September 23-29, 2004

city beat

Stew's Beef

A REALIST: Bolno, a Wynnefield native, knows he's facing off against "a guy who is one of the highest percentage vote-getters."

Chaka Fattah's ultra-conservative opponent wants a debate.

by Jonas Raab

Roxborough's Stew Bolno has his work cut out for him in his quest to unseat U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah in the upcoming congressional 2nd District election. Not only is he challenging an entrenched politico in a Democratic bastion, but the Wynnefield native is an ultra-conservative seeking "to communicate the damage caused by the implementation of over 40 years of liberal ideology." What may be his biggest hurdle, however, is the fact that many in the district haven't even heard of Bolno. He tells City Paper he'd like that to change.

City Paper: Have you had a chance to speak with Chaka Fattah?

Stew Bolno: I actually called him up to ask about a debate. … He was charming at some level. He always shows up looking sharp, he has the coolest name in politics. [He is] one of those single-name guys like Elvis. He said, "I've always appreciated guys who challenge,' and then he gave me some charming line, something on the order of "and my wife wouldn't mind if I stayed home more.'" … A couple weeks went by, I called his office, nothing. Called his office, left a message, nothing. That's sort of typical of what I hear [about him.] As the challenger, I'm just trying to get on the radar screen. We represent such a nice dichotomy, he is so liberal and I am so conservative. I think [a debate] would be of use to our constituents.

CP: What do you think your chances are to get elected?

SB: I don't worry about it. Ninety percent of congressional races are perceived to be noncompetitive. I'm running against a guy who is one of the highest percentage vote-getters. The people of Philadelphia are blindly loyal, so I don't think about that. I just push forward to Nov. 2 trying to do this as well as I can and trying to open up a dialogue with people because I believe the blind loyalty to be tremendously harmful.

CP: What do you mean by the "harmful liberal ideologies" you mention on your Web site?

SB: They've just done so much damage in terms of the social policy. [Liberals] lack humility. … Liberals always look for the solution that is farthest away. They were wrong about welfare. They were wrong to expand it like crazy and then they were wrong to curtail it 25 years later. … There has not been one positive article about the Philadelphia school system probably in the last quarter-century. It has been run by liberals.

I'm convinced that if you care about poor people, if you care about your lover, if you care about your brother, when something is not working, you never want them to do more of it. … [Liberals are] in love with this fictionalized belief in themselves. It's sad because they create a mess and they don't want to clean it up.

CP: How do you feel about the Defense of Marriage Act?

SB: It's not marriage. I mean, a giraffe looks like a cow? It ain't the same. It's rude. Now I'm hoping I'll get in front of the homosexual lobby, but it's rude. There's biology, there's physiology, it's not just [a] religious [issue.] It's the way something has been done for tens of thousands of years across almost every culture in the native world. Therefore that's why I am for [the DOMA.] It shows the rudeness of liberal activists. There's a disrespect.

I'm not sure why people are homosexual, they haven't found a homosexual gene. I know that some people move in and out of homosexuality, and they hook up with bisexuals and what is that about? If I was a homosexual and I wanted the movement to be taken seriously, I wouldn't hook up with bisexual, transgender, transvestite people because bisexual means you'll fuck anybody, so what's that about? …

Whenever you have it on a ballot, the people overwhelming vote against it, but the activists keep pushing, pushing, pushing, and the liberal approach is to take it to the courts. So they find three out of five judges in Massachusetts, and who the hell are these people to change a lifelong institution? It's immature.

CP: What do you think about the situation in Iraq?

SB: I don't know if George Bush is right about Iraq. … [But] I don't have the information, but I guess part of being a good follower is you have to have a little bit of trust in your leaders. I don't think he's crazy, I don't think he's trigger-happy, I think he's committed. All he's doing is what he said he was going to do.