Jul 04, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

Aug. 8.

Bennett still considers himself a Republican and voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, even though he disagrees with Bush’s support for the marriage amendment. But Bennett is undecided on how he will vote in the general election this year. He recommended that the Log Cabin Republicans not endorse McCain.

Daniel Stewart, head of the New York State Commission of Corrections, said the entire Republican Party has turned him off in the last few years.

Stewart was elected to the City Council in Plattsburgh, N.Y., as a Democrat, but former New York Gov. George Pataki convinced him to switch to the Republican Party to run against the city’s mayor in 2000. Stewart won the election.

But now Stewart is planning on leaving the Republican Party because the party is not moving where he’d like on issues that affect him personally, such as same-sex marriage. He noted his resentment over having to travel to Canada in 2004 to marry his partner.

“Just as I felt abandoned by my party for the longest time, I’m probably going to leave the Republican Party — I just have to figure out if I’m going to become a Democrat or an independent,” he said.

Stewart was disappointed that the inroads the “Austin 12” made in 2000 with Bush did not hold through his administration.

“When we met with George Bush back in 2000, we were really feeling as though we were going to make some progress, and if you look at what’s happened in the last eight years, that was a lie,” he said.

While he’s not supporting McCain, Stewart is also not on board with Obama. Stewart supported Clinton during the Democratic primary and said Obama needs “more than just a ‘change’ message” to win him over.

While some members of the “Austin 12” are unhappy with McCain, others declared their support for him.

Scott Huch, president of the advertising agency known as the Delta Group and former vice president of the Virginia Log Cabin Republicans, said recent reports that McCain has been meeting with Patrick Sammon, president of Log Cabin, shows that “McCain is receptive to learning more about issues that affect the gay and lesbian community.”

Although he voted for Ron Paul in the Republican primary, Huch said he would vote for McCain in the general election because of his market-oriented approach to economic issues and a commitment to winning the war in Iraq.

“I’m not going to be voting as a single-issue gay voter,” he said.

Huch acknowledged that McCain has often been criticized for his lack of support for gay issues in Congress, including his “no” votes on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and a hate crimes measure. McCain also articulated continued support for the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell&rdqu