Frank Edelblut’s R-rated tweetstorm: ‘BDSM, squirting’ and ‘polyamory videos’
Granite state political junkies may have done a double take recently when their Twitter feed filled with messages referencing kinky sex – all the more so when they discovered the tweets came from a Republican social conservative running for governor.
In June, Frank Edelblut, the Wilton businessman competing in the crowded GOP primary, flooded Twitter with a series of messages attacking Chris Sununu for his executive council vote restoring funding to Planned Parenthood.
“This shouldn’t be a hard decision for a #Conservative,” Edelblut tweeted. “Politics as usual with @ChrisSununu.” Then the messages became, well, more interesting.
“Hey @ChrisSununu why did you vote to fund bondage education videos?” one tweet asked. “Taxpayers shouldn’t fund BDSM, squirters, posting nude pics & polyamory videos,” read another.
Edelblut was referring to an online sex education project produced by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England that has become a target for anti-abortion advocates. (”Perversion Compounded and Children Corrupted,” reads one typical headline.)
A Naked Notion
The Planned Parenthood education initiative, “A Naked Notion,” features a series of YouTube videos described as “frank, open conversations about sexuality.” The videos are hosted by Laci Green, the twenty-something sex educator and feminist activist Time recently named one of the 30 most influential people on the Internet.
The initiative has been a major success. Planned Parenthood reports the project’s YouTube channel has 50,000 subscribers and the videos have received more than five million views since the first film made its debut in 2012.
In a written release, Edelblut denounced the initiative. “On this site, young women can learn about things like Getting Kinky [BDSM 101], Posting Nude Pics, Squirters, and Polyamory,” he wrote. “There is no clear way to determine if taxpayer dollars were used in their creation.”
“PPNNE’s choice to produce some of these video topics, and to place them in a setting unshielded from children, calls into question their overall judgment,” Edelblut added.
Some of Edelblut’s Twitter followers thought his tweets called into question his overall judgment. “This is #inappropriate,” one viewer wrote. “I am immediately deleting each of my #childrens #twitter accounts… Thanks a lot. Frank, please stop.”
A social conservative campaign
It’s not the first time Edelblut has targeted Planned Parenthood for a political attack. Last year, when anti-abortion advocates claimed secretly-record videos revealed Planned Parenthood profiting from the sale of donated tissue, Edelblut wrote an open letter to Gov. Maggie Hassan calling on the Attorney General to investigate the group for “the potential illegal sale of body parts.”
In a Union Leader op-ed, Edelblut promises to work to ban abortion. “My belief is that life begins at conception and the rights and protections afforded individuals by the Constitution begin at that point. … As your next governor, I will ensure I work to extend our constitutional protections to all citizens.”
In his campaign for governor, Edelblut has staked out a position as a social conservative and free-market capitalist. He has been winning over conservative activists but is struggling to gain acceptance from a wider audience.
Edelblut has won straw polls conducted during the annual Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers picnic and the Windham GOP debate by large margins. He has been endorsed by the conservative 603 Alliance and the libertarian New Hampshire Liberty Alliance.
Despite the wins among activists, the most recent WMUR Granite State Poll has Edelblut in fourth place in name recognition (82 percent of likely voters don’t know enough about him to have an opinion) and fourth place in the electoral horse race, where he trails Chris Sununu (29 percent), Ted Gatsas (22 percent) and Jeanie Forrester (10 percent) among likely Republican voters
