GOP Rebel

In a year when the debacles of the president and the nation's leading Republicans might have finally caught up to them and might lead to the Democrats finally getting their chance to screw up the House, I find it surprising that the most important race this year might not be a national election. \nThe most important political contest doesn't involve Lieberman, Clinton, Hill or Sodrel. In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with the House or the Senate. The most important race of the year is in fact a state senate race, and it's taking place in Minnesota. Republican Sen. Paul Koering, the incumbent, faces off against Kevin Goedker in a battle for the Republican nomination.\nWhat's so special about this race? Koering is openly gay. \nI know it sounds strange, but yes, Koering is an openly gay Republican politician. Talk about a minority! He finally came out the closet last year when the state legislature tried to push a floor vote to ban gay marriages, and he was the only Republican helping the Democrats oppose the measure. \nWell, this immediately raised red flags. It just doesn't make sense for a Republican to support gay marriage. According to most Republicans, it's the one thing (outside of immigration issues and people burning the American flag) that's going to destroy American democracy as we know it. So for America-lovin' Republicans, you must stop gay marriage! \nThen it was discovered why he didn't. He's gay. As a result, the local GOP chair called his move "political suicide." All will see if that's true after the primaries Tuesday.\nAccording to a CNN article, Koering said, "There's going to be a lot of people watching to see if the voters can look at my record and say, 'He's doing a good job.' Or will they look at my personal life and say, 'I can't support him because of that'? If that how they're going to vote, I might be out of a job." \nHis opponent said this isn't an issue about his sexuality, but "people of high morals and integrity must rally and support candidates who will work to bring ethics, morals and family values back into government." Spoken like a true Republican.\nIf voters in the state of Minnesota do what Koering is hoping they do, it could possibly begin a shift in the way voters view their candidates. For the first time I can remember, maybe candidates will actually have to campaign on what they did for their constituents and their voting records and not the party line on key issues. For a long time it seems, elections in this country, on both sides of the aisle, have been about who's morally or ethically right and have lost attention on poor public schools, unemployment, poverty in America -- you know, the important stuff. So hopefully the Minnesota voters can start a trend and vote for a candidate for what he is doing in public and not in private.