Emmer dodges questions about social issues — even with religious right
Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 11:52 am
- 27 Comments
As a state legislator, Tom Emmer has been vocal about divisive social issues — he led the charge to amend the constitution to bar gay marriage, tried to prevent same-sex couples from using surrogate mothers, and called an AIDS outreach program to gay men “disgusting discourse” — but now that he’s running for governor, he’s fallen virtually silent on such topics, even when asked about them on religious-right radio. While Emmer’s tack may be related to his campaign’s focus on the economy over other considerations, one thing seems apparent: He’s also steering clear of divisive topics in a bid to reach moderate voters.
But Emmer’s refusal to discuss social issues hasn’t dimmed conservatives’ enthusiasm for his candidacy. For example, despite Emmer dodging the gay-marriage question on his radio program, Pastor Brad Brandon endorsed him anyway. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Family Council and National Organization for Marriage continue to spend big money on ads supporting his candidacy while touting the very positions that he won’t acknowledge on the campaign trail.
Brandon asked Emmer where he stood on abortion and gay marriage during a radio interview last week.
“My campaign has been entirely focused on the economy and jobs, but there’s no question, I have a record on my position on these issues in my six years in the legislature. People know exactly what that is,” Emmer said.
On gay marriage, Emmer said, “That issue, when it comes to marriage, the governor will not… That’ll be something the legislature would pass and would go right to the ballot. So, you know, we will have to see what happens in the next legislature.”
He continued, “But you know Brad, I have said from day one, the next governor has to be invested in creating new jobs and opportunities in the state of Minnesota. Those issues, they’ll be taken care of by someone outside the governor’s office. You know my position.”
Emmer’s frequent dodging of such questions hasn’t gone unnoticed. Minnesota Daily columnist Michael Rietmulder took a swipe at the Delano Republican on Monday, following a weekend debate at the University of Minnesota where the moderator tried in vain to get Emmer to answer questions about abortion and gay marriage.
“Each time moderator Kathryn Pearson, a political science professor at the University, pressed Emmer to articulate his position on social issues, Emmer started bobbing and weaving like Sugar Ray Leonard,” he wrote. “Rather than openly answer honest questions, he reverted back to familiar talking points about jobs.”
It wasn’t only the University of Minnesota debate where Emmer sidestepped questions on social issues. TheUpTake put together a compilation video of Emmer’s non-answers to questions posed at debates. Like his appearance on Brandon’s show, he switched the subject each time he was asked to stake a position.
[Story continues after video]
In all of these instances, DLF gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton and the Independence Party’s Tom Horner gave at least partial answers in response to questions about abortion or gay marriage.
Hamline University political scientist David Schultz says that these responses are part of each campaign’s strategy.
“The economy is only part of the issue for why the three candidates have taken the postures they have,” he said. “This silence by Emmer and comments by Dayton and Horner are all about how the different candidates are playing to their political bases and swing voters.”
Emmer’s time in the Minnesota Legislature involved opposing any advances for same-sex couples and favoring restrictions on abortion, which Schultz said has given him a lot of credibility with his base.
“Emmer cannot alienate them but he also needs to attract moderates,” he said. “Emmer’s base is smaller than Dayton’s, which is pro-choice and pro-gay rights. The same is true with Horner. If Emmer cannot attract some moderates on top of his base, he probably cannot win.”
The lion’s share of those moderates favor gay rights and are pro-choice. “If he downplays his social issues he hopes to attract both the economic conservatives and the moderates he is fighting to capture from Horner and Dayton. Horner and Dayton have more socially liberal bases and will discuss the issues to engage them. They know most of the moderates are pro-choice and pro-gay rights and thus are willing to discuss the topics.”
Dayton and Horner also have a challenge in that strategy. “But again, they do not want to emphasize [those issues] so they do not excite Emmer’s base too much,” he said. “Remember how in 2004 anti-gay ballot propositions drove social conservatives to vote? Dayton and Horner want to prevent this from occurring to the benefit of Emmer.”
So far Emmer is holding the support of his base and has successfully avoided having to address his positions on same-sex marriage and abortion in public forums — and he hasn’t really had to. Anti-gay rights and anti-abortion groups are doing the work for him.
The Minnesota Family Council and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) have picked up the slack on the gay marriage issue with ads that tell voters where he stands on the issue without Emmer himself having to say anything. So far the groups have bankrolled two television ads, a series of radio ads and even a poll in support of Emmer on the issue of gay marriage.
And the Catholic Church in Minnesota has given Emmer — who is Catholic — an assist in the form of 400,000 DVDs it mailed to state Catholics. Those DVDs are produced by the Knights of Columbus, which, coincidentally, is a huge funder of NOM.
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life has spent considerable time attacking Horner on the issue of abortion. Horner has staked out a moderate position on the issue, saying he wants to reduce abortion through education, but MCCL calls him a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
On its PAC website, the group writes, “Tom Horner casts himself as a commonsense conservative but the truth is much different. He is much closer to an Arne Carlson style RINO (Republican in name only).”
Dayton supports the status quo on abortion, and both Horner and Dayton support expanding rights for LGBT people including same-sex marriage.
Emmer’s positions as a legislator, however, are in sharp contrast.
Emmer authored a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage as well as civil unions and domestic partnerships. He proposed an amendment to ban same-sex couples from using a surrogate mother and voted to deny municipal governments from offering domestic partnerships. He also voted against: a bipartisan anti-bullying bill because it contained LGBT protections for students; health care benefits for same-sex partners of state employees; comprehensive sex education; and the Final Wishes act, which would let same-sex couples make decisions concerning the remains of a deceased partner.
He led a campaign in 2005 against the Minnesota AIDS Project’s HIV prevention outreach to gay men calling it “disgusting discourse” and tried to strip the agency of its funding.
Emmer has proposed increased to the controversial Positive Alternatives program which provides dubious information to women who are considering abortion, and sponsored a bill that would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control pills based on their religious beliefs. Emmer also supports banning public funds for abortion.
Follow Andy Birkey on Twitter27 Comments
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 1:05 pm
Andy – here is an article for you to write about.
Yesterday a member of the LGBT community murdered a U of M engineering student roommate.
http://kstp.com/news/stories/s1801464.shtml
Police say Sterling is known to often wear women’s clothing and was wearing a green skirt with black leggings the day Kohorst was killed. The former house-mate says Sterling dressed as a woman ‘all the time,’ and that he introduced himself by the name “Lux.”
Sterling obviously needs medical help. His mental state is not stable. He needs to see a psychologist, a doctor and a pastor. But because sexual identity is no longer considered a mental illness, he did not get the help he so desperately needed – resulting in the death of his friend and he will not spend most of his life behind bars. Not to say that everyone that struggles with sexual identity is mentally ill, but many are. This tragedy could have been prevented.
Your biased support for anyone that struggles with sexual identity does not help people like Sterling. In fact, it makes them believe they don’t need help and they are normal even thought they are not. The LGBT activist’s needs to be more responsible to the community rather then turn a blind eye to the obvious medal illness that many in the LGBT community suffer from.
This is a clear example of how LGBT activists are a danger to the public. If same-sex marriage was passed in MN, it would further hide the need for mental help that many that struggle with sexual identity need. And that will only lead to further deaths and suicides.
Anti-bullying law in MN would also contribute to hiding the fact that people need help that struggle with sexual identity, not a law to cover it up and let them they go on thinking they are just fine.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 1:09 pm
Wow!
Emmer used to be PROUD of his stands on social issues. Now he won’t stand up and proclaim them in public.
Conservatives say, that the Koran says you can lie to non-believers.
Is Emmer a Muslim? Lying to non-believers?
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 1:17 pm
Andy,
In addition to Tim’s article above, write about this one:
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=517936
It is about a heterosexual male killing his ex-girlfriend and then himself, after also wounding a 6 year old boy.
You see, heterosexuals are so dangerous because they become mentally deranged when rejected by the opposite sex. By allowing heterosexual relationships, we are putting these people into situations where, if it breaks off, it inevitably leads to murder suicide. That is why we really aren’t helping people by letting them have opposite sex relationships. Just look at all the breakups, divorces, and murder suicides not to mention incest and child abuse that proves that heterosexual relationships magnify mental health problems and lead to tragedy.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 1:27 pm
Conservatives actually say you can lie to anybody – it doesn’t matter what they believe.
Pingback posted October 21, 2010 @ 1:35 pm
[...] More evidence NOM is on the fringe. Its own endorsed candidate, Tom Emmer, knows its politically risky to talk about LGBT issues on the campaign trail. From Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent. [...]
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
@ different tim — I was actually laughing out loud and coffee came shooting out. Thank you. yes, all people have deranged moments and have mental illness, straight or not, there is mental illness abound. I do hope that although we can’t change Tim’s opinions in life, he will one day accept that the simple differences amongst us are not the deranged making moments. For I fear that people like different Tim are deranged, and I would very apprehensive to even be in the same room as he is.
But back to the topic at hand. Emmer. The religious right who is the backers of Tom, are backing him on the fact that he has his particular social conservative extremist platform. It was this platform that got him the backing. But now he thinks by not talking about it, that it might get moderates to vote for him.
Its the cloak and dagger routine that is most concerning.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
oooops I meant people tim are derranged not different tim! sorry different tim! too many tims to go around!
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 3:03 pm
@Different Tim – Your article is more than two years old – that is not current news, but old news.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 4:10 pm
Gee, Tim, if you want current, well then here you go:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20101016_Cops__Man_kills_ex-girlfriend_s_lover.html
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829lakehavasu0830.html
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/05/06/sheriffs-montebello-man-kills-ex-girlfriend-her-br/
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/26/1793220/shooter-in-double-murder-kills.html
Tim, just google “kills ex-girlfriend” and you’ll find hundreds of examples of heterosexual relationships resulting in deranged murder. Will you join me, and many others, in fighting this scourge by supporting a Constitutional amendment to outlaw heterosexual relationships, Tim? People wouldn’t be killing each other if heterosexual relationships weren’t wrong. The evidence is clear.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 4:13 pm
Tim, if you want some more, just google “kills ex-wife”. That’s another scourge, heterosexual marriage, results in many vicious killings. We should outlaw heterosexual marriage. We can say “guns don’t kill people, ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands kill people”.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 4:31 pm
Does it occur to anyone else that Tim is trying to be funny when he posts things like that? How could anyone expect a post like that to be taken seriously?
Regarding Emmer: it’s pretty clear that no one trusts him to speak off the cuff. I include Emmer himself in the “no one.” His handlers have finally impressed on him the need to stay on message. The message must be the same, no matter what the context is. Who knows what lunacy he would spew if left to his own devices?
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 4:38 pm
@ Randy, I would so wish that was the case but have you ever been to http://mnfamilycouncil.blogspot.com/? Have you ever been to the minnesota family council’s facebook page?
If not, I implore you and anyone to go there, and speak out, for its not just the religious extremists that have the right to religious freedom and public square speak, its the moderates, the non faithed and all others of different faiths that have the right to speak up to these extremists.
For if we don’t we can surely see no movement in civil justice or social justice.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 5:10 pm
@Different Tim – If heterosexual killing and suicides are so common, then perhaps that should make the news. But it doesn’t on this blog, because they have an agenda to destroy the culture by politicizing the few stories that appear to support the cause of those that struggle with sexual identity.
To be fair and balances (oh, wait this is not Fox News), Andy should write about the murders by sexual identity challenged. The fact that he does not clearly points out how biased this blog as propaganda tool that is not being honest to the public about the dangers of those that struggle with sexual identity.
It is amazing that some of you cannot figure this out.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 5:27 pm
@Different Tim – Again, your news articles are not relevant to this blog because they are not stories in MN. My article is fresh news in central MN and it demonstrates the danger that the GLBT activists are to the community.
But even if you did find a current story, there is a big difference. The heterosexual community does not support killers, yet the homosexual activists are providing comfort and legal protection for killers like Sterling.
Tom Emmer is protecting MN by resisting the homosexual activists to promote the idea that sexuality should be explored and taught to children in schools, which would lead to more suicides and murders.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 5:29 pm
If you want to keep your children alive, vote for Tom Emmer.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 5:41 pm
Tim,
There you go again, trying to evade valid arguments by saying “they aren’t local” and “even if they were” they wouldn’t matter.
HETEROSEXUALS ARE KILLING HETEROSEXUALS!
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 5:44 pm
It’s time to stop the killing of heterosexuals by heterosexuals.
Emmer is a heterosexual, at least he says he is and maybe there is evidence to the contrary but let’s just for a moment agree that maybe he is a heterosexual, I don’t have proof I admit.
Which means he is a potential killer. He could kill his wife and family, it happens far too often.
We need a constitutional amendment to stop this carnage.
Comment posted October 21, 2010 @ 5:57 pm
A lot of heterosexuals engage in cross-dressing, and some of them look darn good, too!
Comment posted October 22, 2010 @ 7:54 am
Andy: “DLF” candidate?
Considering the backlash Target got, I can see why republican and tea party candidates would avoid social issues when around the general public.
I wonder if Emmer is going to restaurants these days?
Comment posted October 22, 2010 @ 11:34 am
cross dressing is actually done in majority by Heterosexuals, and not by homosexuals.
@Tim. I do want my children alive, I do want them to have a better education, and I want them to grow up in a world where differences amongst all humans are celebrated, and not condemned by singular religious indoctrinating and oppressive choice of lifestyle. For I find your lifestyle choice unhealthy.
This is why I will NOT be voting for Emmer, who represents your unhealthy, oppressive and indoctrinating lifestyle.
Comment posted October 22, 2010 @ 11:55 am
I think Andy should cross Emmer off his list of candidates to potentially vote for and maybe look at someone else. I’m sure if Emmer had answered the questions, the answers would have been to Andy’s liking. What an opportunity wasted by Emmer!
Comment posted October 22, 2010 @ 1:55 pm
Tim just gave me the perfect sign to bring to Stephen Colbert’s Fear march. “If you want to keep your children alive, Vote Tom Emmer!”
Here’s recent Minnesota news of a heterosexual man killing not only his wife, but two of his children as well. My mother-in-law taught the daughter last year and said she was the sweetest, most darling little girl. http://wcco.com/crime/triple.homicide.ramsey.2.1962183.html
Comment posted October 22, 2010 @ 3:37 pm
Erika,
Someone should put that on a big banner large enough to stretch over 94 during rush hour traffic.
How ’bout: “Stop the AntiChrist from kidnapping your children! Vote Emmer!”
Or,
“Stop people you don’t even know from getting married! Vote Emmer!”
Comment posted October 23, 2010 @ 11:14 am
This just proves how much of an incompetent moron Tom Emmer really is.
Comment posted October 23, 2010 @ 9:04 pm
@Breezy The Rough Rider , Emmer didn’t answer, cause his stance is on the extemest right side. There is nothing but proof of this. what exactly in Emmers past, or present would have made Andy happy or anyone on the moderate side?
The Real GOP has left Emmer in the dust. Only the religious extremist right is still holding his ticket.
Comment posted October 24, 2010 @ 10:16 am
I’m looking at Tim in amazement. It’s just… there’s delusional, there’s completely disconnected with reality and then there’s Tim. When somebody is making up, off the top of their head, reasons to hate a disenfranchised minority… there’s severe issues going on.
Comment posted October 24, 2010 @ 10:33 am
Also, Tim horrifyingly inverts the truth.
Whenever a gay person or especially a transgender person is murdered by a member of the heteronormative majority, the hetero community rallies fiercely around the murderer. Cries of “He was led on!” and “he was deceived!” are common. This is so common it has an informal name in legal proceedings: The “gay panic” or “trans panic” defense.
It works far more often than it should. Even when the evidence demonstrates that the murderer knew for days, weeks, even months before the crime that their victim was gay or trans. Because Christian preachers teach the people who sit on juries that queer people deserve to die.
Tim, you are a sick man.
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