Pubs and Politics

The other night I was recognized by someone who had received my postcard in the mail. Nice to know I look like my picture! He called me over to his table. Always willing to meet potential voters, I quickly joined them. I learned that I was talking to four gay men. Two couples. There was no initial interest from them in basic city services or City debt restructuring. They wanted to know my social politics. One in particular wanted to know if I was "for real" or just another politician pandering to the gay vote. His first question was whether I was gay or straight. I laughed and thanked him for not knowing the difference. His friend chastised him and said "Look at his wedding ring. His wife is standing right over there!" My inquisitor retorted with "Look how he's dressed! No straight man puts an outfit like that together without help." We all laughed. I thanked him for what I considered to be a compliment of my sartorial tastes, then things got serious. "Democrat or Republican?" was his next question. "Flaming Independent" I replied. I gave my reasons for my outright loathing of partisan hackery. I then heard one of the best arguments yet for staying with the party line. I wasn't swayed, but I understood and respected his point. As a gay man he has to be protective of his rights. Log Cabin Republicans aside, for the most part the extreme right influences the Republican party on social issues. The same extreme right that thinks homosexuality is a "choice." He will never take a chance on voting for a "moderate" Republican. You just never know when even the most maverick of representatives is going to succumb to pressure and vote that party line. It can't be argued the Republican party line is anti-LGBT. His reasoning is that his best odds are to vote Democrat. There's a much smaller chance that a Democrat will break ranks and vote against an LGBT issue. He wants the accountability of peer pressure to keep his Democratic representatives voting for him. He eventually ended up pledging his vote to me. Not because I pandered, but because I was honest. I think mostly because he could see the gears turning in my head as I digested what I thought was an outstanding point. I returned to the bar to face the smirk of my bartender/philosopher friend, Beth. "I just love to watch you get turned around in a good debate" she chided me. I'm still put off by the outright partisanship our two party system provides. But at least for some people, I can see their reasons for putting up with it.