A campaign season full of Bush-Gore seemed so boring until each made an interesting vice-presidential pick: one VP choice has an openly gay daughter and the other is an orthodox Jew. While this says a lot about how tolerant America has become, it does not say that both parties have become more accepting. To tolerate is not to include. Make no mistake: the Republicans are not about inclusion, their message is about toleration, tolerating what many in the GOP hate.
Though Republicans claim to be for family values, Vice Presidential nominee Dick Cheney seems to be ashamed of his family. The problem for Republicans is that one of Cheney's daughters, Mary Cheney, is openly gay. And how the Bush campaign and the Cheneys have handled this shows that despite the new face of tolerance that the Republicans have tried to project, the party is conservative to the core.
Former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney considered running for President in 1996, but decided against it in part, according to Bob Woodward, because he had a gay relative. Mary lives in Denver in with her long time partner, Heather. Until recently, she served as the Coors Brewing company liaison to the gay and lesbian community. In an interview with Girlfriends magazine, Mary said, "The reason I came to work here [to Coor's] is because I knew several other lesbians who were very happy here."
Yet Mary Cheney's own mother can't seem to answer a question posed by ABC's Cokie Roberts: "It's so hard on families, these campaigns. And you have a daughter who has now declared that she is openly gay. Are you worried?" In apparent denial, Lynne Cheney exclaimed: "Mary has never declared such a thing!" and said she couldn't believe Cokie had brought it up. The Bush people won't offer comment about Mary's sexual orientation, and Dick Cheney says he wants to keep his daughter's life private (Yet seems quite happy to talk about their other daughter, who has a nice husband and child). The Bush campaign is reportedly reluctant to have Mary Cheney campaign for them, which would go a long way to showing what a different Republican Bush really was.
But Bush is not really all that different of a Republican. He favored keeping Texas' criminal sanctions against sodomy on the books. Bush doesn't support, as the vast majority of Americans do, new anti-discrimination laws that would prevent gays from being fired simply because they are gay. Bush and Cheney have faces of moderation, but this just shows what compassionate conservatism is about: rhetoric. While Dick Cheney's daughter being a lesbian did not stop Bush from picking Cheney (that's tolerance), Bush and the GOP have not accepted Mary for who she is. It's the don't-ask-don't-tell version of diversity.
In contrast to the Cheney silence, there is "Liebermania!" The choice of Joe Lieberman as Gore's VP created a shock throughout America and the press: gasp, a Jew! --- er, I mean, gasp, a Jewish American! Virtually no one seriously predicted Gore would pick Lieberman, in large part because of the barrier of religion. After Gore made the leap, the choice of Lieberman turned out to be pure political genius. A moderate Democrat who had criticized Clinton over Monica Lewinsky was just what Gore needed. But you can't say people got 'beyond' religion, because religion was a major part of the story: Lieberman's religion became a plus, not a minus.
At the same time, Lieberman's religion is often misunderstood by the public. Some have been concerned that Lieberman, as an Orthodox Jew, will not be able to perform any official government duties on Saturday, or only allowed to through creative exceptions to Jewish Law. Comically, Senator John Breaux of Louisiana showed his misunderstanding when he said: "I don't think American voters care where you go to church on Sunday." Ed Rendell, the chairman of the Democratic Party and who is also Jewish, said (before Lieberman was picked) that he feared that if the choice was Lieberman, anti-Semitic feelings might prevent people from voting for the ticket. Democrats fear lack of enthusiasm for the ticket among African-Americans will depress turnout. Besides misunderstanding and fear, there is also ignorance and hate. Louis Farrakan wrongly referred to Lieberman as a "dual citizen" of Israel and the United States, and the local head of the Dallas NAACP (now dismissed) said Lieberman was only chosen because of money.
Despite this, the Democrats have played up the fact that Lieberman was Jewish while on the campaign trail and at the convention, saying it showed that Gore truly led the inclusive party. And apparently, this has resonated: Gore is now slightly ahead of Bush in most polls. Many now think that Lieberman's refusal to campaign on the Sabbath will be an asset, as it shows how religious he is. Lieberman is not just a great candidate who is accepted despite being Jewish. No, his religion (at least so far) is for the most part not only tolerated, it is accepted, even celebrated. As Lieberman said in his convention speech: "Only in America!"
But despite Gore's bounce, Bush may be onto something with his inclusive image. Homophobia abounds in America. Americans, or at least some of the crucial swing vote, may want to be inclusive, but not too inclusive, tolerant, but not always fully accepting. On gay rights, and many issues dealing with minorities, Republicans want the illusion of inclusion, but not just so they can gain the votes of blacks, but of swing voters who want 'tolerance.' Bush can put on this new face of moderation, but Bush cannot become too accepting, for fear of losing some of his base. Bus has made some cosmetic progress with the Republican party, but it only can tolerate, openly accept, or only accept on his terms. The GOP will never become the party of inclusion as long it merely tolerates diversity, rather than accepting and even celebrating it.
