WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG MY GRANDPA TOLD ME TO NEVER TRUST NIXON... HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW PRESCIENT HE WAS-- DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MISSOURI'S JAY NIXON?

A pair of Nixons

You all excited about the Missouri governor's race? According to the newest SUSA poll (June 3), Obama is leading McCain 45-43% in this state which Bush won twice. The most recent polling for governor was a couple weeks ago and it shows Democrat Jay Nixon, the current Attorney General, absolutely slaughtering either of the wingnut contenders the GOP is mulling putting up, Kenny Hulsdorf or Sarah Steelman-- neither of whom can get above a third of the popular vote! Yippeee?

Not so fast, buckaroo. McCain may not know much about economics but I don't know much about Missouri politics. McCain admitted it and so do I. But a few days ago I learned something about my subject; (McCain, apparently has still learned nothing at all about his). Jay Nixon found someone to Sistah Souljah: gays and lesbians. He announced last week that, on behalf of Missouri, he is joining 10 other bigoted homophobes "in asking the California Supreme Court to delay enforcement of its ruling allowing gay marriages." Two days later the California Supreme Court ignored Nixon and the others and said gays can start getting married immediately, just like anyone else.

“Regardless of how California decides to proceed, Missouri does not recognize same-sex marriages performed in California or any other state,” Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said Tuesday.

However, Nixon said if gay couples marry in California and then come to Missouri, the state’s courts could face cases on issues ranging from child-support enforcement to employee benefit decisions.

Missouri voters amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages in 2004 [a move Nixon supported].

The California court’s May 15 ruling allows same-sex marriages in the state and is set to go into effect later this month.

...In his letter to the California court, Nixon emphasized Missouri’s opposition to gay marriage and said that there could be “human costs” for same-sex couples who marry in California and then come to Missouri.

“Some of those may be Missourians who, in good faith but without fully understanding Missouri law, may already be planning travel to California to be married,” Nixon wrote. “Others will be those in California or other states who are understandably ignorant of Missouri law and do not anticipate the problems that they may encounter later while traveling or residing in Missouri.”

The decision by Nixon, a Democrat running for governor, to join with the other states came after criticism from Republican Gov. Matt Blunt’s office for the attorney general’s silence on the issue.

In news releases, Blunt accused Nixon of ignoring the will of the people by not joining the other states in their request to the court.

When Nixon did take the step, he made sure to express his opposition to gay marriage.

“As attorney general, Jay Nixon supported the Missouri constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman and has consistently fought to protect traditional marriage,” Holste said.

The other Attorneys General attempting to persuade the Supreme Court to rule against gay people were Talis Colberg a wingnut Repug from Alaska; John Suthers, a bigoted Republican from Colorado; Florida's GOP crackpot Bill McCollum; Lawrence Wasden, a far right Republican from Idaho; Mike Cox, a virulent Repug gay-hater who stirred up hatred in Michigan when he ran 2002; lunatic fringe Republican Jon Brunning from Nebraska; Kelly Ayotte who is a vicious reactionary Republican from New Hampshire; Henry McMaster, another homophobic Republican from South Carolina; Larry Long, a Republican bigot from South Dakota; and Mark Shurtleff, a big McCain backer from Utah. All Republicans. And then there is Jay Nixon.

It sure would be nice to elect a Democrat in Missouri, wouldn't it? Should we give him a pass on this? Would we give him a pass if he buckled to right wing pressure to throw women under the bus? Hispanics? African-Americans? The elderly? The poor? Other targets of Republican divisiveness? Screw Jay Nixon. If he's going to behave like a Republican he shouldn't expect support from Democrats.

Within hours of arriving in Washington last week, Jane asked me to sit down and get to know a friend of hers, Paul Yandura. The name sounded familiar... "Oh, wait! That Paul Yandura! Isn't he suing Howard Dean?" "Well, not exactly," said Jane patiently. "But his partner, Donald Hitchcock, was fired by the DNC and he has a law suit against Dean."

I had introduced Jane to Governor Dean a month or two earlier and I figured she wanted me to help Paul and Donald figure out how to get out of this law suit. "No, I just want you to meet Paul. If you want him to, he'll tell you about the law suit but that's not the reason I want you two to meet each other."

The reason she did want me to meet Paul became apparent within a few minutes of our meeting 2 days ago. Paul rocks! He believes passionately in holding elected Democrats and Democratic Party functionaries accountable for upholding the values and principles that make us Democrats. To Paul, like me, showing up at the beginning of the term and voting for the Democratic leadership does not excuse acting like a Republican for the rest of the term. When I read about Nixon I immediately asked Paul for his insight into what looked like a total betrayal of our values, our principles and our families. Paul, one of the most dedicated and sincere Democrats I've ever met:

It is one thing to give a gay marriage “pass” to a candidate in a red state, but quite another when that candidate is proactively using the issue to define themselves, unnecessarily.
 
Being the only Democratic AG to support the letter, Nixon would do well to look around and realize the company that he is keeping. The Attorneys General races are usually overlooked, but in many cases it has been Democratic Attorneys General that have helped the fight against anti-gay ballot initiatives in certain states. Attorneys General wield power that can be helpful to the progressive cause, this is why many of us have focused on targeted races. In this case, where a current Attorney General is running for Governor, and is on record opposing gay marriage, AND there is no imminent threat to Missourians AND he is already on-record opposing marriage equality AND his state already has a constitutional amendment barring marriage equality-- he has taken an unneeded proactive stance, in an attempt to jump on the “me too” discrimination train.

In fact, the San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herarra, who has filed an opposition to the request by the Attorneys General, told reporters that, "To further delay constitutional rights to gay and lesbian partners based on political conjecture as to whether or not an amendment will pass-- or even qualify for the ballot-- would be both unprecedented and inhumane." Except for Florida and New Hampshire, all of the Attorneys General states have constitutional provisions banning gay marriage.