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EDITORIAL: With politicians switching parties like crazy this election, and the trend likely to continue, voters should vote for the candidate, not the party. See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17,2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 5A
OUR VIEW
Party-switching blurs difference between Democrat and Republican
Last Tuesday's midterm elections produced a seemingly infinite number of talking points for the national media, mostly relating to the power shift in Washington. But one interesting aspect of the election has gone relatively overlooked: the surprisingly high number of candidates who switched political parties prior to the election.
Locally, Paul Morrison is the most prominent example of this trend. Morrison switched to the Democratic ticket in order to challenge Phill Kline, thus appealing more to moderate voters turned off by Kline's evangelical strong-arming.
Jim Webb, the newest senator from Virginia, was a lifelong Republican and was Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration. Webb ran as a Democrat to undercut Senator George Allen's moderate base and because of his disaffection with the Bush administration. His new party label appealed to enough voters in the Commonwealth to propel
him to victory.
So is this the beginning of a backlash against polarized politics, or merely another example of crass political opportunism? While there is probably an uncomfortably large portion of the latter, perhaps we should be optimistic that moderation may again be gaining popularity in Washington.
Most presidents govern as moderates, which may be a reflection of the fact that most Americans describe themselves as such. After the last 12 years, which had to rank among the most polarized periods in Washington, maybe the spirit of moderation is again returning to our nation's capital, and the party-switching is simply a byproduct of that trend.
But young voters must be careful before they mark that straight-ticket ballot. A little investigation may reveal that a "D" or an "R" next to a candidate's name does not necessarily mean that candidate shares your
values and beliefs.
Jon Tester, Montana's newest senator, would hardly be embraced at a party convention in California. Virginia's Webb would not be the darling of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. Don't let a nominal party affiliation be enough to earn your vote; make sure to evaluate a candidate's positions on the issues you care about before supporting them. Switching parties may inject life into the spirit of moderation, but it may also mislead young voters who often look for little more than a party name.
The 2008 presidential election threatens to elevate even more candidates who blend positions, merge principles, and mix philosophies for political gain. Students should take care to always evaluate the candidate, not just the candidate's party.
McKay Stangler for the editorial board
GUEST COMMENTARY
Gay celebrities still stuck with '50s-minded media
The 2004 film "Straight-Jacket" is about Guy Stone, an A-List celebrity in 1950s Hollywood and America's most eligible bachelor. He is also a barely-closedet gay man caught in a police raid of a gay bar. To cover the scandal and keep his leading role in "Ben-Hur," Guy's manager and producer arrange a sham marriage to Sally, a studio secretary. The catch is that Sally isn't in on the joke, and the marriage begins to crumble when Guy falls in love with Rick, the writer of his most recent movie. To complicate matters further Rick is a Communist during the height of McCarthism.
The film relies on both witty dialogue and visual gags and can be wonderfully campy in look and feel. Beyond the comedy, though, is an underlying story of love and the challenges that homosexuals faced in the entertainment industry and the world in general. The story also plants seeds of hope for the future.
The future is referenced several times in "Straight Jacket." Sometimes it's for comedic effect, such as when the character Freddie picks up a prop that looks like a 1990s laptop and says, "Captain Astro lives in the year 1996, not four-billion AD!" before slamming the computer down in disgust.
the computer issue in the other times the allusions are more poignant and obvious. When Guy and Rick's secret relationship begins to cause problems, Jerry, Guy's manager, urges them to call the relationship off and says "Maybe 50 years from now a gay actor will be no big deal, but I'm not about to sacrifice Guy to some cause."
Such a line immediately brings to mind the current state of affairs for gay actors. It's been 50 years. Was jerry right? Are things better?
Writer-director Richard Day said
in a behind-the-scenes featurette on the 2005 DVD release that "if you decided to film 'Straight-Jacket' as a contemporary film instead of a period film you would have to change practically nothing," and he's not entirely wrong.
Throughout the movie, the press is viewed as an important entity that can be the deciding factor in success or failure. When Guy is photographed outside a gay bar, the immediate concern is what to do about the press. When Jerry, Guy and Guy's producer decide a fake marriage is the best way to cover up the gay scandal, the marriage news is all over the media in a montage of magazine covers and newspaper pages. Similarly, when Guy is exposed as a homosexual the news is in all the magazines and all the newspapers. The backlash is immediate, as Guy loses his leading role in Ben-Hur, is told that all movies and TV roles are out of his reach and is made the butt of jokes while he loses his adoring fan base.
While gay speculation and declarations no longer seem to be immediate death sentences for Hollywood careers, the media's fixation with celebrity relationships and sexuality shows that 50 years haven't been as kind to actors as the characters in "Straight-Jacket" would hope.
When Lance Bass of "NSYNC, Neil Patrick Harris of "How I Met Your Mother" and T.R. Knight of "Grey's Anatomy" announced their sexual orientation it was all over the media, generally stemming from a "Hey, I'm gay!" story in legitimate magazines. But it's not always press releases and public statements that fuel the media machine. Speculation is just as prevalent.
Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the butts of endless jokes in late
night monologues and social satires such as Comedy Central's "South Park," and tabloids never fail to run the latest picture or "insider statement" as proof of hidden homosexuality.
Hayes has never given official word on his sexuality, but that hasn't slowed the speculation and questioning, and it's not limited to tabloids and late-night jokes. The May 2006 issue of The Advocate, a magazine targeting the LGBT community, even ran an article called "The Interview Sean Hayes Never Gave," which was a compilation of all the times and reasons Hayes had given for not addressing his sexuality. It all seems to be part of a feeding frenzy that tries to make sexuality important to acting and singing, and it certainly doesn't jive with Guy's belief that movie characters wouldn't care who played them.
Maybe it's too early to predict how or even if the media and public's fixation on sexuality will have an effect on the careers of Bass, Harris and Knight. Harris and Knight certainly aren't being forced out of their jobs like Guy was stripped from "Ben-Hur." But as long as celebrity sexuality remains a headline-grabbing topic, it's hard to be more than a step away from the situation in "Straight-lacket."
In a 1998 interview with Hollywood Online, actor Sean Hayes, who played the flamboyantly gay Jack McFarland on NBC's "Will & Grace," said "I'm an actor first and don't want to say if I'm straight or gay"
That's not much movement for 50 years.
Cynthia Hernandez is a Salina senior in journalism.
Grant Snider/KANSAN
Famous faces get the vote
GUEST COMMENTARY
We laugh and cry at our celebrities' expense, ask for autographs when possible and are loyal to their work. Whatever that work may be.
Last month, syndicated radio commentator Rush Limbaugh accused actor Michael J. Fox of exaggerating his symptoms of Parkinson's disease while doing a political advertisement for Missouri Democrat Senate candidate Claire McCaskill's campaign.
A strong supporter of stem-cell research, McCaskill received a call from Fox asking if he could help with her campaign. His well-known, boyish face, and chronic condition in need of a cure, had the potential to put McCaskill's campaign at the forefront of voters' minds. Thus, the soon-to-be infamous commercial was filmed. The ad, without focusing on it, visually and painfully demonstrated that the medication Fox takes to combat his disease had seized his body, loosening his muscles beyond his control. The resulting visual of the actor was alarming.
they care about what's popular. Limbaugh, and the Republicans, suffered the consequences of picking on Marty McFly when he's down.
Austrian-native and Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced Governor Gray Davis in 2003 for the remainder of Davis' term. When Schwarzenegger ran for re-election on Nov. 7, the blue state watched Schwarzenegger win by a 17-point margin. Maybe it was his lack of college education or his labeling San Francisco Democrats "girl men" that sealed the deal, but perhaps his effectiveness as a "Kindergarten Cop" provided much of the requirement needed to hold public office.
As to whether Claire McCaskill is the now a senator because of her political intelligence and plans for the state's future, or because Alex P. Keaton can pull the heart strings in all of us, may forever be in question.
"He's extremely exaggerating the effects of the disease," Limbaugh said on his show. "He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act . . . This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."
Whether politically active or not, Limbaugh's verbal attack infuriated Fox's fans and opened the search for the celebrity's place in the political arena. After Limbaugh's public apology was followed with its retraction, then the possible retraction of the retraction, the ad had become a media frenzy. The political factors of McCaskill's political campaign
Aissa Bauer is a Winfield senior in journalism. She is a Kansan sportswriter.
Dave Ruigh, associate opinion editor
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were as good as gone.
Within days of the pending Nov. 7 election, Anderson Cooper used an entire episode of his show, "Anderson Cooper 360" on CNN, to interview Fox on the subject, shining the spotlight all the brighter on the celeb-factor of Missouri's Senate race.
TALK TO US
However off-putting, Limbaugh and Fox did what McCaskill could not. Their battle got the public interested. Political races mean a great deal to those involved and invested, but the simple fact is that often citizens are not interested.
SUBMISSIONS
After debating with local government and its regulations while trying to open a restaurant in Palm Springs, Ca., Sonny Bono ran for mayor of the city. With a radio talk show host leading his campaign, Bono was elected and served the city from 1988-1992. The shorter half of the Sonny and Cher duo then went on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1994 to his death in 1998.
Missouri in 2006 isn't the first place that the famous face has won out. Consider some of the other choices American voters have made.
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Not quite 45 percent of Douglas County's registered voters showed up at the polls. In comparison, 53 percent of registered Missouri voters hit the booths to cast their ultimate opinion on McCaskill and Republican opponent Jim Talent.
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns submitted by auu-vits, faculty and alumni. The Kansen reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions.
Not only will McCaskill serve as U.S. senator, the advertisement that Fox volunteered himself for fell in her favor. Missouri voters voted "yes" on the stem-cell research amendment.
The incumbent Talent was the favorite, but McCaskill won.
For any questions, call Frank Tankard or Dave Rugh at 864-481-0 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
General questions should be directed to the editor at editor@kansan.com.
Sincerely hoping that America and its voters look at more than advertisements and celebrity endorsements, I don't immediately attribute McCaskill's victory to Fox's fame. But as a country that runs significantly more on movie releases and sporting events than political strategy, it is becoming clearer that the majority of Americans don't care about what's important, but
Did Limbaugh's and Fox's celebrity endorsements single-handedly spark interest of the otherwise apathetic voting public?
If bikes are going to share the road, they need to share the road signs too. Like stopping at stop
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Jesus votes Republican.
Wait, I meant Jesus votes Democrat.
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This is to the person who said that we need to support our president: That is kind of hard to do when our president is an idiot.
Glad to see my $1,000 of tuition go to pay a guy to drive around on the lawn and push leaves around.
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This is the freakout kid again. How dumb do you have to be to pull out a realistic-looking gun in
Is it wrong that I am totally grossed out by people that walk with their toes pointed out?
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To all the non-smokers on campus: Shut up.
My parents just bought my 75-year-old grandfather a box of
From the smokers: You are welcome.
To the guy sliding down the rail at Watson: I wasn't impressed.
This is to the person who said it is a good thing we support our president: Would you have supported Hitler if he were your leader? We don't follow the leader just because they are appointed.
It is very nice to be wearing jeans that don't fall down every
In a perfect world there would be no war, a cure for cancer, and all my comments would make the
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We stand on the bleachers for football. We stand off the bleachers for basketball.
To the kid in the Union today who tried to pick me up: You better Facebook me
Free for All
Everyone needs to stop complaining about smokers on campus. You got your ban in the bars. Let us have the outside.
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three steps.
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I think Texas should be removed from the Union. They don't deserve to be a part of the United States.
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Jonathan Kealing, Erik R. Schmidt, Gabiella Souza, Frank Tankard, Dave Ruigh, Steve Lynn, McKay Stangler and Louis Mora
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