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to Inherit Ronald Reagan's Mantle? from GOP Bid Befuddles Republicans Replacing the Religious Reich's Candidate |
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Compiled By GayToday
"GOP presidential candidates must choose," warned Carole Shields, President, People For the American Way Foundation. "In order to win the nomination, they must pander to the Religious Right. But in order to capture the general election, they must appeal to the moderate mainstream."
She predicted that while Ashcroft's withdrawal could touch off an incendiary battle for the votes of Religious Right activists, an early beneficiary could be Gary Bauer, who enjoyed a banner fundraising year in 1998. On CNN's Inside Politics Bauer told Judy Woodruff over the weekend that he plans to capture the Reagan mantle by talking about conservative economic and social issues. Bauer was formerly a domestic policy advisor in Ronald Reagan's White House. As a candidate for the U.S. Presidency, Bauer is poised, say rumors, to tender his resignation as President of the Family Research Council, among America's foremost anti-gay hate mongering organizations. Many observers have reported to GayToday that they believe Gary Bauer hides some unresolved inner conflict about his unsettling 'Peter Lorre-like' masculine image. Some think he lies about homosexuality for profit, self-deception and self-aggrandizement. It is clear that Presidential candidate Bauer pushes major anti-gay themes under his cloak of so-called "family values" activism, his "Family" fundamentalist front group composed of zealots working nationwide to destroy lesbian and gay rights as well as any social concepts that work to increase the equality of the sexes. Bauer's PAC, Campaign for Working Families, raised more than $5.7 million in 1998 alone, demonstrating his fundraising prowess.
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