I was perusing the internet for stories on interesting candidates that aren't shining bright in the media spotlight (for positive or negative reasons) and I came upon this story of Vicky Harzler. Ms. Harzler is running for congress in Missouri's 4th Congressional District against Democrat Rep. Ike Skelton. You may have heard of Rep. Skelton... he fought against He-Man during the years of my youth... wait that's not right! Ah... he was one of the creators of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy our military used/uses/used/uses or something.
This article on Mother Jones, admittedly a more liberal publication, painted Harzler as the "most anti-gay candidate" in an election this year. She is one of the creators of first gay-marriage bans that passed a state election and led to a handful of others in 2004. Does that make her anti-gay? I don't think so. Anti-gay marriage? Yes.
The whole problem with defining a person by their campaign is that in almost all cases they are simply dichotomies. Democrat vs. Republican. Incumbent vs. Newcomer. Veteran vs. New blood. The story is the same. That story for each campaign has to be all about widening the gap between themselves and the opposition.
In this case, Candidate A is running against a founder of DADT at a time where that policy is in the news and is controversial. I don't think it matters who it is, that Candidate A is going to be anti-DADT! So to call her the MOST Anti-Gay is simply ridiculous. She used the avaliable political environment, first in 2004 and now in 2010 to achieve full political potential.
When you go to the polls in a couple weeks keep that in mind. Vote for the person based on their greater record not just the two or three things the candidate or their opposition highlights. Do a little research if you feel it matters. Remember on the Congressional level you have a MAX of THREE races with up to SEVEN people to research (Yeah... Florida messes things up, but more on that another time). Think of this like an investment, piece of furniture, or an appliance you want to buy. It's going to be around for the long haul... so you do more than just read the bullet points! The same goes for Elections:
THINK, then VOTE!
