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FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2009
 
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Sen. John McCain has consistently and vocally supported anti-gay legislation in both Washington and in his home state of Arizona. (Photo by Steve Helber/AP)




MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR
VICTOR MALDONADO


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Victor Maldonado is a Washington-based free-
lance journalist, a former Hill staffer and current contributor to pamshouseblend.com. He can be reached at vmold@yahoo.com.





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Letter to the Editor

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EDITORIAL

An assault on common sense
This former Republican says Log Cabin’s McCain endorsement is a huge mistake

VICTOR MALDONADO
Friday, September 26, 2008

HAVE A CONFESSION TO make: I was once a card carrying Republican. As a younger man, I worked for a Republican member of Congress. I worked for the Republican National Committee within the Bush administration. I worked and volunteered for Republican congressional races and even hit the road in 2004 to help re-elect George Bush to a second term in office. 

That experience has taught me this: No way, no how and under no circumstances will gay Americans be better off under another Republican administration. Electing Barack Obama president is the best hope the LGBT community, and America, has to affect real change in the next four years.

Last week, Patrick Sammon, president of Log Cabin Republicans, wrote an op-ed piece in the Blade supporting Sen. John McCain. Sammon explained how another Republican administration would be “good for all Americans — including gays and lesbians.” This is an assault on common sense. As president, McCain would be beholden to the same people, instituting the same policies, and advocating the same positions as George Bush. Nothing will change with McCain because everything will be the same. Americans, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, cannot be confused — a vote for John McCain is a vote for four more years of the same. Barack Obama is the only candidate offering real and substantive change in this election.

Even a cursory look at John McCain’s record on civil rights proves he is no friend to the LGBT community. Yes, he voted against the federal marriage amendment but that should not be the bar we use when deciding someone is supportive of our rights, that is the bare minimum we should expect from a public servant. McCain has consistently and vocally supported anti-gay legislation in both Washington and back in Arizona. He refused to cosponsor legislation providing Medicaid coverage to low-income, HIV-positive Americans despite the fact that eight other Republicans had already crossed the aisle to support the measure. He publicly supported an anti-gay marriage amendment in his home state of Arizona and believes it should be legal to fire gays from their jobs because of their sexual orientation. He has also publicly supported “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” calling lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans an “intolerable risk” to our nation’s military. John McCain’s record on LGBT issues is the same as George Bush’s and it’s terrible.

BY COMPARISON, OBAMA’S legislative record on LGBT issues is consistent and strong. As a senator, he cosponsored legislation expanding hate crimes laws to include crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity. He supports a gender identity-inclusive ENDA and sponsored legislation banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. He supports a full repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and backs civil unions. He believes same-sex couples should have equal health insurance, employment benefits, property rights and adoption rights as same-sex couples. He opposed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and supports repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Still, there are those in the gay community who say, “We care about more than just civil rights, what about the important issues like the war and the economy?” On each of these issues, Obama is the more responsible choice to be our next president. He plans to jumpstart the economy with a $1,000 rebate to American families. He supports tax cuts for the middle class and a simplified tax code. Obama would cut small business taxes while at the same time protecting homeowners from predatory lending practices.

On the war, Obama understands America cannot continue to fight two wars without a strategic vision of how to bring our men and women home. He understands that the lives of our men and women in uniform are too important for politicians to be stubborn. We must always be willing to assess and reassess our role in global conflicts; at every turn ensuring American lives are not lost because the road to diplomacy was too difficult.

To my friends inside and outside of Log Cabin thinking about voting for John McCain, I urge you to reconsider. As a former gay Republican, I understand how frustrating it is to watch our community thoughtlessly and reflexively vote for the Democrats. I bristle when people automatically assume because I’m gay I must be a Democrat. I like to think I am more than just my sexual identity; that
I also have my beliefs and judgments. 

But having choices and making good choices are two separate things. We each have a choice in whom to support this November, but there is really only one good choice. On LGBT issues, the economy and the war, Barack Obama is the only candidate offering a consistent and cohesive vision of how he will lead this country. 

So with less than 50 days to the election, please help fund, support, and vote for common sense — elect Barack Obama.


 

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The following comments were posted by our readers and were not edited by the Washington Blade.  We ask that you treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will be removed.

Mr Chris on 10/3/08  1:09 AM:
I would'nt vote McInsane/Palin if it was the only choice
dc-20008 on 10/2/08  4:52 PM:
Yeah, and Bush has done a lot more than Democrats in the area of reducing the size of the civilian population of Iraq too. Vote McCain!
rpcv84 on 9/29/08  7:54 PM:
Michael Bedwell: What have the Democrats done to stop the spread of HIV? Nothing. I thought so. Bush's PEPFAR is far better than anything domestically or internationally that any Democrat has done.
Michael Bedwell on 9/29/08  5:57 PM:
Just say NO to Repug Kool Aid, rpcv84. Your ignorance of the facts is sad. PEPFAR didn't exist 8 yrs ago so Bush didn't increase it. He DID start it BUT it's for people with AIDS overseas while he flatlined AIDS funding in the US thus, due to inflation, REDUCING it while infections continue to rise esp. among blacks. And 1/3 of PEPFAR $ MUST go to teaching "abstinence"--so stupid & counterproductive that Brazil turned down $40 mil rather than abandon their effective condom program. Bush has done more to SPREAD AIDS than any President since Reagan. McCain: from the people who brought you Bush!
landonbryce on 9/29/08  4:10 PM:
If you supported Bush in 2004, aren't you too stupid for anyone to take this editorial seriously? Even the Log Cabin Republicans did not endorse Bush in 2004! McCain is infinitely less dangerous to gays than Bush and actually qualified to be president. Obama is obviously a better choice than McCain, but McCain is obviously a better choice than Bush. Who do you think could possible care about your criticism since it comes from an obvious standpoint of hypcrasy and idiocy?
jeri . on 9/29/08  11:22 AM:
log cabin republicans possess the "slave mentality" - they don't believe for themselves that they are equal, and so they are not willing to demand full equality. they just aren't ready for it. they would have to re-define their own lives, and that terrifies them. they are happy to accept the scraps that their republican "massas" will provide them. pity, really.
rpcv84 on 9/26/08  11:25 PM:
As a gay positive man, how dare you assert "John McCain’s record on LGBT issues is the same as George Bush’s and it’s terrible." I'm very proud of the previously unthinkable increase in PEPFAR spending that has been initiated during the last 8 years. Bush has done more to combat AIDS than any previous president. When McCain continues that policy, I'll be glad I voted for him.
Victor on 9/26/08  6:15 PM:
These links verify the statement: Equal Health Insurence, Employment Benefits and Property Rights: http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=20935 Adoption Rights: http://www.batesline.com/archives/2008/09/michelle-obama-speaks-to-lgbt-re.html
bw43 on 9/26/08  9:54 AM:
"He believes same-sex couples should have equal health insurance, employment benefits, property rights and adoption rights as same-sex couples." This is obviously an error which needs to be fixed.

 

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