Journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. Follow me on Twitter at @mtracey.
Almost every conservative I knew in college favored both same-sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana without hesitation. Secular Jewish conservatives were especially adamant about supporting same-sex marriage, though plenty of others fully agreed. There were the odd religious conservative holdouts, but virtually all supported the aforementioned two issues, even for reasons of pure pragmatism. Those few who opposed same-sex marriage were much more defined by their involvement in Christian organizations than their identification with conservative politics, not withstanding their self-description as “conservative.” Among the minority who opposed same-sex marriage, not many were especially incensed about its inevitability. Read more
Mitt Romney made a campaign stop in Sanford, Florida one day before the election. Parallels with Ronald Reagan’s 1980 speech at the Neshoba County Fair near Philadelphia, Mississippi to tout “states’ rights” should be obvious. But Romney’s signaling Monday seemed even more brazen. Of all the places across America to visit on Election Eve, why would Romney choose the site of America’s most racially-acrimonious episode in years? Sanford, if it needs to be said, is where George Zimmerman shot dead an unarmed black teen, Trayvon Martin, in February. This was subsequently swept under the rug by local police. When word finally percolated up the media food-chain, a national controversy ensued, prompting incredible vitriol from certain unsavory elements of the populace… Read more
“All we have to do is replace Obama,” proclaimed GOP power broker Grover Norquist at this year’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. “We are not auditioning for fearless leader.” Sufficiently qualified for the job, he argued, is any man with the capacity to “handle a pen” and thus sign bills sent by Congress. “His job is to be captain of the team,” Norquist said of the party’s as-yet-undetermined nominee. Read more
