focus group participants and just plain voters. What happened next could affect the outcome of the closely contested election,” Mr. Novak said.

“The negative reaction by prominent Democrats was conveyed to the Kerry campaign plane with this recommendation: Apologize for an inadvertent insult. That received some support within Kerry’s staff, but not much. The overwhelming sentiment was for no apology. Indeed, the hard language from principal Kerry surrogates described Mary Cheney as ‘fair game’ and asserted that her mother is ashamed of her.

“It is hard to believe that in the closing weeks of a campaign in which great issues are debated, the sexuality of the vice president’s daughter could be determinant. Still, overnight polling after the Cheney flap showed a sharp gain by George W. Bush. Whether this is coincidental or cause-and-effect is a subject for backstage political discussion in both parties.”

Lighten up, Jon

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