Discussion of guv’s ‘choice’ gaffe continues

Gov. Bill Richardson’s “choice” remark from last week’s gay-rights forum continues to spark discussion in the mainstream media and on the Internet.

As I reported last week, in response to a question about whether homosexuality is a choice or biological, Richardson said “It’s a choice.” When given a second chance to answer the question, he said he’s “not a scientist” and doesn’t “see this as an issue of science or definition” but instead sees “gays and lesbians as people” and doesn’t like to “categorize people.”

Richardson later explained the gaffe by saying he was tired from a cross-country flight, didn’t understand the question and doesn’t believe that homosexuality is a choice. He’s been on a campaign to lessen the damage from the Thursday-evening forum ever since.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is openly gay, released this statement on Monday:

“Gov. Bill Richardson’s apology for the mistake he made in saying that sexual orientation is a choice did not surprise me, because he has been a strong supporter of our right to be treated fairly throughout his public career. It is especially relevant that he voted consistently on our side from the start of his congressional career in the 1980s, when the issue of LGBT rights had far less support even from Democrats that it has today,” he said. “I regret Gov. Richardson’s misstatement – as I sometimes regret one or two of my own – but his error in the pressure of a debate should not detract from his very strong record in defense of equality for all Americans, including those of us who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.”

Others weren’t quite as forgiving. Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post, one of the panelists quizzing Richardson during Thursday’s forum, wrote on Monday about the event.

“The forum’s organizers hoped to get the candidates to show their concern for the gay and lesbian community and to see whether their understanding emanated from their consultant-generated talking points or from their hearts,” he wrote. “Clearly, Richardson’s head needed some work.”

He also wrote that Richardson’s “rationale and initial answer are inexcusable.”

“To gays and lesbians, flubbing the choice-vs.-nature question is like botching the answer to ‘What’s one plus one?’ Note to Richardson’s current and former gay staffers and supporters: Do an intervention – and get him an Ambien – before he implodes again.”

But even Capehart said Richardson had a point in his assertion that America isn’t ready for gay marriage. Richardson has said repeatedly that he supports what is “achievable” – domestic partnerships.

“I support gay marriage, but I am pragmatic enough not to turn my nose up at legislative and legal gains that strengthen gay relationships and lay the foundation for full marriage rights – or turn my back on those who would fight for them,” Capehart wrote.

So even he hasn’t given up on Richardson, apparently.

The deeper issue

Few doubt Richardson’s assessment of his misstep – that he was tired from an overnight flight. Those who know Richardson know that he’s working harder and longer hours than most or all of the other candidates, and that his eating habits don’t exactly promote such a fast-paced lifestyle.

The deeper question, then, is whether Richardson can keep up the pace for at least the next several months, until the January primary contests, and longer if he survives the Feb. 5 slate of contests that will likely pick the nominees from both parties.

MSNBC’s blog noted, on Monday, Richardson’s admission that he was tired, and said a “friend of (the blog) wondered to us over the weekend: ‘Bill Richardson has winged it all his life and gotten away with it; but you can’t wing it when running for president.’”

Update, 4:15 p.m.

Richardson spoke about the controversy again in an article published today in the New York Daily News. And he made a new mistake. After apologizing, saying he “screwed up,” and describing how gay blogs “went nuts, saying, you know, that I literally was a moron and that I didn’t understand their struggle,” he dodged yet another question important to the gay community.

He was asked by the paper if he would veto a gay marriage bill if the New Mexico Legislature approved one. It’s a question he refused to answer during last week’s forum, and one he apparently still won’t answer.

“I don’t want to get into that,” Richardson told the newspaper. “I thought you guys were going to ask me about other stuff. Don’t you care about other stuff?”

Come clean, governor.