LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
Stonewall Democrats: Candidates Come a-Courtin' The largest delegation of Democratic big mules since the founding of the National Stonewall Democrats in 1997 showed up for the gay group's recent annual awards event, demonstrating what a major force Stonewall has become in Democratic politics in only five years. Three of the party's prospective presidential contenders attended: Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (Mo.), and Gov. Howard Dean (Vt.)who flew all the way down to Washington from the Green Mountain State for the event. Such congressional heavyweights as Democratic House Whip Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.), and influential 23-termer John Dingell (Mich.) were also present. The Democrats' powers-that-be had several incentives to show up. First, there were an estimated 3 million gay voters in the Democratic presidential column in 2000, some 6 percent of Al Gore's total. Stonewall, in particular, provides organizational muscle in all the key states. And second, there's the mother's milk of politics, money. At the event, Stonewall announced it has formed a federal political action committeeNSD PAC. Fundraising chair Claire Lucas told me the PAC raised $10,000 in less than a week. The big story is "what's happening with gay money in this country," says Lucas, especially the large sums of money raised for Democratic candidates in 2000. "That's why we're able to attract congressional leaders" for gay events, she explains. Indeed, look for all the Democratic 2004 presidential contenders to seek out prominent gay leaders to host fundraisers for them across the country. Dean, with his strong gay rights record in Vermont, is particularly likely to try to shake the gay money tree. If prospective presidential candidates are courting the gay vote, gay leaders are not yet ready to say yes. Gay Democrats want a nominee with a good chance of getting the party back into the White House. With no strong differences separating the candidates on gay issues, gay Democratic power brokersand they are power brokersare likely to wait and see who is running well in the polls and in the early primaries before they commit. Dean is making the gay community a major target for support. He believes his civil unions stand will help him in the Democratic primaries, but he's not sure about the general election. The civil unions issue, he told me, "has a huge impact on 5 percent of the population[but] when I go and do an event with a heterosexual audience, I don't get asked about it." Dean's pro-gay record is impressive, but Gephardt and Kerryand probably most other serious Democratic contenders for the White Houseare equally committed to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and other key items on the gay agenda. That means that if Dean wins New Hampshire "a comfortable state for me," the Vermonter sayshe may get a major boost in gay support. If his campaign fails to take off, however, gay leaders have plenty of other pro-gay candidates to choose from. Guerriero Still In Race for Lieutenant Governor When Gov. Jane Swift (R-Mass.) announced she would not seek another term as governor, Patrick Guerriero, the openly gay man she had picked for her running mate, decided to stay in the race. His first hurdle will be the Massachusetts Republican convention. He faces wealthy, conservative party activist Jim Rappaport. Winter Olympics czar Mitt Romney, the all-but-crowned GOP candidate for governor, has endorsed neither candidate, but says he'll run in the September primary on a ticket with the candidate who wins the convention. Guerriero is touting his candidacy as a party unifierwhat better way to appeal to Swift partisans than to choose her running mate for the number two spot? Whether Guerriero can survive the nominating process of Massachusetts' conservative GOP remains to be seen, but the Log Cabin Republicans are putting lots of muscle into his campaign. It's Bawer vs. Brock at Book WorldThe Washington Post's Book World recently published Bruce Bawer's review of David Brock's Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative. Bawer, like Brock, is gay, political, and a successful author himself (A Place at the Table and Stealing Jesus). Seems like a good pick to review the latest from Brock, whose earlier works are The Real Anita Hill and The Seduction of Hillary Rodham. Similarities aside, Bawer didn't like Brock's book"hyperbolic mea culpas," "familiar-sounding trash talk," "below the belt attacks," etc. Now both Brock and Book World contend Bawer should not have agreed to review the book. Brock says Bawer was among those named in the book and "if you're mentioned in a book, discussed in a book, it's recognized as either a conflict of interest, or is flagged in the review." Book World says Bawer should have told them he, like Brock, once wrote for The American Spectator, since Brock was hostile to the conservative Spectator in his book. Bawer says neither charge holds waterBrock's mention of him is favorable, presenting no conflict for a negative review; and his 12-years-ago association with the Spectator, which ended "under less-than-friendly circumstances," is unlikely to bias him against Brock. Bawer's partisans say his sin was bashing newly minted liberal Brock. Shades of Michelangelo Signorile vs. Andrew Sullivan? Hastings Wyman publishes Southern Political Report, a nonpartisan biweekly political newsletter. He may be reached in care of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth or at HWymanSPR@aol.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 03, April 5, 2002. |