Left to right, top to bottom: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), AP Photo: Kathy Willen; Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), AP Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast; John Edwards (D), AP Photo: Jim Cole; Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan), AP Photo: Charlie Riedel.
LGBT activists hail the choice of Biden for Obama’s running mate.
The lesbian activist and her longtime partner were the first couple to be married this summer in California.
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By KERRY ELEVELD
Friday, January 26, 2007
If you thought the gay and lesbian community was going to once again be the whipping post of Republican Presidential contenders, hang on to your seats.
Witness champion of the Federal Marriage Amendment Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) last Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” as host George Stephanopoulos questions him about Mary Cheney and gay adoption.
GS: Do you believe it should be legal for gays and lesbians to adopt and bear children?
SB: That’s been decided on a state-by-state basis, and it should remain in those hands.
GS: And in the state of Kansas, what would you vote for?
SB: I try to stay out of state issues where I have a federal mandate and I’m going to stay in that area.
Not a single LGBT analyst—Republican and Democrat—could explain why he dodged the question. Brownback has been watching former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney run into a little authenticity snafu after Romney, who has been staunchly opposing same-sex marriage, was bit by the ghost of campaigns past for courting the gay community in his 1994 bid against Sen. Edward Kennedy.
No better time for Brownback to grab the moral high ground and run to the right of Romney as the tried-and-true family values candidate of right wing Republicans, right?
Perhaps, he figures, he doesn’t have anything to prove. As Carrie Earll, senior director of Focus on the Family, told USA Today, “Some of the other people who have thrown their hat in the ring, there’s debate... Nobody questions Brownback.”
Maybe Sen. Brownback took note of an underreported trend in four of the eight states voting on marriage amendments last November where young voters in college towns turned out in record numbers, voting overwhelmingly against the amendments and for Democratic candidates—and ousting a large number of Republicans.
In Wisconsin, which passed its marriage amendment 59–41 percent, the 12 student districts that make up UW-Madison saw a 43.1 percent higher than expected voter turnout compared to a 5.5 percent increase statewide. In Dane County, where UW-Madison is located, about 67 percent of people voted against the marriage amendment. Fair Wisconsin, the gay rights organization, had targeted get-out-the-vote efforts in all four of the state Senate pickup seats for Democrats, and five of the eight state Assembly pickups for Dems. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle even thanked Fair Wisconsin for their efforts, which were credited for helping him win a tough re-election campaign.
Similar scenarios played out in Arizona, South Dakota and Virginia. But in terms of what was going through the head of Sen. Brownback—a Methodist, turned Evangelical, turned Catholic—God only knows.
Ranking Democrats
On the flip side of the aisle, most columnists seem to be using the “pro-marriage equality or not” litmus test to rank candidates.
Time to wake up. That measure is going to be about as useful as a fur coat in July since it’s doubtful that any major candidates—Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama—will forge ahead on same-sex marriage.
Where they will stand is together. “I don’t foresee any major Democratic candidates not embracing civil unions at this point,” said Ethan Geto, an LGBT strategist and Hillary Clinton supporter.
So if every major Democratic candidate lands squarely on civil unions, the question becomes, How does one of them become a hero to the LGBT community? It’s worth considering since it brings a lot of money and potential voters with it.
The most known commodity here is Sen. Clinton. She’s been meeting with gays and lesbians across the nation ever since her husband first ran for President in ’92—which works both for her and against her.
Sen. Clinton clearly has the contacts and likely understands the issues important to the LGBT community better than any of her opponents. But many people think her husband’s administration failed the community on a number of issues—most notably, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—which has lead to a certain Clinton fatigue if not skepticism. When asked how Hillary would do on gay issues as president, one LGBT strategist said, “Well, we worked with the Clintons for eight years and look what we got.”
This could leave space for Edwards and Obama to win some gay converts. The bottom line is, someone could distinguish herself or himself on other issues by being a fervent supporter of gay adoption, the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) or hate crimes bill, or by lobbying for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
It will likely come down to a question of which one is least risky—some political calculus of how these positions poll with the general public and which one is least likely to backfire given the nation’s political climate. After that, it’s a question of credibility.
As it stands now, Sen. Clinton is well within her comfort zone talking about gay issues, but some people wonder whether she really cares.
John Edwards has candidly said same-sex marriage “is the single hardest social issue for me personally.” Unfortunately, our political system leaves little room for the gray areas of self-reflection and revelation. Edwards practically stammered his way through an explanation of his position during an interview with George Stephanopoulos. He’s going to have to find his moral compass quickly and look resolute about it, even if it curtails his soul searching.
People are still guessing about Barack Obama since he has faced little questioning on the issue to date. In his book “The Audacity of Hope,” Obama writes, “I was reminded that it is my obligation not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided.”
If anyone were going to effectively navigate the gray area and still inspire voter confidence while doing it, Obama’s a good bet. But that alone will win him neither friends nor money in the LGBT community—one of many interest groups no Clinton challenger can afford to ignore as they attempt to chip away at the base of her Democratic fortress.
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