WBT Radio’s Wayne Powers, who will sit in for Pete Kaliner tonight at 10 p.m., will interview Log Cabin Republicans executive director R. Clarke Cooper and get his thoughts on Ken Mehlman’s coming out. You can listen in on WBT 1110 AM or 99.3 FM or online at wbt.com.
Mehlman, former chair of the Republican National Committee and 2004 George W. Bush campaign manager, came out yesterday in a column by Marc Ambinder in The Atlantic.
The political insider’s sexual orientation has been an “open secret” for years. He came under intense scrutiny for it in 2004 as infamous D.C. blogger Mike Rogers reported on him. Rogers asked Mehlman about his sexuality directly. Mehlman denied the “accusations,” of course. Both men were subjects of the 2009 documentary “Outrage.”
The “outing” debate — largely sparked by Rogers and his reporting — has North Carolina ties. Dan Gurley, current board chair of Equality North Carolina, was outed by Rogers when he worked for the RNC in 2004.