Posted on 08/16/2006 9:50:04 AM PDT by Abathar
DENVER -- Democrats pounced on Colorado's Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez and his newly chosen running mate Janet Rowland on Tuesday for comments she made five months ago comparing same-sex marriage to bestiality.
In a March 17 broadcast of the Rocky Mountain PBS program "Colorado State of Mind," Rowland said homosexuality is an alternative lifestyle, adding, "For some people, the alternative lifestyle is bestiality. Do we allow a man to marry a sheep?"
Democrat Bill Ritter's campaign called the remarks "insensitive, close-minded, derogatory and crude" and demanded an apology.
"This shows just how far to the right and out-of-touch the Beauprez-Rowland ticket really is," Ritter campaign manager Greg Kolomitz said.
Beauprez campaign manager John Marshall said Rowland regretted the remark and has apologized.
"We all say things we don't mean sometimes," he said. "That's what happened."
He said Beauprez continues to believe Rowland is a strong candidate but added, "Let me be clear. He doesn't agree with (the) comments and neither does she."
Marshall said Rowland had told campaign officials about the remarks before she was chosen as Beauprez's running mate, and they accepted her apology and statement of regret.
Rowland was campaigning Tuesday and was not available for further comment, Marshall said.
The tempest arose just one day after Beauprez announced that Rowland, a Mesa County commissioner, is his running mate in what is expected to be a tight race for the seat being given up by term-limited GOP Gov. Bill Owens. Beauprez praised Rowland's accomplishments, integrity and "real-world experience."
Rowland, 43, is a married mother of two children. In the broadcast, she stressed she does not hate gays.
"I have friends who are gay, I've worked with people who are gay, I have utmost respect for them," she said.
She said society must differentiate between what is acceptable as marriage and what is not.
"Some people have group sex. Should we allow two men and three women to marry? Should we allow polygamy, with one man and five wives?" she said.
She returned to the bestiality comparison at the end of the broadcast.
"And I know some of you are outraged that I would compare bestiality to this," she said. "Forty or 50 years ago, people would be outraged that we were talking about gay marriage."
Republican political analyst Katy Atkinson of Denver said it's difficult to measure what impact Rowland's comments will have on the race. She said it depends partly on whether key swing voters view Rowland's views as extreme.
"Coloradans tend to not like or vote for anybody who is an extremist," she said. "If that comment is used to portray her and Bob Beauprez as extremist, that's a problem."
Atkinson said Beauprez will fare best if he can regain the offensive in the campaign and shape the voters' impression of him.
"Bob Beauprez's secret weapon is Bob Beauprez," she said. "When he speaks to voters on television or radio, he seems like their favorite uncle, like every word he says is sincere and from the heart."
So far, she said, Ritter and his supporters have kept Beauprez on the defensive, and Rowland's comments only contribute to that.
"The challenge he has had all along -- it hasn't worked very well for him -- is to run the campaign on his terms, and he hasn't been able to do that," Atkinson said. "Now his campaign is having to react to these comments."
Rowland was a caseworker for the Mesa County Department of Human Services, investigating allegations of abuse and neglect for 10 years. Analysts said her choice by Beauprez was intended to assuage western Colorado voters angry over his support of projects they believed would shipped precious water to the Front Range.
Kolomitz and state Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak compared Rowland to state Rep. Jim Welker, R-Loveland, who was widely criticized for forwarding e-mails that characterized black victims of Hurricane Katrina as lazy.
"Coloradans should not be surprised to see this type of mean-spirited extremism displayed by a high-profile Republican candidate," Waak said.
No problem here!
Alternative lifestyle translates into anal sex for men with resulting hemorrhoids and cunnilingus with women resulting in herpes and bad breath. Humanity needs saving from its ownself. Good grief!
You know, considering the subject matter, another writer would have phrased that differently...
Notice that Ritter called her comments everything but inaccurate and untrue. Oopsy! The dhimmie's Freudian slip is showing again.
I don't see it, either. I guess Bob's holding onto his cash and following the conventional wisdom that nobody pays attention to the race until after Labor Day.
Yeah, my favorite cow was starting to look at me sideways.
See below for my response about a parent marrying his child. Siblings getting married may be a result of childhood abuse. As such, it is best to not allow that to prevent abuse.
Or, how about two men and a woman or two women and a man?
Not my thing, but I am not about to force my will on others.
How about a father and his daughter? Or, a father and his son?
This borders on sex with minors. A parent who marries his children may have abused them as children (i.e. raised the child to be his sex-slave). This hurts the child.
How about a man and his goat? If a man is in love with his goat, who is to say that such should not be sanctioned? It won't affect you and it won't affect me. If they are happy together, why not? It is not animal abuse. After all, you can kill a goat and eat it. Can someone stop you from having sex with it?
It is animal abuse. While it is legal to kill a goat, it is not legal to torture it. Since a goat can't provide consent to have sex, then a man marrying his goat is technically raping his goat every time he has sexual intercourse. Since sex is implied in marriage, then marriage between humans and animals should be illegal.
I bet the followers of incest from Clinton's hometown felt left out. I weep for their omission.
Only if she can cook along with mowing the lawn ...
Eggzactly what I was thinking...
This is a perfectly legitimate and a good question. The Democrats should answer it.
Well...she's right. Unnatural is unnatural!
you are absolutely correct. And polygamy was sanctioned by the Bible. End of story. Thanks for the rationality.
It is a disorder and an inclination to a particular sin, but only homosexual activity is sin, not the inclination.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)
Homosexuals dislike it when you expose the fact they are sexual perverts.
Homosexuals are only about sex. PERIOD.
Comparing homosexual fetishist to those who have a fetish for sex with animals is accurate and precise.
Homosexuality is not a compulsion to arrange flowers and interior decorating.
To all these critics; She wasn't saying the gay livestyle was the same as bestiality---her analogy was stressing that society has limits. But ya know how the libs will be so quick to jump on her because she dared criticize the homosexual agenda.
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