Oct 17, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is seeking help from gay voters to win some surprising new battleground states in November’s election.

Dave Noble, who is in charge of mobilizing the gay vote for Obama, said Democrats are “really expanding the map and there are states in play for Barack Obama that haven’t been in play for Democrats in years past.”

Foremost among the new competitive states in this year’s election is Virginia, which has not been claimed by a Democratic presidential candidate since President Lyndon Johnson won the state in 1964. A Rasmussen poll published Monday found Obama leading Republican presidential nominee John McCain in Virginia, 50-47.

Another surprisingly competitive state is North Carolina, which no Democratic presidential candidate has won since Jimmy Carter took the state in 1976. The Rasmussen poll from Monday found that Obama and McCain are tied in the state at 48-48.

Other states in play are Colorado, Missouri and West Virginia. President Bill Clinton won those states at least once in his elections, but the states were solidly “red” when President George W. Bush ran for the White House in 2000 and 2004.

Some traditional battleground states are also competitive, such as Florida and Ohio.

Dan Pinello, a gay government professor for the City University of New York, said the “overwhelming” concern over the economy is making Obama competitive in states where Democrats have historically not performed well.

Noble said Obama’s gay supporters can help win these states by talking to friends, family members and co-workers about how the Illinois senator would be a more effective president on gay issues.

“They should be telling their own story about why they support Barack,” Noble said. “Let’s talk about the fact that we have a candidate who’s unafraid to talk about the need for LGBT laws.”

Noble, a former official with both the National Stonewall Democrats and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, noted that Obama favors passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, hate crimes legislation and a bill repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Obama’s gay supporters can also help by knocking on doors in battleground states and participating in “get out the vote” activities, Noble said.

While Obama is competing neck-and-neck with McCain in key states, national polls show Obama with a considerable lead. A poll published Tuesday by CBS News/New York Times gives Obama a 14-point lead over McCain.

Noble said the Obama campaign “is taking nothing for granted” in the election and said rather than focus on polls, Obama supporters “need to make sure that [they’ve] spoken to absolutely everybody” to encourage support for the candidate.

The McCain campaign did not respond to a request for comment on what gay supporters could do for his campaign.

While same-sex marriage supporters are celebrating last week’s ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court legalizing gay nuptials there, experts predict the ruling will have little effect on the presidential campaign.

The campaigns of both presidential candidates had little, if anything, to say about the Connecticut ruling.

Obama campaign spokesperson Shin Inouye said his candidate “has always believed that LGBT Americans should enjoy equal rights under the law.”

“He supports civil unions and opposes same-sex marriage,” Inouye said.

The McCain campaign did not respond to a request to comment.

Clyde Wilcox, a straight Georgetown University government professor and author of “The Politics of Gay Rights,” said the Connecticut ruling, “is far less important to the presidential election” than the Massachusetts high court ruling four years ago.

Wilcox said the Republican Party is unlikely to “pounce on this issue” because the “public is becoming more accepting of same-sex couples, and among younger voters there is considerable support for marriage.”