GOP Presidential Debate Gets Ugly as Crowd Boos Gay Soldier

The Fox News and Google-sponsored presidential debate gave viewers, and voters, a deeper glimpse at the Republican Party’s dark side.

Nine Republican candidates gathered in Orlando, Florida, last night for yet another presidential debate, this one hosted by Fox News and Google. And, like last week’s match, this event gave viewers a look at the GOP’s dark side, particularly when it comes to gay soldiers.

Sure, there were plenty of notable and vaguely disturbing moments from last night. For example, Rick Perry said he endorsed an HPV vaccine that could prevent cervical cancer because he “errs on the side of life,” even though the Texas governor has presided over 235 executions.

And then there was the moment when Mitt Romney was asked if he, like many of his opponents, believes President Obama is a socialist. Romney wouldn’t say that — not exactly, at least. Instead, he described Obama as a “big spending liberal” who is inspired by “socialist democrats in Europe,” which is basically the same thing as saying Obama is a socialist.

The most unsettling moment of the night, however, came when the hosts turned to a viewer-submitted question, this one from a gay soldier who wondered whether the candidates would reinstate the recently repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a law that forced gay and lesbian soldiers to stay in the closet.

“In 2010, when I was deployed to Iraq, I had to lie about who I was because I’m a gay soldier and I didn’t want to lose my job,” explained the soldier, Stephen Hill. “My question is, under one of your presidencies, do you plan to do anything to circumvent the progress that’s been made for gay and lesbian soldiers”

The Republican audience, a population that is typically deferential toward active military men and women, then booed, and the candidate who had to answer the question, reliably anti-gay Rick Santorum, appeared equally disdainful, insisting “sexual activity has no place in the military” and that DADT’s repeal gave gay soldiers a special “privilege” akin to “social engineering” and that he would reinstate it upon taking office. The crowd ate it up.

Santorum ignores, of course, the fact that sexual activity does have a place in the military: there are chapels for soldiers to get married and already married soldiers can live together; if he thinks those people are not having sex, then he’s too far gone to be president.

As Steve Kornacki notes at ‘Salon,’ the vociferous boos reinforce the image of an increasingly blood-thirsty and backward GOP: the Republican audience cheers executions, supports letting the uninsured die and are now vocally opposing an active soldier — a man who risks his life for them — simply because he’s gay.

“A poll not long ago found that just 33 percent of Americans view the party favorably — an all-time low,” writes Kornacki. “Even if they are isolated, these debate outbursts end up generating considerable attention and helping to establish (or to reinforce) a sense among non-Republican voters that the GOP has gone off the deep end.”

Here’s the video of Hill’s question and Santorum’s response: