“Who Am I?”

Filed in National by on October 22, 2012

“I oppose civil unions, both generally and specifically (SB 30).”

“I support the strengthening and maintaining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and not redefining or adding to man/woman marriage.”

“I oppose adding ‘gender identity or gender expression’ to the protected classes in Delaware’s anti-discrimination laws for housing, employment, and public accomodation.”

“I support prohibiting coverage for abortion in the state insurance exchanges mandated by the new federal health care law.”

“I oppose using tax payer money to fund Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortion services.”

“I support a  policy that ensures parental guardian notification prior to the introduction or instructional use of classroom curriculum or materials, whether brought or introduced by school educators, administrators, and officials, or by guests invited at their request, which involve human sexual education, human sexuality issues, sexual acts, family planning, profanity, drugs or alcohol.”

“Last, but not least, I support a Delaware Marriage Protection Amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman in the state constitution.”

“Now, there will be some among the pro-gay and pro-abortion crowd who will claim that I support them and do not support these Christian common sense principles. Some may even say that I’ve told them that I support them. I am here to set the straight by proving, once and for all, what I stand for.”

“When the good folks at the Delaware Family Planning Council and Delaware Strong Families sent out their questionnaire for the 2012 elections, many legislators refused to respond. But I didn’t hesitate. I believe in strong families, and I am proud to make my beliefs public.”

“I note that some of you out there are skeptical that these are my real positions on these issues. While I believe that I’ve earned your trust over the past years, I will spell it out for you non-believers. Directly from the questionnaire (it’s a PDF file, so feel free to tagg along):

DO YOU SUPPORT OR OPPOSE?:

1. The right of parents to choose what services their children may receive at school-based wellness centers. Support.

2. Repealing Delaware’s estate tax. Support.

3. Tax incentives to encourage natural marriage and incent (sick) married couples to stay together as a solution to reducing poverty and dependency on government services. Support.

4. Same-sex civil union legislation (SB30). Oppose. (P. S., don’t let Al Mascitti know. What I said on the air was just a harmless fib.)

5. Parental consent of abortion for minors under the age of 18 (HB80). Support.

6. Strengthening and maintaining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and not redefining or adding to man/woman marriage. Support.

7. Add “gender identity or gender expression” to the protected classes in Delaware’s anti-discrimination laws for housing, employment, and public accomodation. Oppose.

8. Legislation that includes legalizing internet gambling as a means to increase state revenue and provide jobs (HB333). Oppose.

9. Prohibit coverage for abortion in the state insurance exchanges mandated by the new federal health care law. Support.

10. An annual inspection of abortion clinics for unsafe and unsanitary conditions (HA4 to HB47). Support.

11. Reducing Delaware’s corporate tax rate. Support.

12. Use tax payer money to fund Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortion services. Oppose.

13. A policy that ensures parental guardian notification prior to the introduction or instructional use of classroom curriculum or materials, whether brought or introduced by school educators, administrators, and officials, or by guests invited at their request, which involve human sexual education, human sexuality issues, sexual acts, family planning, profanity, drugs or alcohol. Support.

14. A Single Payer Healthcare System for Delaware. Oppose.

15. A Delaware Marriage Protection Amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman in the state constitution (It does not ban civil unions. SS1 for SB27 2009). Support.

“Who am I?”

“State Senator Catherine Cloutier. And this is what I stand for and who/what I stand against. ( P. S. Please don’t tell the people at Planned Parenthood of DE about this. They think I’m one of them.)”



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  1. jenl says:

    I will be interested to see the response to this. When inconsistencies were raised previously by El Som, the thread seemed to die a quick death. This reaffirms what I have heard and have been told. Sen Cloutier’s positions differ from day to day, group to group and person to person. My guess is that if this was about someone other than Sen Cloutier people would be all over it. We will see how others react.

  2. puck says:

    For a moment I thought it was Mitt Romney.

  3. anon says:

    I could tell it wasn’t Sher Valenzuela when there was no mention of George Soros.

  4. mediawatch says:

    “SB 30” link in the first line was the giveaway. Without that, I might have said Greg Lavelle.

  5. June says:

    ES, please clarify. I want to get this info out to some women I know of in my district who are leaning toward voting for Cloutier. And they would not support any of these issues from the questionnaire. But the last 3 paragraphs of the first section–did she really say those things? It sounds like something you’d say, not her. I have to be accurate when I pass this around.

  6. Bill Humphrey says:

    June — those are his quotations interpreting how she thinks. But she was one of the candidates who answered the survey from the DFPC (http://bit.ly/DFPCCloutier ) in its entirety. She managed to say she opposed SB 30 in the October 2012 DFPC survey and said on WDEL on October 8, “Had I been present to vote on SB 30, the civil unions bill, I would have voted yes.”

  7. June: Bill’s right. I’ve linked to the questionnaire, which is incontrovertible proof. Those are her answers. The ones that I enumerated in the article. Not mine, nor anyone else’s. Not even Cathy Cloutier can maintain that these are not her stands…unless she admits that she was lying. In which case, what exactly are we to believe if not her own positions right there in print?

    BTW, Mediawatch? Greg Lavelle answered the questions the exact same way. As did John Atkins. Why, they’re just like Cathy Cloutier.

    Just so you understand WHY Cathy tried to do this, these questionnaires, with the candidates’ answers, are quietly circulated to the congregants of conservative churches. And they are expected to know what to do with them–vote for the candidates who tow the ‘family-friendly’ line.

    She’s been doing the same thing for years. In 2010, she was endorsed by both Planned Parenthood and A Rose and A Prayer. Which is impossible, unless you do what Cathy did–answer two different questionnaires with diametric opposite responses to each other.

    She finally got caught this time, and it’s time that socially-moderate voters in Brandywine Hundred who believed Cathy when she said that she was really ‘one of them’ realize that she’s been lying to them for years.

    At this point, there is no other logical conclusion.

  8. jenl says:

    So who wants to bet that she will say someone else filled it out for her?

  9. mediawatch says:

    Jenl: There’s a chance she will … Based on El Som’s comments, maybe Lavelle or Atkins was doing her a favor.

  10. heragain says:

    Well, there it is, then.

  11. PainesMe says:

    Sent this to the PP of DE advocacy group asking for clarification. We’ll see where that goes.

  12. Garlic and Onions says:

    This makes a great lit piece… Sen Cathy was for abortion before she was against abortion. No, sorry, she is still for and against abortions in 2012. Sen. Cathy was Against Gay Marriage before she was for Gay Marriage, no, wait, still not sure…

    Does Couhnihan have a shot, or are you laying the groundwork for the next election?

  13. Bill Humphrey says:

    I’ve been out on the doors with Chris Counihan. A huge area of the district is totally new. The few people who know who she is seem to think it’s time for her to go, and most of them don’t have any idea who she is. She hasn’t been campaigning actively in the sense of knocking on doors. I heard she has only done one neighborhood of door-knocking, whereas Chris is close to reaching 7,000 doors at this point. He started knocking regularly in May, and she didn’t start any kind of public campaigning until mid-September. She has also had the advantage in the past of not running in a presidential year for a long time, and that’s not going to be there for her this year.

  14. waverly says:

    agree with mediawatch…sounds like lavelle…didn’t realize cloutier was as extreme as he is…don’t think our neighbors know the real positions of both of these people….

  15. mediawatch says:

    There’s a lot of truth in that, Waverly.
    I know more about Lavelle than Cloutier because he’s been my state rep for years, and I can tell you this:
    He is friendly and easy to reach. He keeps his constituents informed. He is good at constituent service.
    For many voters, those positives more than make up for views on specific issues which don’t necessarily please many of us.
    And, quite frankly, many don’t worry about his stands on significant issues because he has only the slimmest of chances of being on the majority side.
    I suspect there are a significant number of voters in Cloutier’s district who may feel the same way about her.

  16. Mediawatch, I was wrong about Greg Lavelle. He didn’t answer the survey. I meant to say, and this is absolutely true, Evan Queitsch.

    Cathy Cloutier. John Atkins. Evan Queitsch. Colin Bonini. Gary Simpson. Brian Pettyjohn. Gerald Hocker. Dave Wilson. Harvey Kenton. Ronald Gray. Daniel Short. Timothy Dukes. And Richard Collins.

    The only two of these from NCC?: Cathy Cloutier and Evan Queitsch.

    All answered the questionnaire the exact same way. Meaning they fed this group the ‘right’ answers. Your conservative ‘family-friendly’ anti-gay, anti-choice coalition.

  17. Garlic and Onions says:

    Thanks for the update Bill. Investing in shoe leather, especially in a redrawn district, can yield surprising results. Brian Townsend?

    The current registration is D/R/Other/Total 40% 35% 25%
    13,633 11,923 8,383 33,939

    In Oct 2010 it was 44.2% 32.4% 23.4%
    12,646 9,271 6,712 28,629

    So the count still favors a Dem, especially those new to the district voters.