 |
 |
| Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee,
may select his running mate in the coming weeks, officials at his campaign said.
(AP photo)
|
|
|
| | |
|
John Kerry for President, Inc.
901 15th St., NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
202-712-3000
www.johnkerry.com
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: ADRIAN BRUNE COMMENTS
 
continued...
rights.
In addition to Trammell, Kerry this week named Marry Breslauer, a former HRC
staffer, to lead liaison efforts to gay voters. The campaign also named Mark
Seifert, who headed gay outreach for former Gen. Wesley Clark’s campaign, to
the same position in Kerry’s campaign.
They are joined on the Kerry staff by Steve Elmendorf, a longtime gay political
operative who was chief of staff for Gephardt’s campaign and has worked since
Gephardt’s early departure from the primary as Kerry’s deputy campaign manager.
Dan Glickman, professor of public policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School
of Government and an expert on political campaigns, put into perspective the
significance of Kerry’s selection for the No. 2 spot on the ticket. Glickman
argued that voters largely focus on the state of the world and the condition
of the national economy.
In a running mate, the nominee will primarily look for a congruence of views
regarding those issues, he said, rather than an accord on social issues, which
directly affect a smaller population percentage.
Though Kerry — still annoyed over the circulation of his name as a running
mate to Al Gore in 2000 — expects all campaign staffers to remain publicly
silent on prospective vice-presidential candidates, two other potential running
mates have created a stir as well. They both also raise objections from both
gay advocacy groups and women’s rights organizations.
Some gay activists think New Mexico Gov. trong>Bill
Richardson is the best person that presumptive Democratic presidential
nominee John Kerry could choose for his running mate. Richardson is Hispanic
and comes from a battleground state. (Photo by Jake Schoellkopf/AP) |
Some campaign watchers have suggested that conservative and Southern Democrats
are lobbying for the selection of former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn. Nunn maintained
a rock-solid record on national security issues during his 12-year-tenure as
chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1984 to 1996. But Nunn alienated
gay Democrats by opposing President Clinton’s plan to allow gays to serve openly
in the military. Instead, Nunn proposed and then successfully pushed through “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell.” Women’s groups decry Nunn’s membership in the male-only Augusta
National Golf Club.
“Sam Nunn still has a lot to answering to do after he backed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell,’” said Sean Cahill, the director of the policy institute at the National
Gay & Lesbian Task Force. “He certainly didn’t do the gay commun
|
