Swift-boating Strickland; or, why the GOP is playing the gay card in Ohio

The GOP is -- surprise, surprise -- playing the gay card in Ohio's gubernatorial race, suggesting that Democratic candidate Ted Strickland is gay, that his wife is gay, and that their relationship is "bizarre".

Strickland isn't gay, but it doesn't matter (and it shouldn't matter). The GOP is once again pandering to some of the darkest elements of its base, the gay-hating base.

Shakespeare's Sister has the story, some links, and this: "I spy a party [that] can't possibly win on the issues."

Exactly right. Only high voter turnout will put the Republicans over the top in a close race, and the way to turn out Republican voters is to terrify them with the threat of the new Other known as the Homosexual. With blacks and Jews off-limits, at least in the open, and with Communists no longer much of a problem, gays and lesbians are now the main target of this hate-filled fear-mongering.

The rest of America, straight America, may finally be coming around to acknowledgement of the rights of gays and lesbians, if not yet complete approval of their sexual orientation, but prejudice is still a winner in the GOP heartland.