President Bush “is not a compassionate conservative,” Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Terry McAuliffe told me in a recent interview. “He’s an extreme conservative, out of the mainstream of America.” As evidence, McAuliffe cited the hate crimes bill, which would amend existing law to include sexual orientation. “Eighty percent of Americans are for hate crimes legislation. Eighty percent”-he repeats it for emphasis. But “George Bush has been silent.”

Relishing his criticisms of Bush, McAuliffe noted that while the president is out speaking about homeland security, “he won’t do anything about the...people in our country victimized by hate crimes.” The Democratic chair also cited Bush’s failure to support hate crimes legislation even after African-American James Byrd was murdered in Texas and Matthew Shepard was killed in Wyoming.

The morning of our interview, Senate proponents of hate crimes legislation had failed to invoke cloture-i.e., to cut off debate -on the pending hate crimes bill, making it less likely the measure would pass, at least without changes. Some 54 senators-fewer than the 60 votes Senate rules require-voted to limit debate, while 43 voted to allow continued discussion, thus postponing a Senate vote on the bill. The 54 included only four Republicans. Even Southern Democrats, such as Georgia’s conservative Zell Miller, supported bringing the bill to a vote. The 43 against cloture were all GOPers (except for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who voted “no” so he can move to reconsider the vote in the future). “The Republicans have to be held accountable,” McAuliffe said.

I asked McAuliffe about the prospects for compromise. “That’s a code word for trying to deny the substance of the bill,” said McAuliffe. “We’re going to keep trying, keep pushing, till it gets passed,” he added. “The key is the House of Representatives”-i.e., winning a majority in the House in the elections this November.

McAuliffe suggests the same dynamics apply to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

“Daschle is working closely with [gay organizations] to get it up for a vote, but it’s tough, if the Republicans use the same strategy as they have with hate crimes.”

But McAuliffe doesn’t approach the hate crimes issue solely as one of strategy. Rather, the Democrats “are on the side of morality and justice. This is a ‘must’ issue, about how people should be treated.” He cites the recent example of a DNC intern “beaten up [with] a lead-pipe. We believe he was victimized based upon sexual orientation.”

Asked whether the DNC would push this issue only to the gay community or to the public at large, McAuliffe answered, “The DNC press release will go to everybody. This is not a gay and lesbian issue, it’s a national issue.” He noted hate crimes will be one of a number of campaign themes. “Add that to the other issues-Social Security and so on-it fits into them.”

Gay GOPers, by contrast, see compromise as the way to pass hate crimes legislation now, rather than waiting for the possibility of Democratic control of the House. In general, it is in the interest of Log Cabin to blur sharp partisan differences on gay issues. Kevin Ivers, political director of Log Cabin Republicans, notes that before the Senate vote on whether to close debate on hate crimes, his group organized a meeting between legislative staffers of the bill’s sponsors-Senators Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.). While the aides “did not reach a deal,” says Ivers, their meeting did lay the groundwork for further meetings in which Hatch’s amendments to the bill can be discussed.

Hatch’s amendments are aimed largely at avoiding federal and state clashes over jurisdiction in criminal cases where group hatred is a motive, though critics believe the amendments would weaken the legislation. He would leave sexual orientation in the bill but would have the Justice Department select a federal prosecutor in each jurisdiction to work with state and local authorities on hate crimes. He would also authorize an analysis of the hate crimes data collected by the FBI and allow for the use of the death penalty in hate crimes cases where it is already available under state law.

These political considerations, rather than substantive concerns about the legislation itself, are important to both sides. If a GOP-hatched compromise passes, Log Cabin will have something to crow about. If the measure stays bottled up, Terry McAuliffe will have an effective weapon on the campaign trail. Stay tuned.