537 The Lesbian Candidate

After I've just told you what a great profession library science is, I'm going to report that reference librarians actually get questions like this:

Is it Dick Cheney that is the lesbian presidential candidate?" Reported by Matthew, who gave up a nursing career to become a librarian and is probably wondering why.

Both Edwards and Kerry brought up Cheney's lesbian daughter during the debates, one of the cheapest, most obnoxious political tricks I've ever heard of. They were trying to frighten their wild-eyed, right wing strawmen who may have been in a closet for the past six months and could then be deterred from showing up at the polls due to their fear of homosexuality. And then Mrs. Edwards, who up to this time (Thursday) had seemed like a rational, nice person, tried to psychoanalyze Mrs. Cheney because she was upset the Democrats were using her child for political gain.

What sort of hatred is it that makes a man, no two men, use an opponent's daughter for a poster child for the speaker's own bigotry? As another blogger pointed out, Bush didn't bring up that Kerry, a Roman Catholic, had had his first marriage annulled, making his own daughters, . . . what, quasi-illegitimate due to their parents' failures?

This is really rock bottom slim and sludge, folks.

Update: James Taranto at OpinionJournal Best of the Web comments, Oct. 15:

John Kerry's gratuitous mention during Wednesday's debate of Dick Cheney's gay daughter has become the most talked about moment of the debate, and it looks as though it's backfiring on the Kedwards campaign. True, most gay activists seem untroubled by Kedwards' gay-baiting, apparently on the (no doubt accurate) theory that a Kerry administration would be far friendlier to their policy agenda than the Bush administration is. And it's anyone's guess whether the publicity for Cheney's daughter will suppress turnout among conservative Republicans or lead conservative Democrats to remain in the fold.

Update: Jean Vennochi, Boston Globe, Oct. 19:

There is no way to prove it, but I agree with conservatives who argue there was nothing accidental about Kerry's reference to "Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian" during the last debate. It followed an earlier mention by his running mate, John Edwards. Whether the intent was to discourage evangelicals who oppose homosexuality from turning out in large numbers for Bush or to remind voters in general of GOP hypocrisy on the topic, two mentions of Mary Cheney are not political accidents. They are political calculations. . .

Go ahead, liberals, start howling: What is worse, you say, refusing to admit you were wrong to invade Iraq or refusing to admit you were wrong to invade the Cheney family's privacy? On the merits, of course, Bush's refusal to admit wrongdoing in war is much more serious. But the merits don't always prevail, in court or politics. Like it or not, Kerry's willingness to use Mary Cheney in a political forum and unwillingness to apologize for doing so gives less-than-committed Kerry voters time -- two weeks -- for second thoughts.