GARY BAUER

'Gary L. Bauer' (born May 4, 1946, in Covington, Kentucky)
OnPolitics: Bauer (R)
is a conservative American politician notable for his ties to several evangelical Christian groups and campaigns. In 1973, Bauer received a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University. He served as Ronald Reagan's Undersecretary of Education from 1982 to 1987, and as an advisor on domestic policy from 1987 to 1988. In 1999, Bauer resigned his post at the Family Research Council, which he held since 1988, and ran for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. He dropped out of the race in February 2000 after doing poorly in the primaries. In 1996 he created the organization The Campaign for Working Families which he continues to head. Bauer is a son of a janitor.
While campaigning in Manchester, New Hampshire (at an event sponsored by Bisquick) during the 2000 Republican Primaries, Bauer fell off the stage while trying to catch pancakes he had flipped up in the air. Bauer wasn't injured, but the embarrassing TV clip was replayed often.

Contents

Political posture

Presidential campaign

Rage Against the Machine

Media activities

Trivia

Organizations with which Gary Bauer has been involved

References

External links

Political posture

Bauer describes himself as pro-life, and while he opposes abortion, he supports the death penalty. Bauer supports a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and prefers abstinence programs to current sex education programs.
On foreign policy issues, Bauer supports strong ties with Israel, would not trade with China until the country improves its human rights record, and supports military action undertaken to ensure American security. He supports full funding for the Iraq War, and opposes setting dates for troop withdrawal.
On economic issues, Bauer supports income tax cuts and decreased regulation of small businesses. He has stated that corporations should serve the U.S. as well as their shareholders, and has occasionally been critical of the World Trade Organization.

Presidential campaign

In the fall of 1999, two senior members of Bauer's campaign staff raised questions about closed-door meetings between Bauer and a female campaign aide, Melissa McClard. Bauer's refusal to acknowledge any impropriety, or to apologize for the appearance thereof, prompted a number of campaign workers to resign. [1] [2]
In 2000, an article by gay columnist Dan Savage appeared in Salon.com, describing Savage's experience as a volunteer campaign worker for Bauer. Mr. Savage came down with the flu during the assignment and then attempted to sabotage the Bauer campaign by infecting staffers by licking pens and door knobs that he thought they would use. [3] Fellow journalist Jake Tapper later defended the action as "part of a gonzo journalistic kind of thing." [4]

Rage Against the Machine

Following an incident at a 2000 town hall event in which Republican primary candidate Alan Keyes crowd-surfed in the mosh pit of a group playing the music of rock band Rage Against the Machine, Bauer made a statement that "a band called The Machine Rages On - er - Rage Against the Machine, that band is anti-family, and it's pro-terrorist", quoted in the band's "Sleep Now In the Fire" video. [5]

Media activities

Bauer has recently branched out into the realm of talk radio, co-hosting a show that is broadcast occasionally on WABC's radio affiliate in New York with talk radio host Mike Rosen.

Trivia

During the Georgia Republican Convention in May 2007, Presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared to confuse Bauer with fellow conservative Ralph E. Reed, Jr., greeting the latter and saying "Why it's good to see Gary Bauer here" [6]. The Romney campaign later clarified this misunderstanding, explaining that Romney had mistaken Reed for South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer. [7]

Organizations with which Gary Bauer has been involved

★ American Values, President

★ Campaign for Working Families, Chairman

★ Family Research Council, Past President

★ Project for the New American Century

★ Christians United For Israel, Executive Board

References

External links

★ American Values' bio

★ A listing of Bauer's political positions, from ''Issues 2000''