Openly gay Jewish candidate makes history with Colorado win

[oberliner]

Source: Haaretz

Jared Schutz Polis, 33, made history on Tuesday by being the first openly gay non-incumbent male elected to the United States Congress.

Polis, a Jew and a Democrat, will represent Colorado's 2nd District.

Read more: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1034644.html

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Yep. I called it - right here!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7772068&mesg_id=7772068

[Cha]

2. Well, Congratulations

Jared Schutz Polis!

[Shardik]

3. I'll be so happy when orientation or religion are no longer newsworthy.

[Indenturedebtor]

4. Awesome! Mazel Tov Achi! n/t

[saltpoint]

5. Good. As President-Elect Obama says, this is the UNITED States of

America, and citizens -- even citizens Jim Dobson doesn't tolerate -- may exercise their Constitutional right to seek and hold public office.

Bravo.

[The Brethren]

6. Congratulations to Polis!

Also congratulations to our state of CO for giving FMA queen and an avid supporter of junior, Marilyn Musgrave, the boot....finally! Not to mention that our state went blue for the first time in a long time!!!!!

Now with all this positive progressiveness happening in CO since last night, I also want to know one thing of Polis - whether or not he is going to aggressively use his position in office to repeal our state's blatant discrimination amendment banning gay marriages? And if he doesn't, then at this point - esp. after last night, I could careless whether he is gay and Democrat or not.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

12. If I read that article correctly, he's going to the U.S. Senate

Not the state Senate, which would write state laws. Don't think he can do much in that, other than apply pressure to local state senators and representatives.

[progressoid]

14. U. S. House, not Senate. n/t

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

16. Yep, you're right.

I meant to say that but, my brain hasn't been the same since Tuesday night. Still recovering...sux to get old! But, the basis is the same. He will be in D.C., not Denver. But, it couldn't hurt for him to talk to the people in Denver...it gives him a bit more "pull".

[The Brethren]

18. Thank you

Psst_Im_Not_Here and progressoid for the information. :-) I hope Polis will have some pull. That would be great. To be honest, I 'm feeling very cynical and angry since the election and the bigoted laws that went through on top of those from 2006. So I'm as excited about everything as I normally would be. But if Polis can make a difference somehow, that will helpful.

Am very happy as well that Musgrave is out -- soon. What a small mind and huge ego that woman has. She's blaming wealthy contributors for her defeat....of course because it couldn't possibly be the Dems that ousted her and the fact that so many people can't stand her. LOL

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

19. I understand the anger Brethren

:pals: I'm angry too! My sister-in-law laughs at me because I'm more out there for her rights, than she is! I'm just so sick of people trying to make morality judgments for the rest of us. Just makes me want to scream..."And how does any of this affect YOU?" I just don't get it.

As far as Polis goes, at the very least, he will represent the fact that gay is mainstream.

And as far as Prop.8 goes, I think there should be a sudden "Rainbow flu" going around in California. Let them see how much life would SUCK without you all around! Seems like a very bland world to me.

[Chovexani]

7. Kick ass!

:kick:

[Behind the Aegis]

8. He can share my avatar!

ROCK ON!

[KareBear]

13. Wooot!

Siman Tov u'mazel tov u'mazel tov u'siman tov!

America always has a way of surprising me for the better even when I think bigotry will tear it apart.

Todah rabah Colorado!

[AlecBGreen]

9. Oh sweet heavens

a gay, Jewish Democrat?!

If i listen real hard, I can hear the heads exploding in Freeperville.

[Canuckistanian]

10. Wow, openly Jewish in Colorado?

These are miraculous times.

[Samurai_Writer]

11. That's my congressman! Yay!

Colorado went completely blue! Obama, Udall and Polis all won their elections handily. I'm so excited!!!

[intheflow]

15. I'm really excited about the Polis win, too.

I'm the Denver-area contact for UFP&J and got a lot of emails asking how best to support an anti-war effort during the election. I pointed several to Polis' campaign, and I know at least one of the folks I sent there went and worked hard for him. :)

[starroute]

17. There's more to Polis than just being gay and Jewish

I ran into an interesting interview with him a while back. Here's part of the introduction:

http://www.pageoneq.com/news/2008/PolisInterview072308.html

It's close to impossible not to have seen Polis' face or heard his name at least once if you have lived for any amount of time along the Front Range and own a television or read the news. From young adulthood on he has made headlines as a businessman, politician and philanthropist. By the time he graduated from Princeton he'd co-founded American Information Systems, which would be sold for $22 million. He'd also ridden the favorable tides of the Internet boom in founding companies like Proflowers.com and turning the family business, Blue Mountain Arts, into a payout worth $780 million in a 1999 sale to Excite.

By the age of 30, Polis had started the Jared Polis Foundation, chaired the State Board of Education--during which time he was instrumental in passing Colorado's Amendment 23, which guarantees periodic increases to funding for K-12 schools--and co-founded two charter schools: The New America School and the Academy of Urban Learning. ...

Polis, whose net worth has been estimated as approaching $200 million, has been able to run his campaign through donations and self-funding. He has also had considerable pull in state politics as part of Colorado's "Gang of Four," along with tech moguls Tim Gill and Rutt Bridges and heiress Pat Stryker. So far, Polis' wealth, time and energy have helped counter Republican gerrymandering, build schools for disadvantaged youth, and garner a personal mention from would-be anti-gay superstar, Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern. Also, as he extensively blogged, Polis visited Iraq and Jordan to personally survey conditions on the ground and talk to servicemembers and refugees of the occupation alike.