Atlantic Monthly Pooh-Poohs Our GOTV Efforts, Blames Secretive Gay Agenda Conspiracy

I have to admit something right up top: I am a reluctant subscriber to the Atlantic (Monthly). It came free as some credit card rewards program, so I get it. I’m not always proud of it, but whatever.

So when a fellow IowaProgress team member told me that I should check out the March issue for a mention of the local State House race here last year (between Democrat Eric Palmer and ousted Republican Danny Carroll), I was pleased to find it already sitting on my coffee table. Then I started reading it (online version here), and even before I finished the second sentence, I knew I wasn’t going to be happy. Here’s how writer Joshua Green begins:

A tough loss can be hard to swallow, and plenty of defeated politicians have been known to grumble about sinister conspiracies. When they are rising stars like Danny Carroll, the Republican speaker pro tempore of Iowa’s House of Representatives, and the loss is unexpected, the urge to blame unseen forces can be even stronger—and in Carroll’s case, it would have the additional distinction of being justified.

Yes, Danny Carroll was a rising star, victimized by “unseen forces” at work in House District 75. Perhaps had Carroll simply leaned on this leading consulting firm a little more, he would’ve won. But these “unseen forces” at work weren’t ghosts, ghouls, or the powerful anti-pumpkin lobby, it was something of a gay political stealth force (led by this man), out to get good little homophobes like Danny.

Yes, it is true that Eric Palmer got money from out-of-state donors, and perhaps some of them are gay. Some of them are also probably straight. Many out-of-state donors give money to one person hoping that their opponent will lose, and many of them do so on the basis of the different candidates’ political positions. Danny Carroll got money from such donors (although much of it was channeled through Christopher Rants’s PAC), as did Eric Palmer. This is not news.

It seems that even Danny himself didn’t think there was anything to this story at first. In fact, Danny probably had the right idea before the reporter tried to change his interview subject’s mind mid-interview. This paragraph is the kicker:

Carroll was just sitting down to dinner but agreed to talk about his loss, which he attributed to the activism of Grinnell College students. A suggestion that he’d been targeted by a nationwide network of wealthy gay activists was met with polite midwestern skepticism.

Yup, that’s right: Danny’s pretty sure it was us. We’re pretty sure it was us. And the number of college students who voted for Eric Palmer is remarkably close to the number of votes Danny lost by. But Joshua Green still blames the gays. Green convinces Danny to look at the IECDB reports from the 2006 race, and here’s where things go from there:

Scrolling through the thirty-two-page roster of campaign contributors revealed plenty of $25 and $50 donations from nearby towns like Oskaloosa and New Shar­on. But a $1,000 donation from California stood out on page 2, and, several pages later, so did another $1,000 from New York City. “I’ll be darned,” said Carroll. “That doesn’t make any sense.” As we kept scrolling, Carroll began reading aloud with mounting disbelief as the evidence passed before his eyes. “Denver … Dallas … Los Angeles … Malibu … there’s New York again … San Francisco! I can’t—I just cannot believe this,” he said, finally. “Who is this guy again?”

Eric Palmer got $1,000 from New York?!?!?! And more donations from Dallas and Denver?!?!?! Shucks! I guess that means Eric won because of the gay agenda then.

Seriously, though, how is this puff piece journalism? People with certain interests donate to political campaigns across the country all the time, on both sides. Not everyone knows why every donor donates, and in many cases the candidates don’t even know what a donor’s agenda might be. It isn’t like Eric had a huge resource advantage over Danny, either. It may be sensational because a few of Palmer’s donors were gay, but it is certainly nothing new.

If this was our 15 minutes of national media fame, I’m going to be very disappointed.

14 comments February 13th, 2007

Meeting Report

Tonight, the Grinnell Campus Democrats met, and here’s what we discussed:

1. We’ll be holding satellite voting for the primaries 28 April.  We’re postering campus with issue grids for the gubernatorial candidates, and, if possible, democratic candidates for other offices.
2. We’re also coordinating volunteer opportunities from the campaigns.  We passed around signup sheets for volunteers that we’ll forward on to our contacts with the campaigns.
3. Campaigns are probably going to make stops on campus before our primaries.  We’ve heard back from both Blouin and Fallon, and we expect to hear from Culver, too.  It looks like Blouin will probably come on the evening of the 23rd.
4. Our blog (this site) is doing well, with a lot of visits every day.  The Fallon and Blouin campaigns have agreed to do interviews.  We might get promotional materials.
5. We have a lot of volunteer opportunities.  In particular, Eric Palmer’s new campaign manager (who seems impressive) is already looking for interns and volunteers for the summer.  (We already passed around the signup sheet.)  Danny Carroll, his opponent, likes to think that we’re hippy “East Coast Liberals” who are all pinko activists.  Let’s show him.
6. We’ll be hosting a GOTV workshop to make sure that we’re a well trained force for the party during this election season.  The date of it hasn’t been determined.
7. We passed around a signup sheet for students who will be around during the summer doing other things.  We’ll use the list to random requests for volunteers when extra people are needed.  And maybe for parties.
8. The administration might let us install a “Student Activism Center” in the new campus center.  There are planning meetings for the next two nights: 10:20PM in the Coffeehouse on Wednesday; 7PM in the North Lounge on Thursday.
9. And, finally, it looks like the father of a current student is running for governor of South Dakota.  We may have some opportunities to help that campaign, too.

Just a reminder: Grinnell College Campus Democrats’ meetings are intended to help us coordinate efforts to cause progressive change.  Anyone from the community who would like to raise a concern or promote a cause is welcome to attend on Tuesday nights at 7:30PM in the Forum Coffee House.  Email democrat@grinnell.edu if you’d like to join us.

1 comment April 4th, 2006