Will Janet Rowland ever escape the “Do we allow a man to marry a sheep” comment she made on a PBS program last spring? Even in the unabashed Republican-leaning Grand Junction Daily Sentinel Thursday edition, Rowland’s maligned quote was reprinted twice.Grand Junction commissioner Janet Rowland was picked as Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bob Beauprez’s running mate on Monday. By Tuesday, Rowland’s PBS quote lumping gay marriage with bestiality as alternative lifestyles had surfaced in the media and on political blogs, creating a flock of complaints-and puns.
A group of ardent supporters, lead by Senate District 7 candidate Josh Penry, rallied in favor of Rowland on the steps of the old Mesa County Courthouse on Wednesday. Sure, they got front page coverage from the sympathetic Daily Sentinel, but the group probably didn’t expect the paper to regurgitate the whole controversy and sheep quote in the story, too.
Perhaps Josh Penry’s tiff with the Daily Sentinel was not an asset to Rowland’s defense.
The two not-so-kind-to-Rowland editiorials in Thursday’s paper, also seem to signal a change in the paper’s attitude about the far right segment of the Republican Party.
It may lead Northwest Democrats to wonder if sheep, er pigs have begun to fly.
Comments are closed.