Ken Blackwell - "Look over here- I hate gays!"

In an effort to distract attention from his mishandling of the state's election issues, Ohio's Secretary of State Ken Blackwell decided he should offend homosexuals today:

The flap began Tuesday night when Blackwell told members of a Toledo-area church, "I don't know how many of you have a farming background, but I can tell you right now that notion [gay marriage] even defies barnyard logic . . . the barnyard knows better."

(snip)

Blackwell has emerged as one of the chief spokesmen for Issue 1, which seeks to add a same-sex marriage ban to the Ohio Constitution. Ohio law already bans gay marriage, and the outcome of Issue 1 on Nov. 2 would not affect that ban.

Alan Melamed, who leads the campaign against Issue 1, called Blackwell's comments "demeaning" to gay people.

"I don't know about barnyard logic," Melamed said, "but I do know that Ken Blackwell has been spreading a lot of manure about this issue."

And House Minority Leader Chris Redfern, a Catawba Island Democrat, painted Blackwell as a hypocrite.

"That's that old-fashioned brand of compassionate conservatism we hear so often," Redfern said.