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<p class=MsoNormal>Courtesy of today’s (August 26, 2010) Spokesman-Review.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Ex-Republican chairman announces that he’s gay<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>WASHINGTON – Former Republican Party Chairman Ken
Mehlman says in a magazine interview that he is gay.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Mehlman, who was campaign manager for President George W.
Bush in 2004 and then RNC chairman after Bush’s re-election, told The
Atlantic in an interview published online Wednesday that he came to the
conclusion he is gay recently and wanted to talk about it publicly because he
wants to become an advocate for gay marriage. He also thought questions would
arise when he participates in an upcoming fundraiser for the group challenging
California’s ballot measure opposing those marriages.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with
that part of my life,” said Mehlman, now an executive vice president with
KKR, a New York City-based private equity firm. “Everybody has their own
path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months,
I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues and current colleagues
and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something
that has made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had
done years ago.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Mehlman’s leadership positions with the Republican
Party came at a time when some in the party were working to put anti-gay ballot
measures before the public in several states. He has said he tried to convince
Republican officials privately not to attack gay marriage, The Atlantic
reported. He also said that, as a solitary Republican, he could not go against
the party consensus.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Mehlman, who has never married, said he wishes he had tried
to expand the GOP’s outreach to the gay community and worked openly against
political initiatives opposing gay marriage.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>----------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Ken Mehlman<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><a
href="http://media.spokesman.com/photos/2010/08/26/mehlman-mug0826_t620.jpg">http://media.spokesman.com/photos/2010/08/26/mehlman-mug0826_t620.jpg</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Seeya round town, Moscow.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Moscow, Idaho<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>"Corporations
are an oppressed minority forced to move headquarters from state to state in
search of friendlier tax codes--sometimes being forced to live just off our
shores in tiny mailboxes." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- John
Oliver, The Daily Show<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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