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“I love Howard Dean. I liked that scream — I think he should scream more.” — Ty Ross, 2006

Ross currently runs his own design business in Arizona. “I am a registered Democrat,” he says. “I did vote Republican in the '80s — I voted for Reagan twice. That was the last time I voted Republican.”

With a bit of “like granddad -- like grandson”, he may run for political office. “I will pursue it at some point; I just don't know when. I'd have to start out as city council member. There are already some openly gay council members in town.”

Gifted with the famous Goldwater talent for “brutally blunt” comments, Ross is quick to offer terse sound bites in response to the same kinds of questions his grandfather dealt with.

On Mary Cheney, another openly gay child of a prominent conservative Republican, Ross says: “I don't know her, but we would probably get into an argument over politics. She is not out enough. She needs to put on that flannel shirt and really go for it.”

On Jim Kolbe, Arizona's openly gay Republican congressman, Ross recalls: “I used to run into him down in Tucson, after he came out, at a bar or party. I would joke to him, ‘Why are you a Republican? Why aren't you a Democrat?'” (Kolbe declined to be interviewed for this article.)

On the current Republican Administration, Ross says: “I think Ariana Huffington said it best. She said, ‘All they have to sell is fear.' They just get everybody riled up and scared. They orange-alert this and yellow-alert that. It's not productive. They are slowing down the economy. They are hung up on social issues.”

On the Log Cabin Republicans, Ross notes: “I have nothing against the LRC, but frankly I don't know how anyone can be a Republican in this current political climate.”

On the gay community's relationship with politics, Ross cautions us: “Within the gay community, nobody pushes anybody forward, or steps outside. We have a grander notion of ourselves than the rest of society has of us. It all conspires to keep us from seeing the importance of having alliances within the straight community. We keep forgetting that we need to have these people on our side, and do whatever it takes to mend fences.”

Goldwater's earlier political track record on civil rights may be dubious, but his ultimate championing of gay issues earned him a special place in the pantheon of America's political giants.

Ty Ross sums it all up: “My sister [filmmaker C.C. Goldwater] didn't want my grandfather to be forgotten for not being pro-civil rights. By just looking at his voting record, it might look like he was not. But she was able to prove he was otherwise. Pro-civil rights and pro-gay rights — it's a good thing.”

Get more info about Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater at hbo.com

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