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Wayne Besen
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Our nation faces huge challenges, particularly with energy dependence on foreign oil. Unfortunately, John McCain is stuck in the past and his only "solution" is. "drill, drill, drill," when we all know what he really means is "shill, shill, shill" for Big Oil.
How could anyone vote for McCain and his backward policies after eight years of Bush? It is truly mind-boggling.
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Today, John McCain made a huge strategic blunder. In an effort to appeal to disgruntled Clinton voters, he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Palin's resume is so thin it could model on the cover of Vogue Magazine.
The move was not even historic, as Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman chosen for a VP running mate in 1984, by Democrat Walter Mondale.
Palin has virtually no experience - particularly in foreign policy. Considering McCain is 72, elevating Palin makes it infinitely more difficult for him to claim Obama does not have the experience to be president. After all, before Palin was governor, she was mayor of some little town I've never heard of with about 6 residents. I think my apartment building in Brooklyn has more residents than her entire town.
Furthermore, she is under investigation for improper use of her office. Stay tuned.
At the Democratic convention, the Clinton's helped unite the party - thus limiting defections. The fact that Palin is pro-life and anti-gay will not exactly bring many Hillary women to the McCain/Palin ticket.
Unless Palin emerges as an unusually good politician, this will go down as one of the worst VP picks in memory. It shows that McCain is another Bush and too incompetent to govern. What a gift to the Obama campaign.
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Last night, Obama was incredible. He rose to the challenge and did everything he needed to do to be president.
The Clinton's had set the stage by making peace, and Biden gave a solid speech the night before. Michelle also succeeded on Monday in softening her image and re-introducing herself to the American people. All that was left was for Obama to score a rhetorical touchdown in a football stadium. No, easy task.
However, it could not have gone better. Obama was powerful and eloquent, as usual. But, this time - he did exactly as I suggested in my weekly column. He defined himself - and, more importantly, painted a portrait of John McCain as out of touch and past his prime.
The Democrats (Obama, the Clintons, Ted Kennedy, Andy Tobias) also did what they needed to do to win the GLBT vote. By mentioning our community in their speeches, they created what will be a huge contrast with a Republican convention where gays will be largely invisible - certainly from the main stage.
Well, not quite invisible. I'm sure we will get mentioned more than once by GOP speakers who want to "protect" marriage with a constitutional amendment. There will also be Republican speakers who promote discrimination in the workplace, oppose hate crime legislation and declare a cultural war.
The huge chasm between the parties will be evident and hopefully deliver a huge swath of the GLBT vote to Obama and other Democrats on Election Day. Obama and the Democrats made their case as to why they should be in charge of this nation. Now, it is up to us to come out and vote to change America and restore our greatness.
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A Public Policy Institute of California poll shows a majority of likely voters, 54 percent, oppose ending gay marriage, compared with 40 percent who support it. The result is similar to the findings of a Field Poll in July, which found that 51 percent of likely California voters opposed ending gay marriage, while 42 percent said they supported it.
But when it comes to general attitudes about gay marriage, voters in the Public Policy Institute poll are evenly split, at 47 percent for and against as they have been for the past three years.
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According to Faith in America's Mitchell Gold, there are well over a million teenagers who are having a slow motion nervous breakdown.
"They feel incredibly isolated,"says Gold. "They live in extraordinary fear that they will lose the people they love most or get the crap kicked out of them if anyone finds out their secret. Why me? they ask themselves. They get this sinking feeling whenever they realize that they are attracted intimately to someone of the same sex. Maybe you know exactly what I'm talking about."
For the past 10 months Gold worked on a book that will be a clarion call to people to let them know the horrible harm that they might be causing. That has happened and is happening to gay kids when they realize they are gay.
The groundbreaking new book, "Crisis: 44 Stories Revealing The Personal, Social, And Religious Pain And Trauma Of Growing Up Gay In America," is a must-read book for everyone. I just ordered a copy and hope you will too.
I get a lot of e-mail from LGBT people who are misinformed and think that John McCain and Barack Obama have the same record on gay issues.
Just because both candidates oppose same-sex marriage does not mean they are identical on our issues. Nothing could be further from the truth. Obama is lighyears ahead and to vote for McCain is a tragic mistake that will usher in four more years of discrimination and a right wing Supreme Court.
Please check out a new website - LGBT for Obama - where you can see the records of McCain and Obama on equiality. Compare for yourself and you can see there really is no comparison.
Ever wonder why we are in Iraq? It was supposed to be for freedom (after the WMD's were non-existent). But if you are gay in Iraq - your life is under attack. It is so bad, that many gay people prefer Saddam.
"Those were the most beautiful days of our lives," a gay man told Newsweek. "The fall [of Saddam] was the worst thing to happen."
Gay people in Iraq are in hiding or on the run because our invasion turned over much of the country's security to religious fanatics. Iraqi and American officials don't want to talk about this issue because they say we should be concerned about real problems - such as terrorism and murder. They say this as if hunting down and killing GLBT people is not real terrorism or murder because homosexuals are getting what they deserve.
If this is why we invaded Iraq - it is even a larger waste of time and money than I had imagined. It is time to leave this moral cesspool and help GLBT Iraqis escape to true freedom in civilized countries.
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Hillary Clinton gave an incredible speech this evening that unified the Democratic party. Her legendary performance will help Barack Obama - but also it will help propel her towards the White House in a future race. Losing the primary was only a temporary setback. Based on her speech this evening - I expect to see - and support - Hillary in the years to come.
Thank you Hillary for doing what was best for the party and the nation. I know it must have been incredibly difficult after two years of campaigning - but you came through and earned a tremendous amount of respect and good will.
I also thank you for mentioning the gay community in your speech! It was great to hear and drove home how important it is to vote for Democrats in the upcoming election.
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For Barack Obama to become president, the Democrats have to stop acting like bureaucrats and sell their candidate, while tearing down John McCain. The national convention must transform sonorous issues into sellable sound bites and overcome Republican attempts to smear Obama. Here are four things the Democrats need to accomplish at their convention if they hope to retake the White House:
Unite the Party: Hillary and her increasingly irrational supporters need to get a grip and move on. The election was hers to lose and she did so by not planning past Super Tuesday, giving Obama a string of caucus victories that propelled him to victory.
As a result of this monumental strategic blunder, Obama pulled ahead and Clinton fought back, turning this once warm and fuzzy primary into a political brawl. I know feelings were hurt and egos were bruised. There are also many women who are bitterly disappointed because they wanted to see a woman president.
The incessant whining of Clinton supporters, however, is beginning to work the last nerve of Democrats who actually want to win. Obama and Clinton's policies were often so close as to be nearly indistinguishable. It is simply inconceivable that one could support Clinton and then opt for McCain -- unless race plays a pivotal factor in the decision.
That's right, I said race. How else could a Clinton-supporting woman now vote for John McCain, who will put Roe v. Wade in jeopardy? How could such a person who professes to care about women's issues vote for McCain when it is obvious that a barrier breaking black man will do more to help a woman get elected as president in the future? It does not make sense unless there is an ulterior, underlying motive.
I think the party will unite because Hillary has even more to lose than Obama. If she (or Bill) is blamed for a loss, it will be career suicide. People who might be natural supporters of a forthcoming Clinton candidacy will shun her if she is perceived as the jealous villain who put McCain in the Oval Office.
Define Obama: On Monday, Michelle Obama was transformed from a Republican-created cartoon of an angry black woman who disliked America, into a working mother with strong family values. Barack must be as successful as his wife in marketing himself to the American people.
By the end of the convention, voters must feel like he is tough enough to keep them safe, feels their economic pain and has the judgment to overcome reservations about his experience. He must also connect with the burping fools slurping beers on wobbly barstools who want to be reassured that Obama is warm enough to share a cold one.
Fortunately, Obama is a gifted orator who could read graffiti on a bathroom wall and make it sound like the Gettysburg Address. He must flash every bit of his effulgent brilliance -- or his candidacy may be a flash in the pan.
Caricature McCain: How can McCain keep our house in order when he can't even count the ones he has?
This is the type of question that must be ruthlessly raised at the convention. McCain needs to be defined as an out of touch George Bush clone who is past his prime and surrendered his dignity to win the GOP nomination.
I can't tell you how many people I have met who say they, "miss the John McCain" of 2000. The onus is on the Democrats to relentlessly drive home the point that this "maverick" no longer exists and has been replaced by a party hack that is the candidate of the past. McCain should be portrayed as a dangerous, hot tempered curmudgeon who barely understands the Internet, wants to reignite the cold war and is not forward thinking enough to get us out of Iraq, much less propel America towards future economic or military greatness. And, as a Bush enabler, he is as responsible as anyone for the miserable failures of the past eight years.
Finally, McCain is going to the well too often on his POW experience. Democrats should remind voters that the McCain of 2000 was humble about his heroism and did not use it incessantly as a campaign talking point.
Gay Issues: Democratic National Committee Treasurer, Andy Tobias, set the tone when he said at the podium, "As a gay man I yearn for a president who believes in equal rights for all Americans." Ted Kennedy also included GLBT people -- and Obama or Biden should follow his lead. This would mark a sharp contrast with the upcoming GOP convention, where a concerted effort will be made to bring home social conservatives at the expense of GLBT Americans. If the Democrats can shave off enough GLBT people on the fence, they might win Florida or other swing states.
The 2008 Democratic convention must defy convention by combining Obama's signature brand of hope with hard knocks against McCain. If the Democrats let this strategic moment pass, our nation will be stuck in the past and doomed to repeat history.
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The nation's largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex wedding cards -- featuring two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. "Two hearts. One promise," one says.
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Openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham won a gold medal after his string of perfect 10's recorded this highest scoring dive in Olympic history. Put this beautiful diver on the Wheaties Box now or the Australian version, Kangaroo Crunch!
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This weekend I attended the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association meeting in DC. On Friday evening I went to an exciting party. There were no closeted right wing hypocrites in line for dry martinis - as Mike Rogers and Michelangelo Signorile were in the house!
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