481 CHRONICLESna macabre addition to designations liken”SWM” (single white male, for thensheltered): “PW/’ for person withnAIDS. Truth in advertising of a grislynsort.nHomosexuals’ continuing fear ofnpersecution, however well-founded,nhas led them into some strange andneven deadly political behavior. Thensame fear has made them, like somenethnic minorities, bloc-voters when issuesnimplicate their peculiar interests.nThose issues don’t come up in mostntowns I know, and the homosexualnbloc vote wouldn’t amount to much ifnthey did, but in San Francisco thosen100,000 single-issue voters can makenpoliticians grovel, as some mayoral candidatesnwere doing when I was there.nThe political upshot is that San Francisconstrikes me as almost unique, fornthe time being anyway, in the extent tonwhich its homosexual population isntreated with at least the semblance ofnrespect: just another tile in the mosaic,njust one of many “communities” withnits own culture, symbols, and specialninterests.nWhat should other Americans makenof this, if anything? Some, obviously,nsee San Francisco as a model of tolerancenthat we all should copy. Othersnwould like to test the neutron bomb onnit. For my part, I think San Francisco’snaccommodation shouldn’t be emulated,nbut ought to be tolerated. I don’tnconclude that just because I’m a communitariannanarchist who tries to benconsistent (although I am and I do). Inngeneral, local differences do make thisna more delightful country. Also, innmost respects, I don’t see why a Southernernshould care what San Franciscansndo, so long as they do it out therenand their ways remain a clearly labelednimport in our parts. On the other hand,nas I said, Californianisms do seem to bencontagious, and we’re not talking herenabout cuisine. I’m no extremist in thendefense of liberty, much less libertinism.nBasically I think San Francisconought to be left alone in its peculiaritiesnbecause setting one or two Americanncities aside as something like reservationsnhas a lot to be said for it—andnmaybe I’ll say it in a later column,nwhen I feel like being abused both bynpeople who think homosexuality is annabomination to be suppressed at anyncost and by those who think it’s just annalternative life-style that should benknown and accepted everywhere. Reservationsnhaven’t worked very well fornIndians, but some such settlement maynbe the best of the bad choices we’ve gotnin this troublesome case.nJohn Shelton Reed writes from ChapelnHill, North Carolina, and admires thenTenth Amendment.nLetter From thenHeartlandnby Jane GreernThe CandidatenShe’s embarrassing and unpredictable,nknown as a “gadfly” and a “maverick”n(among other names). She admits she’snnever been a joiner. She has alienatednboth political parties and the Minnesotanmedia. There are no topics on whichnshe doesn’t have a strong opinion andnno circumstances under which shenwould stifle any opinion. One cringesnto think of her at dinner with heads ofnstate. Fortunately, it will never happen.nBut much of what Republican presidentialncandidate Mary Jane Rachnernsays is what decent, middle-classnAmericans mutter daily in the privacynof their homes or to friends.nRachner, 66, is a retired Minnesotanschoolteacher with a Ph.D. in educationnand not a lick of political expertisen— although God knows she’s tried.nShe was a “smart-ass” anti-VietnamnDemocrat until Reagan swept her offnher feet eight years ago, and has runnunsuccessfully for a number of localnand national positions, including USnsenator. This year, to honor Reagannand help perpetuate what he startedn(which Bush wouldn’t do, she figured),nshe pursued the presidency. No onenhas written to thank her.nNorth Dakota holds the latest primarynin the nation — on June 14 —nand Rachner gave it a try (she skippednthe Minnesota primary), gathering 300nsignatures by herself in Fargo and atnthe state Republican convention innBismarck to get on the ballot. Shenmissed by fewer than 200 votes, ornone-half percent, getting what shenneeded: 6 Vi percent of the vote, whichnwould have given her one delegate andna trip to the national convention. Still,nnnin a race in which George Bush’snnomination is a foregone conclusion,ngetting 6 percent of the primary votesnin a highly Republican state says something,nRachner feels, and probablynmore about George Bush than aboutnher.nShe had at least two reasons fornwanting to be in the North Dakotan”race.” One is that her mother andnmaternal grandfather were North Dakotans,nand such ephemeral alliancesnseem to mean more up here than theyndo in many other regions. (In a recentnnews release she said, “I’m channellingnfor my [dead] grandmother . . . greatauntn. . . and mother, all of Bismarck,nNorth Dakota. They came to me in anvision and said, ‘Go for it!’ They said,n’There are no New Yorkers or Galiforniansnchannelling from up here.nThey’re channelling from the othernplace!'”)nAnother reason she ran in NorthnDakota is that she wanted “to make thenpoint that North Dakota exists, to drawnattention to the Midwest and its importance.”nIt wasn’t important to mostncandidates; the Associated Press describednit as a “meaningless” primary,nand North Dakota’s secretary of statensaid it was “worthless.” Bush had,nunderstandably, declared weeks earliernthat the primary season was over —nwhich may have cost him 6 percent ofnthe votes. Besides him, Rachner facednonly Texas Libertarian Ron Paul onnthe North Dakota ballot. MikenDukakis didn’t run.nThe drive behind her candidacy isnthat “nobody else will stand up fornnormality.” Rachner says that psychologistsnand sociologists have “trashednthe word ‘normal.’ They’ve said thatnwhatever is possible is normal. . . .nWhat we’ve created is … a prodigalnson society” in which people are rewardednfor doing wrong. She writes ofnthe pervasive damage of what she callsnthe “psycho-educational-industrialncomplex,” which manipulates publicnconcern over such problems as childnabuse and AIDS, and is “driven byngreed for federal money” to magnifynthe problems and ultimately makenthem worse. “When you earmark evil,nyou increase it a hundredfold,” shensays. Take teen pregnancies. Takencrime. Take homelessness.nThe North Dakota primary was hernsecond and last. Her first was in Newn