The Arts Community and Peter Hort

Since I last wrote about Peter Hort's campaign for Congress, I also learned about an "Arts Committee for Peter Hort for Congress." I have also started looking at information on donations to his campaign.

Among those listed as members of "Arts Committee for Peter Hort for Congress":

• Carolyn Alexander, Alexander and Bonin
• Marty Eisenberg
• Nicole Eisenman, artist
• Barbara Hunt, executive director of Artists Space (remember when they got in trouble over David Wojnarowicz?)
• Anton Kern, gallerist
• Nicole Klagsbrun, gallerist - hosting an event on the 26th with Peter Hort
• Marilyn Minter, artist
• Matthew Marks, gallerist
• Jack Tilton, gallerist
• Joel Wachs, president of the Andy Warhol Foundation
• Diane Wallace
• Simon Watson, curator/art consultant, Scenic
• David Zwirner gallerist

My list of names came from an email Simon sent to James, which was also forwarded to me by several people who thought I might be interested in this particular mix of arts and politics. There are additional people mentioned in a press release on Peter Hort's web site.

It's hard to fit all of this into a single post, but I'm going to try.

Item 1: A vote for Peter Hort is a vote for the Republican Party. That means you are supporting the following agenda:

• anti-gay
• anti-choice
• pro-Iraq War, which diverted resources away from hunting the perpetrators of 9/11 and has wasted so many lives and billions of dollars
• anti-immigrant
• anti-cities
• anti-culture

Item 2: A vote for Peter Hort is a vote to strengthen the power of the right-wing House leadership. The de facto leader of the House is Tom DeLay (R-TX), the Majority Leader. Were Peter Hort to defeat Jerrold Nadler, it would increase the GOP's margin in the House. Here are some links on Tom DeLay:

• Why no American should vote for Tom DeLay
• Taking on Tom DeLay weblog
• Discussion of a Paul Krugman column on DeLay
• DeLay on 'only Christianity has the answers'
• DeLay on homosexuals as un-American

Another member of the House leadership is Speaker Dennis Hastert. Yes, the one who said New Yorkers were too greedy after 9/11.

I can think of two explanations of why people in the art world would support Peter Hort.

The first one is that they are being naive. They buy into the idea that politics can be about individual politicians, and not their parties. I wish that were the case, but to support someone running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines for Congress against a Democratic incumbent is a vote to empower Tom DeLay and his ilk. I wish there were moderates in positions of power in the GOP, but there are none.

It doesn't matter if Mr. Hort professes decent positions in person. I am told by several people that I should talk to him personally, and that he is pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. It doesn't matter. A vote for him is a vote for the GOP agenda.

The second explanation is the cynical one. Mr. Hort's parents, Susan and Michael Hort, are among the most important collectors in New York right now. Peter Hort runs a foundation named after his late sister, the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, which gives grants to artists.

When important collectors ask people in the art world to support their son's candidacy, many of them feel they have no choice but to do so. To do otherwise would be bad for business or bad for one's artistic career. Maybe most of them realize that he is unlikely to win, so "no harm done" is their rationale. Besides, in general they are privileged enough to feel that the GOP agenda won't directly cause them any harm, while opposing Peter Hort's campaign may do quite visible harm to a career or business.

I find it inconceivable that any person who cares about culture or the state of our nation and planet would vote for a member of the party of George W. Bush.

This is my last post on this subject unless something really big comes up. It's giving me an ulcer.
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My previous articles on Peter Hort:

• Peter Hort, stealth Republican candidate for Congress
• On Peter Hort, a clarification
• Peter Hort: A 'progressive' running on the Conservative Party line?