As Georgia voters prepare to head to the polls on Feb. 5 to take part in what’s been dubbed Super Duper Tuesday, when more than 20 states hold their presidential primaries, many local gay leaders are speaking out with public endorsements.
With Hillary Clinton fresh off a crucial win in New Hampshire and Barack Obama still riding on his win in Iowa, local gay voters acknowledge they are torn between the two.
Both tDemocratic presidential candidates claim nearly the same stance on gay issues such as repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as well as providing legal protections for gay couples. But John Edwards, also a strong gay rights rter, seems to have lost his footing in the race, according to University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.
But can gay Georgia voters make any kind of impact on the presidential race?
“Yes, they do. They tend to be Democrats and tend to be politically active,” Bullock said of the gay voter bloc. “Primaries tend to have poor participation and if gay voters get behind one candidate, it could be a factor.”
OUTREACH EFFORTS
Obama and Clinton are conducting major outreach to voters in Georgia, with both candidates opening campaign offices in Atlanta. State Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) came out in May in support for Obama.
“I came out early for Obama because he represents to me the candidate for change,” said Drenner, Georgia’s only openly gay state lawmaker. “But I don’t care who wins as long as we have a Democrat as president. All the major Democratic candidates would be great presidents including Obama.”
Drenner said Obama’s campaign did reach out to her as well as other gay voters for their support.
Ben Labolt, a national spokesperson for the Obama campaign, said the campaign was definitely seeking gay support in Georgia and referred calls to Drenner for further comments.
Press releases from the Obama campaign listing Georgia supporters don’t include other notable gay leaders.
On Jan. 4, Clinton’s campaign released a list of Georgia supporters with several prominent gay and lesbian leaders, including Ken Britt and Lawrie Demorest, both attorneys with Alston & Bird. Other notable gay leaders publicly supporting Clinton include Allen Thornell; Cathy Woolard, interim executive director of Georgia Equality; and Atlanta City Councilmember Anne Fauver.
Demorest, who is very active with the Atlanta and national Human Rights Campaign, said the Clinton campaign was the only one to reach out to her and ask her for her support.
“[Clinton’s] doing a good job of actively reaching out to gay voters,” she said. While there is not a great deal of difference on gay issues among the Democratic candidates, Demorest said, it is Clinton’s experience and how effective she can be in the White House that resulted in her backing.
GAYS & GOP
On the Republican side, there is obviously not much gay outreach, said Georgia Log Cabin President Jamie Ensley, who is also active with the Fulton County Republican Party.
But Ensley has met Romney and Giuliani at their campaign stops in Atlanta and described very different reactions from the candidates. When he introduced himself to Romney as the president of Georgia’s LCR, Ensley said Romney “looked like a deer caught in headlights, and then mumbled something awkwardly and smiled. I told our national office after meeting him that if Gov. Romney is the answer, then it was a stupid question.”
His meeting with Giuliani went better, Ensley said, with the former New York mayor thanking him for his support.
Ensley added that while Georgia is a red state, it has elected its first openly gay Republican to a municipal office and has two state Republican representatives who vocally support gay equality.
“Georgia’s a red state, but with a tint of pink in it,” he said.
Kyle Bailey, who individually endorsed John Edwards and is Georgia Equality’s political director, said the non-partisan statewide gay group has not been approached by any presidential campaigns seeking gay voter support. But as a political activist, he said he knows Clinton, Obama, Edwards as well as Gov. Bill Richards, Giuliani and even Ron Paul are receiving significant gay grassroots support.
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