David Dreier: Outed



If you didn't already know, the brains behind Ahrnold's successful Governor's race, the moderate Republican DavidDreier has been outed. His abysmal voting record on gay issues was the main cause of the revelations that have rocked Georgetown. You will remember Dreier , he's the well-groomed and powerful California Congressman that appears frequently on Chris Matthews, and brokers powerful deals behind the scenes in the United States Congress, the world's Most Aristocratic Club. The Corsair has been suspicious of Drier ever since that Apple Martini Party during the Republican Convention in New York -- but never mind. So, what's the big deal, he's gay, so what?

Well, this: Drier has amassed in his 12 terms a voting record on gay civil rights, despite being in a very powerful position within the Republican Party, and despite being gay himself. That hypocricy was too much to let go: how does a gay man with unprecedented power consistently vote against the civil rights of gay Americans? And now the blogosphere is amplifying on the story. Writes Doug Ireland in the LA Weekly:

"The powerful 12-term congressman � chairman of the House Rules Committee, chairman of the California Republican House delegation, co-chairman of Californians for Bush, chairman of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger�s transition team � is in the cross hairs of Mike Rogers and his Blogactive.com Web site, whose outing campaign has already forced one GOP congressman out of politics. Representative Ed Schrock, a reactionary from Virginia, ended his re-election campaign last month after Rogers put on his Web site an audiotape of Schrock trolling for tricks on a gay chat line."

Editor's Note: "MAJOR GOP Staffer to be outed later today!" Winds of change are sweeping the Georgian Neoclassical buildings of Washington. Blogs have finally arrived.

"Now, Rogers � a former development director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force � has given Dreier the 'Roy Cohn Award, in recognition of 24 years of working against gay and lesbian rights while living as a gay man yourself.' He is pummeling Dreier with almost daily revelations as a response to the GOP�s anti-gay crusade for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.

"Rogers� campaign against Dreier got a major boost when it was taken up by Raw Story, the hot new liberal gadfly newsblog. Raw Story � which is edited out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, by 23-year-old John Byrne, who is also gay � last week published an interview with Dreier�s Democratic opponent in 1998 and 2000, Dr. Janice Nelson, who said she was aware during her 2000 campaign that Dreier was living with his chief of staff, Brad Smith. 'Brad was like an invisible presence,' she said. 'They really have the routine down slick.'�

Wonkette writes:

"Dreier represents a very conservative district, and has repeatedly taken anti-gay positions -- and not just your standard Federal Marriage Amendment-type stuff. According to the Weekly, he even voted against 'the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program designed to give shelter to the impoverished sick, and against funding for the federal ADAP program that furnishes the poor with the AIDS meds they need to stay alive.' Oh, the irony."

The rest of the story here.