Lackluster Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Rutherford has been struggling to get media attention in a field with three other GOP candidates. Well, he has it, though I’m not sure it’s the kind of coverage he expected. Rutherford, the state’s treasurer, has been accused by an ex-employee in his office of pressuring him to do campaign work on state time. Worse, this worker says that Rutherford sexually harassed him and even groped him at least once.
Rurherford, who denies being a homosexual, denies the charges. However, he has to know that whatever hope he had of winning the Republican nomination–a long shot at best–is now gone. But Rutherford can’t have failed to note the media lionization of every person who claims a homosexual identity.
Here’s my advice if he really wants to stay in and win in a Democratic state: Hold a press conference, “come out” as gay, and run as a Democrat against the embarrassing incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn. I think he could win.
About Stan Guthrie
Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and for the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His latest book is God's Story in 66 Verses. He also is author of All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century, and A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. He is co-author of The Sacrament of Evangelism. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers.
Stan writes the monthly Priorities colum for BreakPoint.org. He has appeared on National Public Radio's Tell Me More, WGN's Milt Rosenberg program, and many Christian shows, including The Eric Metaxas Show and Moody Radio's New Day Florida. A licensed minister and an inspirational speaker, he served as moderator for the Christian Book Expo panel discussion, Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
