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- MATT SCHAFER
Friday, August 22, 2008
Georgia’s
electoral
votes
haven’t
gone
to
a
Democrat
since
Bill
Clinton
in
1992,
but
some
believe
this
is
the
year
Georgia
could
turn
blue.
George
W.
Bush
handily
won
Georgia’s
13
electoral
college
votes
in
the
past
two
presidential
elections.
Republicans
have
also
won
most
statewide
races
in
Georgia
since
Gov.
Sonny
Perdue
defeated
Roy
Barnes
in
2002,
giving
Georgia
the
reputation
as
a
red
state
stronghold.
But
some
believe
the
historic
Democratic
candidacy
of
Sen.
Barack
Obama
—
combined
with
a
strong
Libertarian
contender
from
Georgia,
Bob
Barr,
and
the
less
dynamic
campaign
styling
of
presumptive
Republican
nominee
John
McCain
—
could
tilt
the
state
from
red
to
blue.
And
to
get
there,
Obama
is
counting
on
a
bit
of
pink
by
openly
courting
gay
Georgia
voters
like
no
other
presidential
candidate
has
before.
“You
don’t
want
to
take
anyone
for
granted.
You
want
to
let
everyone
know
that
their
vote
counts,
that
you
care
about
their
issues
and
that
you’re
listening,”
said
Caroline
Adelman,
communications
director
for
Obama’s
Georgia
campaign,
in
an
interview
this
week
at
the
campaign’s
recently
opened
office
in
Atlanta.
The
office
serves
as
headquarters
for
the
Democratic
hopeful’s
Georgia
efforts
and
is
one
of
nine
Obama
campaign
offices
around
the
state.
Obama’s
Georgia
plans
also
include
hiring
a
gay
outreach
coordinator
for
the
state,
Adelman
said.
“This
is
something
we’ve
never
seen
in
Georgia
before,”
said
Don
George,
a
longtime
gay
activist
and
current
Obama
supporter
who
volunteered
for
Bill
Clinton’s
campaign
in
1992.
At
the
peak
of
Clinton’s
first
campaign,
George
estimated
there
were
300
gay
volunteers
working
the
state,
but
their
efforts
were
not
nearly
as
organized
or
accepted
as
they
are
in
Obama’s
campaign.
“When
we
did
it
in
’92,
it
was
through
the
[national]
Human
Rights
Campaign.
We
tried
to
start
working
out
of
the
Democratic
National
Committee’s
headquarters
on
Spring
Street,
and
I
don’t
think
they
even
gave
us
any
space,”
George
said.
Instead,
gay
volunteers
ended
up
working
out
of
a
house
in
Decatur
without
official
recognition
from
state
party
officials.
In
contrast,
openly
gay
staffers
and
volunteers
are
mixed
at
every
level
of
the
Obama
campaign.
Steve
Hildebrand
is
the
openly
gay
deputy
national
campaign
director.
Constituency
Director
Brian
Bond
and
Dave
Noble,
director
of
LGBT
issues,
are
both
members
of
the
gay
Stonewall
Democrats.
Rep.
Tammy
Baldwin
(D-Wisc.),
the
only
open
lesbian
in
Congress,
recently
joined
the
Obama
campaign
as
co-chair
of
his
national
gay
leadership
and
policy
committee
after
serving
on
a
similar
committee
for
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton.
Republicans
&
‘Obamicans’
Like
Obama’s
stands
on
gay
issues,
his
outreach
to
and
support
from
gay
Georgia
voters
is
unmatched
in
the
McCain
campaign.
“In
Georgia,
as
far
as
McCain
goes,
people
are
making
up
their
own
mind
about
it,”
said
Jamie
Ensley,
president
of
the
Georgia
chapter
of
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans.
“I
get
a
lot
of
phone
calls
and
e-mails
from
our
members
asking
if
we
have
made
an
endorsement
and
we
haven’t.
We’re
waiting
for
the
national
LCR
to
make
an
endorsement
and
then
we’ll
follow
them.”
Ensley
said
a
number
of
gay
Republicans
are
drawn
to
Obama
for
his
stance
on
gay
issues.
“We
call
them
Obamicans,”
he
joked.
While
McCain
draws
less
support
from
Christian
conservatives
than
Bush
and
has
previously
opposed
an
amendment
to
the
U.S.
Constitution
to
ban
gay
marriage,
he
and
Obama
are
diametrically
opposed
on
many
gay
issues.
Neither
candidate
supports
allowing
gays
to
marry.
But
Obama
backs
civil
unions,
repealing
the
federal
Defense
of
Marriage
Act,
overturning
the
military’s
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy,
banning
job
discrimination
based
on
sexual
orientation
and
gender
identity,
and
allowing
gays
to
adopt,
among
other
issues.
McCain
takes
the
opposite
stand
on
all
of
those
issues.
“I
think
Obama’s
taken
a
very
strong
positions
on
behalf
of
the
GLBT
community,”
said
Kyle
Bailey,
former
Georgia
Equality
political
director
who
now
serves
on
Obama’s
national
LGBT
steering
committee.
“From
the
start,
he
was
one
of
the
candidates
to
support
a
complete
repeal
of
the
Defense
of
Marriage
Act,
not
just
the
definition
of
marriage,
but
the
part
that
keeps
states
from
recognizing
marriages
from
other
states.”
Inspiring
voters
Obama’s
campaign
is
counting
on
his
impassioned
speeches
and
promises
of
bringing
change
to
Washington
to
pull
in
unregistered
voters,
and
increase
energy
in
the
electorate,
including
Atlanta
gay
voters
like
Michelle
Alexander
and
her
partner.
“This
is
probably
one
of
the
first
political
campaigns
I’ve
ever
gotten
involved
in,”
said
Alexander,
34,
who
saw
Obama
speak
last
year.
“I
didn’t
get
politically
involved
or
[understand]
why
I
should
get
politically
involved
until
I
saw
Barack
at
Georgia
Tech
last
fall,”
Alexander
said.
“At
first
I
think
it
was
because
he
was
just
so
charismatic
and
you
can
sit
and
listen
to
him
for
hours.
Then
as
I
followed
the
campaign
I
saw
the
consistency
of
his
character.”
Joseph
Mills,
29,
a
gay
East
Atlanta
voter,
considers
himself
an
independent,
and
in
2004
chose
George
W.
Bush
over
John
Kerry.
He
described
himself
as
fiscally
conservative
and
socially
liberal.
Mills
said
he
is
supporting
Obama
because
of
“the
idea
of
completely
changing
the
way
that
America
looks
at
leadership,
maybe
getting
away
from
the
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