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Politics & The Nation


upporters of same-sex mar- riage have a new and un- expected advocate: Ken


Mehlman, a former chairman of the Republican National Com- mittee and manager of President GeorgeW. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign. Mehlman, now a private citi-


zen and businessman, disclosed that he is gay in an article pub- lished online Wednesday in the Atlantic. He said he plans to par- ticipate in a fundraiser next month for the American Founda- tion for Equal Rights, which sup- ports legalizing same-sex mar- riage. “It’s something I wish I had


cometo terms with earlier,”Mehl- man said Thursday. “It has made me a happier and better person. But I wish I had had the courage to have spoken out earlier.” Mehlman, who enjoyed a re- markable rise in Republican poli- tics, is among the most promi- nent officials in the party to say that he is gay.His is an announce- ment of the most personal nature and yet one with potential politi- cal implications—and one that is drawing charges of hypocrisy from his critics. Mehlman said he only recently


DAN BALZ The Take


accepted that he is gay. Asked whether he would have been able to accomplish what he did in the party had he come out then, he demurred. “I’mnot going to spec- ulate on that,” he said. “I don’t know the answer to that.” The disclosure comes at a time


of heightened debate about same- sex marriage, resulting in part from a federal court decision that overturned California’s voter-ap- proved ban on such unions, and amid evidence of shifting atti- tudes that over time could put the Republican Party on the wrong side of public opinion. Views on the issue have


changed dramatically in the past five years, and although there is majority support for same-sex marriage in only a handful of states, attitudes nationwide con- tinue to shift in the direction of


EZ RE


KLMNO Ken Mehlman’s change of heart


greater tolerance on matters of sexual orientation and same-sex marriage. There is also a sizable generation gap on the topic, with younger voters far more likely to accept and endorse same-sex marriage than older voters. As party chairman, Mehlman


worked to broaden the base of the Republican Party, particularly by trying to attract more African Americans. He went so far as to condemn the party’s infamous “Southern strategy” under Rich- ard M. Nixon, an explicit effort to use racial divisions to peel white voters from the Democratic Party in the South. “I tried hard to expand the


party into new neighborhoods,” Mehlmansaid.Henowwishesthe gay community had been among them, he said. Mehlman was the target of


criticism on some gay-related blogs Thursday, but gay rights organizations generally wel- comed his statement. “What’s im- portant is thatKen has joined the fight and is willing to lend his considerable talent and influence to advance equality,” Michael Cole, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a state- ment. “While the past cannot be


overlooked, our future is far more important and with more and more people like Ken joining our movementthat future holds great promise.” After graduating fromHarvard


LawSchool, where he was a class- mate of Barack Obama,Mehlman joined Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign and was dispatched to Iowa. There he quickly proved his mettle as one of the sharpest and most energetic political talents in the Bush orbit — and one well- liked by his colleagues. When Bush entered the White


House, Mehlman followed as po- litical director. Because of his political smarts and leadership skills, he was tapped to run the reelection campaign, part of a senior management team led by Karl Rove.Thecampaignadopted a strategy of seizing on state bal- lot initiatives opposing same-sex marriage to help mobilize and turn out conservative voters. After Bush’s reelection, Mehl-


man became RNC chairman. He was 38. He left after the 2006 midterms, in which his party took a beating, to join a law firm and latermovedto his current job, the


private-equity firm KKR. For the past two years, he has


stayed out of politics and out of the public eye. Unlike many who leave high-level political jobs, he has avoided becoming a pundit. In that time and with that space, he said, he began to accept his sexual orientation. A friend said that until Mehlman left politics, he was so focused on his work, on supporting the Bush agenda and on leading the party that he “nev- er stopped for self-reflection.” Republican strategists said


Mehlman’s disclosure is unlikely to prompt the GOP to rethink its platform. “I don’t think there’s going to be a rush to change the views of the party on those is- sues,” Weber said. But he added that it should remind Republi- cans that there is a constituency of gay Americans who hold con- servative views on many issues. GOP leaders have been muted


in their response to the Proposi- tion 8 decision in California, showinglittle interest in injecting same-sex marriage into the mid- term elections this fall. The legal battle is now making its way toward a possible Supreme Court


l How Ken Mehlman orchestrated his outing. C1 Salmonella in outbreak confirmed at 2 Iowa farms BY LYNDSEY LAYTON Laboratory tests have con-


firmed that two Iowa egg compa- nies are contaminated with the same strain of salmonella blamed for a national outbreak of illness, which continues to claim victims and has sickened at least 1,500 people, federal officials said Thursday. The confirmation backs up suspicions by the Food and Drug Administration that tainted eggs from the two Iowa producers have caused the biggest case of Salmonella enteritidis disease that federal officials have seen since they began tracking the illness in the 1970s. The FDA, which has sent 20


investigators to the two farms — Wright County Egg and Hillan- dale Farms — said Thursday that it had detected the particular strain of salmonella in two barns atWright County Egg and in feed that the company made and gave to its own chickens. The agency also found that strain in feed that Wright supplied toHillandale. “These are the very first results that we’re beginning to get in,


and there are many other results in the queue that may give us clues as to the the extent of contamination,” said Jeff Farrar, associate commissioner for food protection at the FDA. He said that the agency had taken 600 samples at the farms for laborato- ry analysis and that additional results were expected. Officials from Wright County


Egg said in a statement that the presence of salmonella on the property did not necessarily mean that the eggs were infected. But the company also pledged to work with the FDA. It was unclear how the feed or


the barns became contaminated with bacteria. Animal feed is generally heat-


ed to kill microbes, so it is possi- ble that the feed became contami- nated after it arrived at Wright County Egg, said Josh Sharfstein, deputy commissioner at the FDA. “The feed facility is at the same


location of all these problems,” Sharfstein said, referring to Wright County Egg, which oper- ates a feed mill as well as hen-lay- ing facilities and egg-processing plants. “So there are multiple ways itmayhavebecomecontam-


JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES


The national outbreak of salmonella illness, thought to have started inMay, has sickened at least 1,500 people, federal officials say.


inated.” Under federal law, feed that is contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis is considered adulter- ated, and it is illegal to give it to livestock, Sharfstein said. Under pressure from the FDA,


Wright County Egg and Hillan- dale recalled about 500 million eggs in the past two weeks and agreed not to sell any shell eggs to the public until the FDA com- pletes its investigation and agrees to allow the companies to resume normal operations. The twocompanies supplied eggs that were sold under at least 25 brands. In the meantime, the compa-


nies are selling their eggs to facilities that pasteurize them, a process that kills salmonella, and they will be used in liquid egg products or processed foods. Christopher R. Braden of the


Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that the number of confirmed cases linked to the outbreak had in- creased by about 200 in the past week to 1,500 and that more cases are expected. Those figures do not reflect the number of people sickened by tainted eggs, because the CDC estimates that, for every case reported, about 30 are not. The outbreak is thought to have begun inMay. Salmonella enteritidis infec-


tions can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. The illness can be briefly severe but is rarely life-threaten- ing. In people with depressed immune systems, such as AIDS patients, salmonella can cause fatal bloodstream infections. No deaths have been reported in the ongoing national investigation. laytonl@washpost.com


confrontation, perhaps in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign. Some strategists think that, depending on how the high court rules, the issue could once again become a political flash point with uncertain effects. Some prominent Republicans


have broken with their party on the issue, among them Laura Bush; former vice president Rich- ard B. Cheney; strategist Steve Schmidt, who managed JohnMc- Cain’s 2008 presidential cam- paign; and McCain’s daughter Meghan. But the issue conflicts both


parties, said Ed Gillespie, who precededMehlman asRNCchair- man and who opposes same-sex marriage. “Interestingly enough,” he said, “I’m aligned with Presi- dentObamaand his position, and Ken is aligned with Vice Presi- dent Cheney and his position. It doesn’t break cleanly along party lines.” Mehlman was asked whether


he thinks his statement this week will change views in the Republi- can Party. He said he will leave that question to others. “I’mnot a political prognosticator any- more,” he said.


balzd@washpost.com


Administration backs utilities in climate case


BY STEVENMUFSON TheObama administrationsid-


edwithmajorutilitycompanies in a Supreme Court case about cli- mate change on Thursday, anger- ing environmentalists who say that theadministration’sbroadar- gument could hurt their ability to force reductions in greenhouse gas emissions or even to bring other lawsuits. Administration officials said


the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory moves to re- strain carbon dioxide emissions made the lawsuit unnecessary, and the acting solicitor general asked the Supreme Court to re- turn the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2ndCircuit. Butenvironmentalists saidthat


the administration had talked about—but not imposed—limits on emissions fromexisting power plants. Moreover,


this issue.” The case dates to 2004, when


eight state governments, the city ofNew York and three land trusts suedtheTennesseeValleyAuthor- ity and five other utilities burning fossil fuels to generate electricity. The plaintiffs said the utilities’ greenhouse emissions posed a “public nuisance” because they contributed to climate change. They asked the court to order the utilities to reduce emissions “by a specified percentage each year for at least a decade.” Although they lost in district court, a two-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit ruled in their favor onSept. 21, 2009. The administration has


environmental


groups said, the government’s briefwentbeyondthat,employing arguments that threatened to un- dercut a basis for legal action that havebeenusedforacentury, since Georgia sued over damage a Ten- nessee copper smelterwas inflict- ing onGeorgia’s forests. “We’re very angry and very dis-


appointed that they would take this tack,” saidDavidDoniger,pol- icydirectorof theclimatecenterat the Natural Resources Defense Council. An administration official,


speaking on the condition of ano- nymity, replied that the EPA has been taking “a series of regulatory actions indicating that it’smoving forward on greenhouse gases and reallymaking it inappropriate for the courts to step in and take on


weighed in on behalf of theTVA, a federal agency. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal argued that the EPAwas using its authority to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act, an authority itwon ina casedecidedinApril 2007. He saidthat theagency’sactionssince the 2nd Circuit ruling last year had changed the situation.He cit- ed fuel-efficiency standards, an EPA finding that carbon dioxide posed a danger and initial steps toward regulating emissions at newor rebuiltpowerplants. “EPA has already begun taking


actions to address carbon-dioxide emissions,”his brief said. “We’re certainly happy with it,”


said Bill Fang, deputy general counsel for the Edison Electric Institute. He said “the fact that they’ve taken this position is sig- nificant. They could have stayed silent.Thefact that they’vespoken out is significant, andwe’re happy about it.”


mufsons@washpost.com


Staffwriter Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.


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