Nov 02, 2007  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

James Taylor chuckles when he recalls his encounter with presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani.

Taylor, a 28-year-old gay man who’s helping educate Iowa caucus voters about gay issues, earlier this month asked the Republican to pose for photographers with a Human Rights Campaign shirt. Giuliani agreed.

“That really blew a lot of people’s minds because of his party affiliation,” he said. “But he was very friendly, very receptive. He was great.”

It was a big moment for Taylor’s efforts in the Hawkeye State and one that invigorated him as the crucial Jan. 3 caucus vote approaches.

“Mitt Romney is going to be around later this week,” he said. “Hopefully we can get him to hold up a shirt, too.”

Gay activists are intensifying their efforts in Iowa and New Hampshire, engaging candidates and discussing key issues as the presidential campaign approaches a crucial juncture.

In two months, voters will begin casting ballots and attending caucuses to choose their party’s presidential nominee. Iowa leads the process with its caucus vote, followed soon thereafter by the New Hampshire primary.

The significance of these first-in-the-nation polls is not lost on gay activists. Marty Rouse, HRC’s national field director, said to influence voters in those states is to influence the entire presidential nomination process.

“The election of the most powerful person in the world begins to take place in Iowa and New Hampshire,” he said. “If the LGBT community wants to influence the selection process, the community needs to be involved in those two states.”

Rouse said that’s why HRC maintains a bustling office in New Hampshire and has partnered with One Iowa to further efforts there.

Taylor, the caucus director at One Iowa, and Heather Gibson, HRC’s regional field director in New Hampshire, are pushing to keep gay issues in discussions at candidate appearances, town hall meetings — even a steak fry.

“It’s kind of hokey in a way,” Rouse said. “But when you think about it, to be visible in California is one thing. To be visible in Iowa, to be visible in New Hampshire, that impacts these presidential candidates.”

Andrew Smith, a presidential primary expert and director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said HRC and One Iowa are wise to engage in such efforts.

“Because of the frontloading process that’s been going on this year, it’s my sense that whoever wins the New Hampshire primary will be the nominee,” he said.

Although some dates remain in flux, voters in more than two-dozen states are expected to cast their primary ballots by Feb. 5. But the focus, Smith said, remains on Iowa and New Hampshire, which lead the pack.

Because the states hold such political value, he said, gay activists are challenged to make their voices heard over others.

“It’s a tough thing to do, because everyone’s doing the same thing,” Smith said. “Because there are so many groups competing for time with the candidates, you don’t want to give candidates a reason not to respond to you.”

Gibson said to rise above the clamor, she’s pushing her volunteers to personally engage the candidates whenever and wherever possible.

“I think that’s why our personal stories become really, really important in this process,” she said. “For somebody to tell their story, one on one with a candidate, makes all the difference.”

Rouse agreed. He said such interactions — even those that are brief or passive — are invaluable.

“You never know when what you say, or what you wear, or how you look, or whose hand you’re holding will impact a presidential candidate or campaign,” he said. “You just never know when that moment happens. That’s why you have to be out and visible, and that’s why HRC is out mobilizing the community.”

Activists also are using other methods to draw attention to gay issues.

Taylor said his volunteers frequently reference “palm cards” with prepared questions that quiz the candidates on gay issues such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“That’s something that’s very personal to me,” he said, “because I was going to make a career out of the military.”

Taylor, who was discharged from an intelligence analyst position in May 2005 after serving more than five years in the armed forces, said he’s encouraging his volunteers to broach specific questions rather than broad issues.

He said the approach is working. One question to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama regarding pensions for officers expelled under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” drew attention to the issue and made the candidate consider a different aspect of the debate.

“This is a huge undertaking,” Taylor said. “But it’s a worthwhile one and a rewarding one.”