New GOP 2010 Election Strategy: Hide Your Bigotry Until You’re Elected

Cameron Lynch, Republican strategist and president of The Lynch Group, a D.C.-based political consulting firm, has some advice for anti-gay Republicans looking to avoid looking like bigots in the upcoming 2010 elections. No, he doesn’t recommend actually growing past their own hateful bat-shittery, he merely suggests they hide it until they get elected. That’s right, during the campaign they should avoid talking about social issues and instead focus on economic issues, then go full-tilt bigot only after they’re in office. After all, it worked for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell.

Suggested Lynch last week:

Republicans would be wise look to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s recent victory in the Virgina gubernatorial race as a model for 2010 Senate and House campaigns… biting his tongue on abortion, gay marriage and other hot button social issues (on which I’m sure he was more than willing to speak) netted him the support of independents and moderate conservatives who either stayed home or voted for Obama in 2008… Focusing on the issues, and not on religious or social warfare, as Gov. McDonnell did, is the most likely pathway to success for Republicans in 2010.”

Now, even Lynch admits that McDonnell ran against a weak Democratic opponent, Creigh Deeds, who never really energized the Virginia Democratic base. But it’s astounding that despite having written a 93-page thesis calling gays and working women “real enemies of the traditional family”, he still got away with sidestepping these issues and winning with a 2-1 margin. And just after getting in the door did he strip non-discrimination protections for the state’s gay workers. Good work, ass-munch; now all traditional families are safe. Too bad, Virgina’s still ranked 25th in divorce rates.

Lynch’s advice is just a variation on lying—it’s called “omission,” kinda like cheating on your lover and just not mentioning it because, hey, they didn’t ask. Or not telling a judge you think all murderers should get the death penalty when being considered as a juror in a murder trial, because hey, nobody mentioned it. Your outlook on that will undeniably paint your future actions and the system has a right to know.

But since the mainstream media’s quite happy to give a pass to any politician in a suit (Bush, Palin, anyone?) it’s up to LGBT citizens and bloggers to unmask these yahoos. Or else any bigot in a suit can blame Obama for the economy, promise to fix it, and then shit on all of us once they’re in power. It’s not just a threat, it’s a promise. And a strategy.