Arthur Finkelstein, the Hypocrite Gay Consultant Who Kept Electing Right-Wing Homophobes
He mostly called Democrats ‘too liberal,’ ‘super liberal,’ and ‘insanely liberal.’ But he also cut an ad for Jesse Helms about ‘the homosexuals.’ And he never squared it.
ELEANOR CLIFT
08.26.17 10:07 PM ET
Libertarians are live-and-let-live when it comes to cultural issues, and “Arthur’s kids,” a generation of GOP operatives, knew but didn’t care that their hero and mentor, political consultant Arthur Finkelstein, was gay; but neither did they mind that gay bashing was a tool to win elections.
Finkelstein, who died Aug. 18 at age 72, was “outed” in 1996 in an article in Boston magazine. That was the same year he directed strategy for 33 Senate Republicans. By then, political insiders and reporters had known for some time about his family life, which included two daughters that he and his partner had adopted.
The magazine article exposed the disconnect between his personal life and his work to elect anti-gay candidates. Heading the list was North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, whose ads in his 1990 Senate race, crafted by Finkelstein, accused “homosexuals” of “buying this election” for Democrat Harvey Gantt because of Gantt’s support for “mandatory gay rights.”
The article noted that several other Finkelstein clients, Lauch Faircloth (R-NC), Don Nickles (R-OK) and Bob Smith (R-NH), together with Helms, defeated a bill banning anti-gay job discrimination. Faircloth led the fight on the Senate floor for the anti-gay faction, declaring, “Same-sex unions do not make strong families.” Smith opposed gays adopting children. Nickles sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act.
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/arthur-finkelstein-the-hypocrite-gay-consultant-who-kept-electing-right-wing-homophobes
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