“This Year’s Maverick” … (He “Ain’t Gay”)
From The New York Times Magazine this weekend comes a lengthy profile — “This Year’s Maverick” — of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Graham has been beset by “gay rumors” — from the Tea Party to tea dances — and he takes the opportunity of Robert Draper’s profile to squarely address the rumors in a way that The Washington Post‘s Jonathan Capehart calls “a stellar response.” The exchange:
Less tame are the blogosphere monikers, like “Miss Lindsey,” that play off of Graham’s never-married status. During a South Carolina Tea Party rally this spring, one speaker created an uproar by postulating that Graham supported a guest-worker program out of fear that the Democrats might otherwise expose his homosexuality. (Graham smirked when I brought this up. “Like maybe I’m having a clandestine affair with Ricky Martin,” he said. “I know it’s really gonna upset a lot of gay men — I’m sure hundreds of ’em are gonna be jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge — but I ain’t available. I ain’t gay. Sorry.”)
Though Capehart writes that he had “better pack [his] bags for San Francisco,” I’ll stay in the District to watch for more maverick-y moves from South Carolina’s senior senator.
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