Look, Josh, I know you’d really want it to be the case. And, in many ways, Jim Neal of the same breed of politician as the people who will become the first openly gay Senator and the first openly gay President. But sexual orientation is not race, and some bigotries are more widespread and more tolerated in popular culture than others. Even many of those who are racist are unwilling to admit it, but homophobia is still acceptable in the national public sphere, let alone in a state with a large conservative population. Neal may be very successful on the local level in Chapel Hill, and I wish him the best. But statewide ambitions for any gay politician in most of the country—not just North Carolina—are still at least a decade out of reach.
You are more then likely right, but anything could happen. How great of a statement would it be to the rest of the US if NC elected an openly gay candidate for senate.
