HORMEL'S CHILLY RECEPTION
DEALEY, SAM
HORMEL'S CHILLY RECEPTION by Sam Dealey NOTHING TURNS REPUBLICANS into awkward, tongue-tied bumblers quite the way the issue of homosexuality does. Take President Clinton's appointment of gay...
...Andrea Sheldon, who heads the Traditional Values Coalition, calls Hormel a "purveyor of smut...
...And the senator takes him at his word...
...There's a coloring book with, with female genitalia...
...Was the president making a political point with Hormel's appointment...
...It's kind of similar to appointing Larry Flynt ambassador," says Karen Hickey, campaign spokesperson for Sen...
...James inhofe of oklahoma obliged by vowing to put a hold on all other administration nominations needing senate approval—both federal judges and executive-branch appointees—unless Clinton withdraws Hormel's appointment...
...He would appoint people who have the same political agenda as he does and not a different one," Beckwith explains...
...How do you mean...
...But of course it's Hormel's words that have conservatives in a tizzy...
...What is Bush's conservative political philosophy and political agenda with respect to homosexuality...
...The Texas governor has a 16-point lead in the polls, and it is clear his campaign isn't about to make any waves...
...We did a search of Pat's old columns and couldn't find anything...
...Howard Opinsky, campaign spokesman for sen...
...Actually, he's an ambassador, not a victim...
...This is character assassination...
...Sam Dealey is a staff writer for the Hill newspaper...
...But Hormel's a Democrat...
...Former vice president Dan Quayle, however, responded...
...He's qualified...
...Hormel, heir to the multi-million dollar meatpacking company that bears the family name, is most infamous for seeming to applaud the antics of the sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of habit-wearing drag queens, during a gay-pride march in san Francisco in 1996...
...Gary Bauer, the erstwhile president of the Family Research Council, agrees...
...I don't know why he shouldn't be allowed to be confirmed...
...Surely that : doesn't preclude comment now...
...As a general statement," Bush told the paper, "if someone can do a job, and a job that he's qualified for, that person . . . ought to be allowed to do his job...
...Governor Bush would make extremely limited use of the recess appointment power," George W. campaign spokesman David Beckwith says, "and never to make political points...
...The senator doesn't think Hormel should be appointed anywhere—especially to a country that's 95 percent Catholic...
...Hormel's nomination had languished in the senate for well over a year, blocked by Republicans...
...What's the governor's stance...
...He would not have, says Beckwith, "because Mr...
...We have a lot of the materials...
...But then Hickey backs off a bit, retreating to the issue of anti-Catholicism...
...When Congress dispersed for Memorial Day weekend, the president made a recess appointment—typically used in emergencies when the senate is out of town for more than a week...
...Bob Smith for New Hampshire, adding, "Frankly, the materials [in the Hormel library] are pornographic...
...It's the fact that, when appointing leaders of the country, the president should be in a position to appoint people who are leaders...
...I've personally been to the Hormel library," says Sheldon...
...James Hormel is a victim of partisanship and the far right...
...I think generally there's a growing squishiness within the Republican party that makes supposed leaders afraid to talk about almost anything," Bauer says...
...The Hormel appointment has been a political flashpoint for religious conservatives and gay-rights activists since Clinton first announced it in October 1997...
...But this was no emergency...
...But what is Bush's political stance on homosexuality...
...I would not nominate individuals who support political objectives contrary to the goals of my administration," says the vice-president, "and the gay-rights agenda falls in that category...
...Opinski says Hormel "personally assured" McCain that he would "advance the interests of the United States...
...But if he was going to do a release on it, he probably would have done it already...
...Would Bush have appointed Hormel...
...Pat Buchanan's campaign response was more amusing...
...Hormel does not share his conservative political philosophy or his political agenda...
...Well, we might have a position James Hormel | Paper on something like that...
...This transcends partisanship," Ivers says...
...I'll go look and see what I can find...
...I mean, it wasn't like there was a great need for an ambassador to Luxembourg," says Sheldon...
...Well, we don't really have a campaign spokesman," says somebody in Buchanan's campaign press office...
...But it injected an issue into the political arena that terrifies most GOP politicians, and it wasn't surprising that virtually none of the Republican presidential candidates was eager to comment on it...
...Majority Leader Trent Lott has (reluctantly) given inhofe his support...
...It transcends everything else...
...And that's reason enough not to allow him to be an ambassador that represents the United States, particularly to a Catholic country," he says in an interview...
...At a time when Kosovo and budget priorities dominate the political agenda, Hormel's nomination really isn't anyone's most pressing problem...
...Nobody would be disqualified on the basis of sexual orientation," Beckwith says...
...I will ' give it my best shot...
...It's a couple of days old," he says...
...Really...
...As they stumble and duck, it's the GOP presidential candidates who are starting to look like victims of Hormel's nomination...
...I'll just let it sit at that," Beckwith demurs...
...I have not had the opportunity to discuss the Hormel issue with Mrs...
...She mentions the James Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library, for which the new ambassador contributed $500,000 and some of his favorite books...
...Apparently she'd been traveling all day...
...Time to give the gay-rights Log Cabin Republicans a call on Hormel...
...Beckwith referred me to an April 9 New York Times article...
...It's called the—well, it starts with a 'C' and it's four letters...
...Sheldon suspects Hormel's appointment was a ploy to rally the sleepy Gore campaign and turn the Republican candidates against each other...
...All day...
...it was a poke in the eye, clearly designed to provoke Hormel's Republican detractors...
...The bottom line here is that, at the very least, Hormel gives evidence of prima facie bigotry toward people of faith generally and toward Catholics particularly...
...We support his ability to be judged on his merits," says Kevin Ivers...
...John McCain of Arizona, says that while the senator "hasn't given [the Hormel nomination] a whole lot of thought," generally, "elections have consequences, and presidents have the right to choose who they want...
...Al Gore is linked at the hip with Hormel...
...The campaign of Steve Forbes, ^ who's spent the last four years courting social conservatives, promised to call back, too, but never did...
...I can get it for you...
...So if we don't have confidence in our agenda, I don't know how we can expect the American people to...
...Take President Clinton's appointment of gay activist and philanthropist James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg...
...This time he did...
...A propos of squishiness, the Elizabeth Dole campaign, taking my third call, again promised that spokesman Ari Fleischer would "get right back" to me...
...An hour later, a phone message was waiting...
...It's not really the fact that he's homosexual...
...And gays...
...It's the 'Blank' Coloring Book...
...Dole," says Fleisher...
Vol. 4 • June 1999 • No. 38
