MSNBC's Keith
Olbermann talked to Candace Gingrich, the
lesbian sister of conservative stalwart Newt Gingrich,
Tuesday night on Countdown With Keith Olbermann.
In the opening
segment, Olbermann discussed a recently released poll from
Survey USA indicating that 8% of California voters who had
voted to ban same-sex marriage had changed their mind
on the measure following nationwide protests that
ensued. The poll had a +/- 4.3% margin of error for
that specific question. The margin by which the gay marriage
ban passed was just over 4 points.
"Thus with the
caveats that they didn't ask anybody who voted against
the ban if they had changed their minds, and it's just a
poll, and there's no second vote scheduled, there is
still some evidence that another vote might go the
other way," Olbermann said.
Asked if the poll
surprised her, Candace Gingrich said, "To me, it just
exemplifies the progress that's being made on what marriage
equality is all about." Gingrich added that the
protests had facilitated a continued dialogue and
discussion around gay and lesbian issues and family
concerns that was "very powerful."
Gingrich
attributed any change of heart among California voters to a
new recognition that certain people's rights had been
taken away. She also noted that the implications of
Proposition 8 have had a "chilling" effect on many
Californians, and especially minority groups. "This
idea that you can put the rights of one particular
group up to popular vote, I mean, that's scary," she said.
Gingrich authored
a piece for The Huffington Post
this past weekend in response to her brother Newt's recent
assertion on Fox News that "there is a gay and secular
fascism in this country that wants to impose its will
on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use
harassment. I think it is prepared to use the government
if it can get control of it. I think that it is a very
dangerous threat to anybody who believes in
traditional religion."
Before taking her
brother to task, Gingrich opened her letter with, "I
must say, after years of watching you build your career by
stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I
feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald
Reagan -- 'There you go, again.'" (Kerry Eleveld,
The Advocate)
