The story begins with the continued speculation about Booker’s sexual preference*. The unmarried Newark mayor has been asked the question on several occasions, but has chosen not to answer, though he always leaves hints. He rightly says it does not matter, saying “he has kept that part of his life private because he says he needs some sacred spaces.”
“Because how unfair is it to a young lady to put them in the spotlight if they haven’t signed up for that yet?” he says. “And people who think I’m gay, some part of me thinks it’s wonderful. Because I want to challenge people on their homophobia. I love seeing on Twitter when someone says I’m gay, and I say, ‘So what does it matter if I am? So be it. I hope you are not voting for me because you are making the presumption that I’m straight.’ ”
Lonegan, however, has no qualms about seeking out “the straight vote.”
In an interview with Newsmax, businessman Steve Lonegan made a point to trumpet his masculinity when he was asked about speculation that Booker is gay. The popular mayor — an overwhelming favorite to win the special election — told The Washington Post that he has no problem if people think he’s gay.
“It’s kind of weird. As a guy, I personally like being a guy,” Lonegan said. “I don’t know if you saw the stories last year. They’ve been out for quite a bit about how he likes to go out at three o’clock in the morning for a manicure and a pedicure.”
Lonegan then brought up nail care again.
“I don’t like going out in the middle of the night, or any time of the day, for a manicure and pedicure,” Lonegan said. “It was described as his peculiar fetish . . .I have a more peculiar fetish. I like a good Scotch and a cigar. That’s my fetish but we’ll just compare the two.”
If this is what he truly believes about maleness — with its implied argument that being that anything else is less than manly and deviant — then I feel sorry for him and despair that he is the candidate chosen by the Republicans to represent the party in a major election. I suspect, however, that it is more than this — he likely does believe what he says, but he also is purposely using old and ugly stereotypes to attract a certain kind of voter, to split the electorate and maybe pick up a few extra votes. “We’ll just compare the two,” he says, and you know exactly what he is trying to do.
Lonegan’s targeting of the lowest common denominator just proves a point Booker has been making about cynicism and politics. Cynicism, as Booker says, is “the most cognitively debilitating state of being” and corrosive to our politics. This race is not about the candidates’ sexuality or their sense of what it means to be a man in the early 21st Century. it is about what they would do in the Senate, and that is what we should be focusing on.
Hank Kalet 
Two points: First, Booker spells his first name CORY, with no E. And second, it is not a sexual \”preference,\” and the AP stylebook says to avoid the term. Neither is it a \”lifestyle,\” for the record. It's an orientation. You diminish your own credibility if you don't get those things right.
My bad on the use of \”preference\” in place of \”orientation,\” as well as for spelling Booker's first name incorrectly. I do know better. As for \”lifestyle,\” I never made that point.
Lonegan is looking for the stupid or Neanderthal vote. I don't care if Booker is gay, I do care that he is so beholden to hedge fund managers and billionaires. However, compared to the libertarian freak, Booker is a breath of fresh air. I will vote for Booker to block Lonegan who would be a disaster of monumental proportions. It's called voting for the lesser of two evils. I absolutely despise, loathe and hate the libertarian cult. If we were a healthy country, libertarianism would be a fringe to be laughed at and ignored.