Who Outed Patrick McHenry?

On May 8, North Carolina voters go to the polls both for their primaries and to decide the fate of the homophobic Amendment One, widely supported by bigots and most-- though not all-- Republicans. One Republican who does support it, oddly enough, is notorious gay closet case Patrick McHenry (NC-10). McHenry's campaign is working full time to bank as many early votes as he can because of the widespread fear that his constituents are on the verge of finding out that his hasty marriage is fake and that he's still having sexual liaisons with young men. (He was seen, drunk, kissing a man in a Hickory bar recently.) But the rumors about McHenry being gay-- and even being a part owner of a gay escort service in Virginia-- have been around for years. They just never penetrate into the mainstream media. It was the same for Mark Foley and Larry Craig before they were finally outed-- years after "everyone" knew they were constantly chasing young men and soliciting sexual favors from strangers. McHenry wants the early vote in before that news breaks in NC-10... if it does.

Well this week it sort of did. And speaking of Mark Foley and Larry Craig, a robo call that went out to Republicans and some independents (who can vote in the GOP primary) tie McHenry to both of them... or at least to their hypocrisy and promiscuous gay activities. The Lincoln Times-News is trying, so far unsuccessfully, to find out who paid for the robo calls. (It's illegal to authorize robo calls without clearly identifying who they're from. This one, which makes the point pretty clearly that McHenry has been deceiving NC-10 voters about his sexuality in the same way Mark Foley and Larry Craig did, doesn't give any indication of who sent it.

Phone calls to Lincoln County voters with a recorded message that appears intended to discredit a North Carolina congressman are drawing complaints and a possible state investigation this week, after the Lincoln Times-News brought the calls to the attention of the N.C. Department of Justice.

With six candidates competing for the state’s 10th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives this year, some aggressive campaigning is hardly a surprise. But DOJ spokesperson Noelle Talley said Monday the anonymous robo-calls appear to cross the line and be illegal.

Who’s behind the calls is unclear. The Times-News contacted all six campaigns on Tuesday, with each denying responsibility for the calls criticizing U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry’s fitness for office based on insinuations about his moral character.

Several citizens have talked with the Times-News about the calls, some expressing disgust. Most of the call recipients appear to be Republicans, but it’s unclear whether the smear effort was specifically targeting those expected to participate in the May 8 GOP primary.

Tom Hawk of Lincolnton, who describes himself as a McHenry supporter, contacted the newspaper about the situation by email over the weekend.

“I believe you will agree with me that this type of call has no place in our political campaigning efforts,” Hawk said. “The call never identified who was calling or who was funding the effort. This moves the call from annoying into the illegal category.”

According to Hawk and others, the recorded caller identified herself only by a woman’s first name and said she was a Republican married to an unaffiliated voter. She said she and her husband agreed that it would be a mistake to re-elect McHenry, then said wasn’t “one of us.” The caller then made references to politicians involved in past scandals to imply that McHenry was hiding aspects of his personal conduct from voters.

Among the campaigns denying any ties to the calls this week was McHenry’s own. It’s not unheard of for candidates to engage in over-the-top dirty tricks targeting themselves in order to make it appear that their opponents are using dirty tricks.

...While the source of the calls remains unclear, one candidate offered a theory that it could be part of an effort from a national organization that has previously attacked McHenry and other members of Congress with allegations similar to those in the robo-calls.

The organization, Republicans for Family Values, is based in Illinois and operates a website www.rffv.org, which includes a call for McHenry to deny charges about his personal behavior. The site’s owner did not immediately respond to a Times-News email asking whether he was behind the calls or knew who was.

The Democrats are too busy with their own campaigns to get involved with the GOP swamp. Blue America is supporting Rep. Patsy Keever, who has a long record of supporting equality under the law for all North Carolinians and has already declared she opposes Amendment One. If you'd like to see her replace McHenry in Congress, please consider a contribution to her campaign here.