HUFFINGTON
09.30.12
THE PINK ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
views on the candidate or reveal whom he backed in the primary, and he won’t comment on
whether Log Cabin’s silence so far
means anything significant. The
vagueness is characteristic form
for Cooper, who, in the mold of
Romney, is something of a cipher.
Among the matters he refused to
discuss on the record were his experiences at a private party thrown
by his former boss Jeb Bush, the
difficulty of getting around the
convention site, the work of a
number of activist organizations
on the left, and his thoughts about
GOProud. He’s careful not to offend any potential allies, even the
many critics on both the left and
the right who clearly don’t worry
for moment about offending him.
His entire life is wrapped up in
the work of building alliances with
such people, and although he’s
constantly beating the drum for
marriage equality, he says he has
no time to pursue a relationship of
his own. “I have a Jack Russell terrier and an orange tree,” he said.
After Romney addressed the convention on Thursday night, pundits
widely noted the lack of concrete
proposals in his speech. But the
candidate did make a few specific
promises. He said he would not
raise taxes on the middle class, he’d
“protect the sanctity of life,” he’d
“guarantee” the freedom of religion,
and he’d “honor the institution of
marriage.” By the following night,
the Family Research Council, GOProud and Log Cabin had all put
out press releases driving home
their distinct points of view. The
Family Research Council assured
those voters “hungry for a return
to core values” that “Mitt was unequivocal” and quoted his lines on
marriage and religion. GOProud’s
leaders said they were “incredibly
proud to be the only national gay
group to have endorsed Mitt Romney’s bid for President.”
And Cooper was characteristically opaque. A storm of rhetoric
was raging against him again, but
he seemed certain it would pass. In
the meantime, he planned to stay
the course. “As the 2012 Republican National Convention comes to
a close, two things are very clear,”
he wrote in a note to Log Cabin
members and the press. “Gay conservatives absolutely have a place
within the Republican Party. We
also have an important responsibility to work to make our party
more inclusive. Log Cabin Republicans intend to fully
embrace both roles.”