Ah yes, the Constitution party. Several years ago, the local paper had a voters guide which had the candidates’ answers to various questions. There was a fellow from the Constitution party running for state treasurer. His response to the question, “Why are you running for office?” amounted to “God told me to.” My response to that was, “Fine. God told me to vote for someone who’s actually qualified.” (He didn’t have much in terms of practical qualifications, either.)
I wonder if people like Paroutka have ever been on the receiving end of the kind of vitriol they dish out.
People like him aren’t worth worrying about in this country. To paraphrase Abe Simpson, we have a whole system in place to prevent people like him from becoming President. There’s no way he can even form a coalition with a more hopeful prospect and edge his way in that way. Whether the Republicans like it or not, the gays in this country are becoming more and more important, and a successful Republican candidate can’t afford to be associated with anyone like Paroutka.
I don’t know if the Republicans will split over gays like they split over blacks in the 1960s, with a bunch of bitter-enders forming their own camp and the rest of the politicians changing with the times to go on and actually win some elections. It didn’t happen this year. What is clear is that a rabidly, viciously anti-gay candidate has no real hope in today’s political climate.