(Thumbnail Image: Comedy Central)
 

BY CHANCE SEALES

“The former chair of the Republican Party says he’s gay.  Ken Mehlman who was also Bush’s campaign chief in 2004 tells The Atlantic it was fairly recently he came to terms with his identity.” (MSNBC)

Six years after leading Republicans back to the White House, the former RNC chairman came out of the closet.  Ken Mehlman helped craft GOP policy, but now says he never agreed with the anti-gay marriage strategy that helped usher his party back into power.  In an interview with The Atlantic, Mehlman says…
 
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life … Everybody has their own path to travel … The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."

Now that he’s openly gay, a writer for Talking Points Memo tells MSNBC, Mehlman will likely face a mixed reception from the GLBT community.
 
“If he wants to advocate for gay marriage, there are other Republicans that do that.  Obviously, the Log Cabin Republicans are one of the most prominent groups that are advocating for gay rights.  You know, issues such as don’t ask don’t tell.  I mean, I’d like to ask Ken Mehlman about some of those policy questions cause you have the Republican Party sort of in agreement against a lot of pro-gay civil rights issues.”

Bloggers instantly reacted to Melhman’s announcement.  On The Huffington Post, a gay journalist says the RNC big wig hasn’t earned a ticker tape parade just yet, but it's a start.
 
“We don't need to support him. We don't need to forgive him. But we do need to have some empathy and understanding of the closet he has just left. It's a closet every LGBT person knows all too well.”

But a writer for BlogActive says Mehlman owes gays more than an apology…

“… all he needs to do is sell his condo and donate the funds to the causes he worked against so hard for all those years. … Ken Mehlman is sitting in a $3,770,000 condo in Chelsea while we have lost our right to marry in almost 40 states.”
 
But to Washington insiders, the announcement is anything but a shock.  CNN inadvertently carried the news back in 2006 and later edited that portion out.  On Wednesday, it was different — with Rick Sanchez reading Tweets that added up to a collective yawn.

 
MAHER:  “A lot of the chiefs of staff — the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party are gay. ... Ken Mehlman. Okay, there’s one people have talked about.”

SANCHEZ:  “First from Howard Kurtz. ‘Ken Mehlman tells Marc Ambinder he’s gay, which of course was an open secret in DC when he worked for Bush’s campaign.’  We got another one?  ‘Ken Mehlman!  We all knew you was Gay, homie, but this $%^& about the Bush White House and Black People?  News to me.’  That’s Kwame Kilpatrick giving us one.”

Going forward, Mehlman says he’ll be an advocate for gay marriage — the very policy he worked against in 2004.  So what kind of impact do you think Mehlman’s announcement will have?