Stormy weather for Huntsman
Gov. Jon Huntsman is fast becoming the darling of the East Coast media that lauds him as an antidote to right-wing extremism. A besotted Frank Rich column in this week's New York Times, however, could mean trouble for Huntsman at home.Rich positions Huntsman, with his support of civil unions, as the reasonable and thoughtful GOP response to the collapsing opposition to gay marriage.
Huntsman is not some left-coast Hollywood Republican. He’s a Mormon presiding over what Gallup ranks as the reddest state in the country.
Huntsman tells Rich:
We must embrace all citizens as equals. I’ve always stood tall on this.As Exhibit A of the "ever more depopulated and isolated as well as brain-dead" opposition to gay unions, Rich offers the controversial "Gathering Storm" ad that presents a rainbow group of actors warning of dire social and moral impacts of gay marriage on society.
The problem for Huntsman is that the creator of "Gathering Storm," the National Organization for Marriage, has strong ties to the LDS church — some say it is the LDS church. That's right, Huntsman is being cast as the rational alternative to the Mormon church's opposition to gay marriage. Hold tight to that temple recommend, Guv.
Officially, the $1.5 million ad was paid for by NOM, but gay rights advocates say the organization is merely a front for the Mormon Church. Fred Karger, Founder of Californians Against Hate, explains:
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) established the National Organization for Marriage as its front group in order to qualify Proposition 8 for ballot last year in California. After spending several million dollars in California, NOM recently moved into seven Northeast States considering marriage equality.Usually, these storms blow over quickly, but, unfortunately for Huntsman, "The Gathering Storm" ad has become a popular subject of YouTube parody, including a riff by Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. At about 3:35 into Colbert's gag, a voice over discloses:
Paid for by generous donations from an anonymous group that may or may not be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad | ||||
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4 Comments:
Stupid offensive comment on the Temple recommend Glen. Huntsman's position IS basically the position of the LDS church. Civil Unions are okay. Discrimination bad. Gay Marriage not okay. I hate it when you write junk like this that makes it look like Mormons can't think for themselves or hold different political opinions. Harry Reid certainly didn't get into any trouble when he voted against the marriage amendment.
At 5' 4", Huntsman has a hard time standing tall on anything.
If anything, Huntsman might lose some cred in his own state, but the 84% approval rating AFTER the civil unions comment doesn't support this claim.
And he certainly won't have any trouble in the church. From a sceptic's point of view, the church wouldn't risk the public fall out of pulling the recommend of a public official for simply supporting a position.
From a faithful LDS perspective, the church is actually very politically diverse through out the country and world - sorry to break that to ya. We're not all autonotoms.
The Mormon church is NOT for civil unions. Don't kid yourself. Their recent involvment in Hawaii, helping thwart a vote to legalize civil unions (not marriages) is proof, regardless of what the public affairs department says. Church docs have been leaked all over the internet explaining how the Morg didn't even want gays to have equal civil rights! They fought it for over 10 years in CA!
But you're right. They would no more pull Huntsman's recommend than pulling the recommend of Steve Young's wife. Has nothing to do with right or wrong, but public image.
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