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July 28, 2008
Out Of The Closet?
It is no secret that incumbent Republican Harris County elected officials up for reelection in November are running scared. Lousy poll numbers, a sea of scandals involving local officials, an energized Democratic base and a damaged GOP party brand have given these folks good reason to be nervous.
Though conventional wisdom is that most downballot countywide Democratic and Republican candidates will sink or swim with their party's top of the ticket performance, it hasn't stopped many of them on both sides of the aisle from campaigning hard.
Since the mid-1990s, when Republicans seized total control of county government, a local GOP elected official's job security has been predicated on keeping the party's right wing social conservative base happy. By towing the hard line, one might avoid a potentially fatal primary challenge from the sanctimonious right, which has dominated the Republican Primary for years. My how quickly things change.
We have been particularly interested to learn in recent days that at least a few Harris County incumbent Republican judges have been actively seeking the endorsement of the Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Political Caucus -- HGLBT for short.
This development is eye-opening to say the least. Perhaps more than any other group, the GLBT community has been the recipient of venom from religious conservatives. And the idea that any incumbent Republican official here would actively seek the Caucus' endorsement, much less accept it if offered, would have seemed laughable just a few months ago. Apparently, fear of losing can be a powerful motivator.
Don't get us wrong. We are glad to see some of these judges now acknowledge what many of us have known for a long time, that the GLBT community matters, just like everybody else, and that its votes count too, much as that may bother certain people.
So, it's good that some of these Republican judges have decided to screen with the HGLBT Caucus and seek its endorsement. But what will the neighbors say?
Posted by houtopia at July 28, 2008 09:39 PM
Comments
Well, don't just sit there, tell us who.
This, coupled with Stephen Hotze railing against conservative judges and in favor of consumers must be signs of the apocalypse!
Posted by: A Nonimus at July 30, 2008 04:23 PM