Reed Says Conservatives Should Avoid Bashing Mickey Mouse

Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition leader now hiring himself out as a political consultant, has a message for his fellow social conservatives: Watch your language around Mickey Mouse.

In a strategy memo circulated to Republican leaders and new clients, Reed warns that GOP officials look mean when they accuse others of “allegedly having the wrong values.”

“This is particularly true of popular fictional characters, whether Murphy Brown or Mickey Mouse,” he wrote in the seven-page document.

As vice president, Dan Quayle charged that the TV character Murphy Brown was glamorizing illegitimacy and undermining values by having a child out of wedlock.

The Mickey Mouse line is a reference to a boycott of Disney products by the Southern Baptist Convention, which objected to some Disney programs and company policies, including health benefits for same-sex partners of its employees.