Miami Book Fair International 2009 runs Nov. 8-15 at Miami Dade College. Stuart E. Weisberg, author of ``Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman'' (University of Massachusetts Press, $30 hardback), appears Saturday, Nov. 14.
I asked Weisberg, pictured right, these questions about Frank:
Q: How long have you known Barney Frank? Are you social friends or business acquaintances?A: My friendship with Barney Frank spans almost four decades. We first met in the summer of 1971 when we both worked for then-Massachusetts Rep. Michael J. Harrington. I was a summer intern and he was the congressman's new chief of staff. I had the opportunity to observe Barney Frank close up as he chaired the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Employment and Housing in the mid-1980s when I was the panel's staff director and chief counsel.
Q: Frank recently opposed the Oct. 11 gay National Equality March in Washington, saying marchers would have little influence on Capitol Hill. Up to 200,000 gay activists showed up anyway, according to estimates. Is Frank out of touch with younger activists, particularly those who organize on the Internet? Or are younger activists out of touch with Frank and the political realities of Washington?
A: As you may recall, Frank took the same position when hundreds of thousands of gays and lesbians participated in the march on Washington in April 1993 instead of lobbying members of Congress on gays in the military. In Frank's view, marches on Washington have no political impact on elected officials, and for that reason they are a waste of time.
``Twenty-five years ago, our need was for visibility. We didn't know who each other were. The world didn't know we were here. Once you get behind the simple desire for visibility, political marches do you zero good. Politicians simply are not influenced by them,'' Frank said. In Frank's view, American society functions politically according to who gets organized and who gets out the vote and who defends themselves. He sees the National Rifle Association and the American Association of Retired Persons as two groups who are very effective in influencing government and lobbying members of Congress. ``The NRA doesn't have marches. They don't have demonstrations. They don't shoot their guns in the air. It's just good, straight democracy. The AARP doesn't have shuffles. They just write to us and call us and tell us that they're there,'' he said. I don't think it is a question of old versus young gay activists but rather activists being out of touch with the political realities of Washington. I would have hoped that gay activists would have learned that lesson after the gays in the military lobbying debacle in 1993.
Q: Frank survived a 1989 scandal in which call boy Stephen Gobie said he ran a prostitution service from Frank's Washington apartment during the late 1980s. Frank -- who acknowledged paying Gobie for sex on several occasions -- denied knowing Gobie ran his business from Frank's apartment while he was away. Did the scandal reduce Frank's influence in Congress during Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Defense of Marriage negotiations in the mid-1990s?
A: In September 1989, The Boston Globe, traditionally Barney Frank's biggest supporter since his days in the Massachusetts state legislature, called upon him in an editorial to resign from Congress, pointing to his diminished effectiveness. Yet on Oct. 29, 1990, The Boston Globe endorsed Frank for re-election admitting ``we were wrong'' and noting that ``he has been stronger and more articulate than we thought.'' To answer your question, the sex scandal did not reduce Frank's influence in Congress during the debate on gays in the military and DOMA.
Q: How was Frank able to survive his scandal, when other politicians have not? Back then, could he have survived the scandal (or simply come out as a gay man) in another city, such as Miami?
A: Few House members survive a Washington sex scandal and get re-elected. As they say in sports, it is usually a career-ending injury. Barney Frank was a sex-scandal survivor in large part because of the abundance of good will that he had generated over many years both among his House colleagues and his constituents. His survival can be attributed partly to strategy and partly to luck. He told the truth rather than attempting to stonewall. Instead of the drip, drip, drip of revelations, he held a press conference and admitted what was true (that he paid Gobie for sex) and denied what was false (that he knew Gobie was running a brothel out of Frank's apartment). He was contrite and admitted his mistakes.
Also, he was fortunate that the sex scandal erupted in August 1989 rather than closer to the 1990 election. Time was on his side and he spent a great deal of time in his district.
Q: Is Frank content being a member of Congress or would he like to hold higher office? Did he consider running for Sen. Kennedy's recently vacated seat? Has being an out gay man held him back or has it helped him stand out?
A: In 2004, after 10 years of Republican control in the House, Barney Frank was frustrated and was preparing to run for the Senate if John Kerry was elected President that November. That fall, Frank ran a phantom Senate campaign, spending $350,000 on television campaign ads although his opponent in the House race had no chance of beating him. Based on the polling results, which showed Frank with a huge lead over the other potential Senate candidates, I and several veteran Massachusetts ``pols'' that I interviewed for the book believe that he would have won that Senate race.
In 2009, however, Frank did not consider running for Sen. Kennedy's open seat because he was unwilling to relinquish his perch of influence as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee to be the 100th senator and sit next to Al Franken. Being a gay man probably held him back from House leadership positions and seeking higher office earlier in his career, but no longer. Barney Frank stands out today more because of his legislative abilities, his sharp mind and his quick wit than because he is gay. Last fall, during an interview for the book, Frank expressed an interest in someday serving as secretary of the Department of Housingi and Urban Development, not for purposes of ego but because he cares deeply about providing housing for the poor and the elderly and wants to get the federal government back in the housing business.
ABOUT THE FAIR
What: Miami Book Fair International 2009
When: Nov. 8-15; Street Fair: Nov. 13-15
Where: Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus: 300 N.E. Second Avenue, Miami
Cost: Nov. 13: free. Nov. 14-15: $8; people 62 and older: $5; ages 18 and under, free.
Timetables: Hard copies of a schedule of events will be distributed at the fair entrance.
More information: MiamiHerald.com; www.miamibookfair.com; 305-237-3258; 305-237-3314.
• Stuart E. Weisberg, author of ``Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman,'' appears 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, Room 3208-09.
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