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By: PATRICK SAMMON
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You can imagine how much feedback Log Cabin received after last week’s endorsement of Sen. John McCain for president. Not surprisingly, we’ve received mixed reviews from LGBT Americans. Our grassroots membership strongly backs our endorsement. While many gay and lesbian people support our decision, we’ve also gotten our fair share of criticism.
Four years ago, Log Cabin withheld an endorsement from President Bush. John McCain is no George Bush on gay issues. I’m confident we made the right decision. McCain’s record makes him worthy of Log Cabin’s endorsement — an endorsement made after careful and thoughtful deliberation.
Item 1: Sen. McCain is the only candidate who paid a political price for making a tough vote that benefited LGBT people. On the biggest threat our community faced in the last decade, the federal marriage amendment, Sen. John McCain stood with us. He showed courage by bucking his own party —twice voting against the amendment and calling it “antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans.”
Item 2: Sen. McCain is returning the GOP to its unifying core principles and moving it away from the divisive social issues that helped our party lose power in 2006. John McCain is from the “leave us alone” wing of the GOP —believing government should get out of the way and let people live without interference from government. The GOP’s shift away from divisive social issues will benefit gay and lesbian Americans.
Item 3: Sen. McCain is running an inclusive campaign and he’ll have an inclusive administration. In 2004, President Bush used gay people as a wedge issue to win re-election. The president’s chief strategist, Karl Rove, actively used the marriage issue to fire up the base. By sharp contrast this year, Sen. McCain is running a different kind of campaign — a campaign completely void of the anti-gay rhetoric that was commonplace in 2004. No mention of “defending marriage” or “preserving the family” anywhere in the major GOP convention speeches in St. Paul — and with good reason. Some 49 percent of Republican delegates support either civil unions or marriage equality, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.
IN ANOTHER SIGN John McCain is a different kind of Republican, two of his top lieutenants addressed Log Cabin members during the convention. McCain’s senior advisor and the day-to-day campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, attended a Log Cabin luncheon to show the campaign’s appreciation for our endorsement. Schmidt said Log Cabin is “an important part of the fabric of [the GOP]” and talked very movingly about his lesbian sister.
All this might seem like small potatoes for some activists who believe if a candidate isn’t where he should be on most of our issues, we throw them overboard. Time and time again, Log Cabin has demonstrated an ability to move Republicans to a more favorable position.
Many people wanted Log Cabin to walk away from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after he vetoed the marriage equality bill in 2005. Instead, we stood with him and now in California he’s standing with us in opposing the anti-marriage constitutional amendment that’s on the November ballot.
Too many LGBT people want our community to put all its chips on one side of the table; on the side of Sen. Barack Obama. Our community can’t afford to do that, especially when there’s at least a 50 percent chance Sen. McCain will occupy the White House for the next four years.
Too many LGBT people apparently believe our movement should sit on the sidelines if he wins rather than work for incremental progress in the next Republican administration (a Republican administration which will be much more inclusive on gay issues than the current one.) Sitting on the sidelines for the next four years is a bad strategy for our movement.
IN LOOKING at the totality of John McCain’s record, we’re confident his administration will lead to positive progress for LGBT people.
Many LGBT people understand Sen. McCain is a different kind of Republican so he will receive strong support from our community.
Gay and lesbian people are not single-issue voters. Gay rights are a critical part of the equation, but so are many other issues impacting our daily lives—foreign policy, the economy, jobs, energy policy, health care reform, and taxes.
His election would be good for all Americans including LGBT Americans because he’ll have an inclusive Administration, he’ll grow our economy, cut spending, lower taxes, and bring real reform to Washington.
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