Paul Scott Targets Transgendered People

[Guest Maelee]

I am a resident of Michigan and even with how stupid this guy is, it really scares me that he will get the sec. of state position. Michigan's economy has been so bad for so long that a lot of people are all blaming it on our current governor and the democratic party that if this idiot gets the republican nomination he will probably get elected.

Of course, I am stuck living in the rural north of the state whose population would pretty much agree with anything the republicans would say so maybe the views I am hearing all around me are just a bit scewed. It still scares me. I really hope the mostly democratic south of the state will keep him out. Again though, it is Scott's ploy to demonize us as a group to try and get more votes to their side. It worked when prop 8 was voted on in California, why not in Michigan which I tend to think of as having a bit lower level of education then Cali. (Sorry for anyone from MI, have I mentioned I hate living up here? lol)

What would be our best way of keeping this guy from getting elected? I have never been politically motivated to try and make a difference before but I can not stand back and let things like this happen to us. Voting has always been something I felt obligated to do but before I came out I always just let things happen. Anymore though I feel like I can't just stand back and let things take their own course. Before I came out I never felt I was going to start transition so I did not feel that LGBT issues were going to affect me. Don't get me wrong, I finally changed my tune about 6 years ago when I started voting as I felt and not as my family told me I should feel.

So any advice on how to start trying to make a difference would be great. Maybe I could influence some people up here by writing to some of the local papers. I really don't want to make things worse though. I fear that anything I could write in such a public forum would just ignite the religious right up here.

Thanks everyone;

Mae or Nichole or Maelee ( )

[Guest Katmandu4435]

I would like to address some of these things. After growing up in a republican household, I feel like I can articulate a little bit of what a true conservative should be like

1) If he were a true conservative, he would recognize that the government should have no say in dictating morality, because that in all likelihood would create a bigger government.

2) In the current republican climate, it is better to spew things that you don't know anything about then to actually learn about them and provide reasoned arguments. Or compromise. Or do anything that would offend their evangelical tea party base

3) Easing the bureaucratic measures on the legal side of transitioning has to have some measure of economic benefit. If an individual can become significantly happier by transitioning or getting help, then that has to provide some measure of benefit to the economy. It's already hard enough to figure out gender (Well, right now it is for me). It is amazing the moderators here have created such a wonderful environment (As a newbie to these boards) and been able to help many people. And I am willing to bet that these happy people contribute more to the economy than unhappy people dealing with similar questions and issues.

In short, economy = good.

4) It's completely fun to make up stories during elections! In other news, I can see Russia from my house, and I don't even live in Alaska!

5) Please vote against him

~Katmandu

[Guest ChloëC]

Katmandu,

Although you're mostly right about Conservatives, you have to understand that the Religious Right has co-opted both the Conservative wing and the Republican Party itself. They are not Conservatives. Their agenda is not supported by the mainstream public in the United States, but if they can attack poorly understood issues with the mantra 'family values' a lot of casual voters will support them.

One of the current hotbeds of this movement is south-west Michigan in the Grand Rapids - Kalamazoo corridor. Paul Scott needs the nomination of the Republican Party (win the primary vote in March) to get on the ballot in November. He has no choice but to directly appeal to the base instincts of the people who will actually vote in the primary (and there are a lot of them in that area of Michigan). Since you have to declare party allegiance to get a ballot in the primary, all the voters who might vote against him will probably not declare themselves as Republicans. Thus he has a good chance of winning the primary from the core of voters who will declare and vote, mostly those who are part of the Religious Right.

To win in November he will have to reach out to the undecided and independent voters that can be swayed by rhetoric and emotion rather than common sense and the truth. In today's tumultuous economic and political climate, that is not hard to do.

It's scary.

Chloë

[Guest Kristin318]

I thank god that I live in Ann Arbor. Paul Scott has no chance in hell winning Washtenaw county or even the Detroit Metro area. I don't know where it was but I read an interview with Mr. Scott where he for the most part he admitted to using his comments on transgender rights as a lightening rod to draw attention to himself and his campaign. If he actually follows through with his male bovine crap, is another story all together. From what I gather he is using the social conservatives that are up in arms about the Kalamazoo ordinance as a launching pad for his campaign.