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A Prop 8 Crusader Leaves the GOP
The Orange County Register / Zuma Press
What drove evangelical multimillionaire Howard Ahmanson—the man behind Prop 8—away from the Republicans? It wasn't Sarah Palin. He talks to The Daily Beast’s Kathleen Parker.
Multimillionaire Howard Ahmanson, one of the nation’s top evangelical Christian philanthropists and one of three funders of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, recently joined the Democratic Party. Although Ahmanson’s support for Prop 8 earned him critics on the left, his many philanthropic interests funded through his Fieldstead Institute are most often nonpartisan and nonpolitical, from AIDS prevention to public transportation. In an exclusive interview with columnist Kathleen Parker, he explains why he switched political affiliations and what he thinks of President Obama, and he speaks frankly about gays.
"I don’t think [I have any gay friends], but I would stand with them on my opinions. And I would be willing to tell them what I think they should do."
You are what most people would characterize as a far-right Christian. What prompted you to join the “enemy” camp?
I’ve been part of the religious right and I don’t go to great lengths to hide that. I realize that a lot of people who feel as I do are in the socially conservative camp, as I am, but the Democratic Party in a place like California is so large and diverse that there are people of just about every opinion. The crusade for good things is, in the end, bipartisan.
This was a particularly local California phenomenon. A few things on the national level made me nervous, but here, they said, “No new taxes whatsoever no matter what.” They were going to make this a touchstone of orthodoxy in the party... I’m afraid I just got extremely frustrated having to read about this day after day after day. This is no longer my party.
What do you expect to do as a Democrat and what do you expect the Democratic Party to offer you?
I expect to do the same things but in a slightly more bipartisan format. In case someone asked, “intelligent design” is neither Republican nor Democrat. And what I expect the Democratic Party to offer me is knowledge of people—admittedly a fringe—who know that. And of course, though Proposition 8 is a sideline, it won with the support of lots and lots of Democrats.
Why not become an independent?
Being an independent seems a little bit like a coward’s way out. Also, independents are stereotyped as social liberals and fiscal conservatives. [Ahmanson characterizes himself as a social conservative and a fiscal moderate.]
What are your thoughts on the GOP?
My real trouble with the state party was taxes. The national Republican Party has had its tension between the upscales and downscales—the upper middle class and the lower middle class.
If I were in the GOP, I’d advocate the party should be downscaling.
Do you mean going more populist rather than elitist?
Yes.
So I take it you liked Sarah Palin?
I like her, though I’ll have to confess that I like Bobby Jindal better. I’m now a blue-dog Democrat for Bobby Jindal for 2012.
How would you gauge President Obama’s administration thus far?
It’s a bit early for Obama, and he may do well or he may not do well. It’s a bit too early. There were some things I was disappointed about. I was disappointed in his position on abortion and stem cells, but I knew he was going to do that, so I wasn’t surprised. Something I’m pleased with is, if he dares to uphold the voucher program in D.C. and go on from there, that would be a very good thing and I will actually have an opportunity to say something nice about our president.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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In the spirit of how we treat the least among us, please consider...
Compare and contrast; one of my high school english teachers drilled that one.
Compare and contrast: Slave rights and gay rights; the contrasts are easy, the comparisons are profound. Slave marriage were not legally honored either. They could not create and sign contracts and what is marriage mostly (legally speaking) but a huge contract with thousands of rights and responsibilities.
Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke their last year saying, "That just like apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between different races, laws against homosexuality are increasingly becoming recognized as anachronistic and inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion, and respect for all".
So this guy is slumming it with us Democrats. Very nice. He's for Bobby Jindal in 2012 and that's all you need to know.
What a truly despicable guy. A terrible human being.
What I mostly take from this interview is an individual who as time and supposed wisdom progressed, has mellowed in his hard lined theological beliefs. What is a shame, is the havoc
he has wrought in getting there.
'I want
To keep my brain
In the same tiny box
But a name change
Would be good
To climb out
Of this clown car
Marked
Republican Party.
Right now
I just need to
Get out of the kitchen.'
An opportunist, idealogue, willing to force his opinion on anyone else.
I read the whole article and I find this gentleman confusing. He thinks Bush did almost everything right, he likes Palin, but loves Jindal = he's a new Democrat?
I agree with him about the environment, but I'm an Independent, so he thinks I'm a coward. Oh, well.
Not that it's hard to find contradictions in Mr. Ahmanson, but...
Bobby Jindal, a Catholic, for President in 2012? See Martin Luther, Protestant Reformation in reference to Biblical interpretation.
Let me get this straight(perhaps a poor choice of words with this guy). It doesn't matter what political party or religious denomination you claim as long as you're against homosexuality and abortion but support school vouchers and drive a Prius.
Wow! One more question- Does he support legalization of marijuana? Methinks he's been inhaling something.
Well, this guy represents the base Obama's courting, the people Obama truly cares about. Not workers, lgbts, medical cannabis users, women, the poor -- they can't fund his re-election campaign like this guy and Rick Warren. Obama's a big disappointment and a sellout.
Ahmanson sounds like a very confused and conflicted guy. It's hard to find coherence in his positions, other than "fiscal moderation."
Not sure how the Democratic Party profits from his "conversion", especially since he's a fan of Jindal, who is a serious religious wingnut. (See his views on witches, abortion and creationism.)
@'Truthseeker'
Have another glass
Of whine.
With friends like these.........
Isn't it nice to find someone who can use big words to describe little ideas?
Wow. A guy who uses big words to describe little ideas.
There are drugs for schizoprenia, dude.
I absolutely despise people who think homosexuality is some sort of affliction that can be cured. How can he even begin to say that he's now a Democrat when he's still enthralled with Bush , likes Palin, and thinks Jindal is swell?? Who IS this guy?
Well blue dog democratic, I dunno. He sounds more like a conservative republican of the old party, you know before they hijacked christ. Unfornately, they pushed the social issues to the front where they were able to get people who normally wouldn't have voted for a republican if it weren't for guns, gay, abortion. That is the only way they were able to win elections. Finally people woke up and realized they better start looking forward to a better way for their financial needs instead of their social needs.
Hmm. I think it is notable that a Republican who fell out of favor with her party landed this interview. Nice going, Parker.
As a Democrat who is friend to many Republicans I found this strange and interesting. Of course, I am not the least bit taken by his early support for Jindal- the gimmick of joining the Democrats just so you can seem exotic by saying you are supporting a most ass-backwards Republican is genuine on no level at all.
But, I also belive that the Democratic Party is growing in ways I would not have predicted 4 or 8 years ago, even though I have been saying all along that it should.
So... hurray?
Everyone should read about Mr. Ahmansons personal history. It explains alot. Even with all his money... this is a person I pity. Hurting people hurt others. (Cliche' but it's true) He really is the most pathetic figure. That is not a critical statement, it's a sad one.
If I were a Democrat, I'd have him arrested as a spy. Or he's even lower then that... he's going after the party with political power to have the most influence.
Do you really think the Democrats would want this guy?
Ritarita
May I say your posts are my absolute favorite. Never in my life have I seen anyone that can say as much with so little. We need to clone you, and have you teach in Washington. I just might then be able to watch CSPAN.
This is becoming very common around the country. Individuals you have destroyed the Republican Party with their strict fundamentalist views joining the Democratic Party. Their main goal is to destroy the party as they did the Republican Party.
let
the
purge
begin
This guy makes no sense.
No wonder he became a Democrat.
@ Nickmagoo
He's right: homosexuality is a behavior just like any other behavior and gay people don't have to engage in homosexual behavior. It's a CHOICE that can become an addiction, just like doing illicit drugs or engaging in other bad BEHAVIOR. Seems pretty simple to me. All the gay marriage agenda is is an end-run attempt to get state sanction of your behavior to either a.) assuage your own self-hate or b.) force other people to accept your behavior through threat of legal sanction.
Doesn't mean I don't think you can't be gay or do drugs on your own time in the privacy of your own home with another consenting adult, it just means that I don't approve of your behavior and don't think I should be forced to.
And for what it's worth, there's no equal protection argument to be had: I can't marry another man either, so where's the unequal application of the law? You're just as free as I am to marry a woman, too. The law applies to all men and all women equally.
Cheers!
folks are welcome to believe anything they please in their religions but they cross the line when they seek to enshrine their prejudices in the law. there is a majority of heterosexually-oriented citizens and a sizeable percentage of homosexually-oriented citizens in this country. (btw, anyone who says that being gay is something that you "do" is just willfully ignorant.) to say that there are legal rights and privileges that apply only to the heterosexuals is both un-american and unconstitutional. i don't see any 'gay deduction' on the income tax forms and yet gay people are barred from fully participating in many aspects of american life. equal protection under the law means just that. what a sorry spectacle it is to see folks, under the banner of religion, who seek to keep their fellow citizens in a second-class status !
@Hawnzz
Mom?
Seriously
You don't have to
Do this.
Thank you.
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