Is John McCain's Chief of Staff Gay?

The news that Senator John McCain'c chief of staff is gay has spread rapidly amongst some of the more popular gay/transgender blogs. True or not, it's only a matter of time before mainstream media picks the story up.

According to the blogs, Mark Buse hasn't exactly hidden his status as a gay conservative. He's just adopted a "don't ask don't tell policy." But now that McCain has recently aligned himself with uber conservative elements, particularly in his choice of a VP, this has become news.

Why out him?

While many of these blogs are pointing to McCain as the hypocrite, their focus is squarely on Buse. They see him as a traitor to gay rights because of McCain's connections with anti-gay groups and right-leaning conservatives.

Mike Rogers, a well-known gay blogger, is reportedly working on this story as well. That's bad for McCain because Rogers' mission in life is to out closet gays that work against gay rights legislation

"I write about closeted people whose records are anti-gay," Rogers said in a Washington Post article "If you're a closeted Democrat or Republican and you don't bash gays or vote against gay rights to gain political points, I won't out you." Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090301396_pf.html

Outing Buse accomplishes a few things. First, it might weaken McCain's conservative base. This a razor thin race. Conservatives that don't vote for McCain, even if they don't vote for Obama, might help the democratic lead. Second, if McCain is lying about his views on gay rights, it calls into question what else he might be lying about in order to win the race.

Will this be picked up by mainstream media?

It seems like a foregone conclusion that print media would pick up the story, but it might not be the case. In the past these stories would surface in gay blogs long before they were substantiated by mainstream media a few years later, as in the case of Mark Foley and Larry Craig. Because these were picked up by the media later, it's possible that the media is more willing to take notice sooner and investigate these claims.

What will McCain do?

If it is picked up by mainstream media, the outing puts McCain in an untenable position. Does he fire Buse? It's more likely that Buse will "resign" in order not to cause the candidate any trouble. Or, on the flip side, McCain may spin at as a diversity thing, you know-love the sinner, hate the sin. Either way, if this makes it out of the blogs it will be trouble for him.