Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon recently appeared on National Public Radio to discuss the ongoing conflict over California’s Proposition 8. You can read more (and listen to the interview) here.
Posted: November 14th, 2008 under Chapter News, Democrats, Elections, From the Right, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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As the buzz around Prop 8’s passage in California continues to get louder, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer today published an insightful op-ed from Log Cabin Republicans National Board Member Joel Hastings:
For me, the true lesson of this election is that party labels do not predict one’s personal beliefs on marriage equality and gay rights issues. Many people in the gay community place all their trust in electing Democrats as a panacea to fixing LGBT inequalities. It’s clear that strategy won’t lead to victory.
Read the entire piece here.
-posted by Scott Tucker
Posted: November 12th, 2008 under Democrats, Elections, From the Right, GOP Heroes, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon writes about the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California, which eliminates the right of gay and lesbian couples in that state to marry.
37.6% of the “Yes” on 8 votes came from Obama supporters. That translates into 2,039,878 of the 5.4 million “Yes” votes.
620,000 of the “No” votes were from McCain supporters.
-posted by Scott Tucker
Posted: November 10th, 2008 under Democrats, Elections, From the Right, GOP Heroes, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Blogger Chris Crain takes issue with the exit poll numbers we cited.
In a previous post on this blog, we pointed out that John McCain received 27% of the gay vote this year, and that was up from 20% that George W. Bush received in 2004.
While admitting the 27% number for McCain this year is correct, Crain disputes the 20% that Bush got in 2004. He says it was actually 24%, according to a Voter News Service exit poll at the time. (I assume this is the one he’s talking about. If so, it shows 23%.)
We can go back and forth about exit polls. Here is an LA Times exit poll from 2004 showing 17% of the gay vote for Bush/Cheney. I suppose we could have used that 17% figure (and we would have been correct) to illustrate an even bigger improvement for McCain with the gay vote this time around. But, with one exit poll showing 17% in 2004, and another showing 23%, we split the difference to say about 20%.
Whichever exit poll from 2004 you decide to believe, 2008 still marks an increase in the number of gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans voting for the Republican nominee for president, Sen. John McCain.
At the end of the day, the point remains that McCain did better than any other GOP nominee with gay Americans.
-posted by Scott Tucker
Posted: November 7th, 2008 under Elections, From the Right, GOP Heroes, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Despite our disappointment in Sen. McCain’s loss and our extreme sadness over the outcomes of gay-related ballot initiatives (AR bans adoption for gay couples; FL, AZ and…it appears…CA ban marriage for gay couples), there are some heartening things to come out of this election.
As we pointed out today, exit polls show McCain received 27% of the gay vote. That’s up from 20% four years ago. That equals 1.3 million votes – the most any Republican candidate for President has received from gay voters.
For Log Cabin members and all fair-minded Republicans, there is more good news.
70-75% of Log Cabin Republicans-endorsed candidates won House & Senate races, including 80% of incumbents.
Some Highlights:
Log Cabin ally Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) won re-election overwhelmingly. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) is too close to call still…and it could take weeks. Unfortunately, Log Cabin ally Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) lost.
In the U.S. House, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) won re-election, as did Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL). Unfortunately, our good friend and without doubt one of the most gay-supportive members of Congress, Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), fell victim to the Democratic sweep.
We’re delighted that Republican Steve Stivers in Columbus, OH is leading in his race (though the counting continues). He’s an Iraq War veteran who favors repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He’ll be a great ally in Congress. Also, Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins won election to Congress. Jenkins will be an important Log Cabin ally from a red state.
-posted by Scott Tucker
Posted: November 5th, 2008 under Chapter News, Democrats, Elections, From the Right, GOP Heroes, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Exit polls show John McCain received 27% of the gay vote. That is up from 20% four years ago. That equals 1.3 million votes – the most any Republican candidate for President has received.
-posted by Scott Tucker
Posted: November 5th, 2008 under Elections, From the Right, GOP Heroes, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon issued the following statement after the results of this historic presidential election:
“Log Cabin congratulates Sen. Barack Obama on his historic victory. While Log Cabin Republicans proudly supported Sen. John McCain, we recognize this important moment in American history.
“On behalf of Log Cabin Republicans members all across the country, we thank Sen. McCain for his service to our country. He should be proud of the campaign he ran, especially his efforts to reach out to gay and lesbian Americans. He was the most pro-gay GOP presidential nominee in American history. We were proud to stand with him in this historic election.”
Posted: November 5th, 2008 under Democrats, Elections, From the Right, GOP Heroes, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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A great piece that ran in the Politico over the weekend:
Last Monday, former Bush White House aide Peter Wehner made a startling statement in an op-ed in The Washington Post. He said that while “the GOP is in bad shape, conservatism is not.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Conservatism has been badly damaged by Wehner’s former bosses, President Bush and Karl Rove, and others who never understood our movement, who only saw it as a tool to serve the political needs of this administration, never as a framework for governance.
And then, this:
The Republicans of late, however, decided to trade in the “less government, more freedom” model that had worked so well for Reagan and conservatives. They deliberately and quite consciously made the social right and the economic right dependent upon Washington.
From the beginning, they tempted the social right with a seat at the table in forming policy, “faith-based initiatives,” federal interference in the Terry Schiavo case in Florida and a ludicrous amendment to the Constitution banning gay marriage. After eight years of being told by Rove and this White House that all the social ills of America could be federalized, it will take a long time to put this toothpaste back in the tube.
-posted by Scott Tucker
Posted: November 3rd, 2008 under Elections, From the Right, GOP Heroes, GOP Progress, In the News, Log Cabin In Focus.
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