Observe American politics long enough, and you too will come to appreciate the hypocrisy of political conservatives and the myth that they own the proverbial moral high ground. In point of fact, because they really do believe the myth themselves. As such, many genuinely believe they don’t have to play by the rules to achieve victory for their holier-than-thou causes.
Case and point: Automated calls were made on the eve of today’s election by a group identifying itself as “Citizens for Honesty and Sound Marriage in Iowa.” The intent of automated message was to make voters uncomfortable with Democratic State Senate Candidate Liz Mathis’ position in favor of marriage equality. The recorded message reminds voters that in approving of gay marriage, Liz Mathis is sanctioning gay sex. Citizens are encouraged to call the candidate to inquire which specific gay sexual acts have her approval.
The sleazy effort to sully Mathis has backfired. So many people were outraged by the calls, her opponents are all playing hard-ball defense. Her Republican opponent, Cindy Golding who does not support gay marriage, was quick to denounce the calls and deny any responsibility.
That leaves two very vocal, anti-gay groups that have been aggressively campaigning against Mathis: The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and The Family Leader. Not surprisingly, both well financed organizations with operations in many states, were also quick to disassociate themselves from calls. Both groups have asked the Iowa Attorney General to investigate who is responsible.
No one in Iowa or the anti-gay establishment is familiar with the group identified in the calls, Citizens for Honesty and Sound Marriage in Iowa. Caller ID simply shows the call as coming from a “private number.”
Projecting his own style of conducting business on to others, NOM President, Brian Brown has elected to employ the standard conservative oops strategy of, “my enemies did this to embarrass me.” Brown told one local TV station: “…a phony group claiming to support marriage launched robo-calls that were so offensive they clearly were designed to turn voters away from Cindy Golding because she supports marriage between one man and one woman.”
For results of this Iowa race, check out: http://thegazette.com/
