Jon Hoadley, president of National Stonewall Democrats. His group this week announced its endorsement of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama. (Photo by Henry Linser)
Stonewall Democrats announce support for Obama Log Cabin Republicans still undecided on McCain endorsement
Democratic
presidential
hopeful
Barack
Obama
was
poised
to
receive
the
backing
from
the
National
Stonewall
Democrats
Thursday
when
the
organization
planned
to
announce
its
endorsement
for
the
candidate.
The
board
of
directors
for
the
National
Stonewall
Democrats
unanimously
decided
to
support
Obama
with
a
voice
vote
about
three
weeks
ago,
according
to
John
Marble,
spokesperson
for
the
organization.
In
the
statement
provided
by
the
gay
Democratic
group,
Obama
said
he
was
grateful
for
the
support.
“Their
focus
on
grassroots
organizing
is
so
important
as
we
work
to
engage
all
Americans
in
our
campaign
for
change,”
he
said.
Jon
Hoadley,
executive
director
for
the
gay
Democratic
group,
said
in
a
statement
that
Obama
won
the
support
of
his
organization
because
of
“his
advocacy
for
pro-equality
positions
and
his
strong
record
of
leadership.”
The
statement
commended
Obama
for
advocating
for
an
Employee
Non-Discrimination
Act
(ENDA)
with
gender
identity
protections,
greater
HIV
prevention
funding,
the
passage
of
hate
crimes
legislation
and
the
repeal
of
the
U.S.
military’s
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy
and
the
Defense
of
Marriage
Act.
Marble
said
Stonewall
waited
three
weeks
after
the
board
made
its
decision
to
announce
the
endorsement
because
the
organization
wanted
to
engage
with
chapter
leaders
across
the
country.
“Taking
three
extra
weeks
to
prepare
those
people
on
the
ground
to
be
ready
to
do
that
hard
work
of
going
door
to
door
and
calling
people
is
going
to
be
a
better
benefit
to
our
organization
and
to
our
endorsed
candidate
than
had
we
just
sent
out
a
release,”
he
said.
The
National
Stonewall
Democrats
are
making
their
endorsement
for
the
presumptive
Democratic
nominee
relatively
later
in
the
election
season
than
they
did
in
the
last
presidential
election.
In
2004,
the
organization
threw
its
support
behind
then-Democratic
presidential
nominee
John
Kerry
in
April.
Marble
said
the
National
Stonewall
Democrats
took
longer
to
endorse
the
Democratic
candidate
for
president
this
election
season
because
2004
was
a
more
“compressed
election
cycle
than
we’re
in
now.”
He
noted
that
while
Kerry
faced
limited
competition
as
the
Democratic
primary
played
out
in
2004,
Obama
and
Clinton
this
year
competed
for
the
nomination
until
the
last
primary
contests
in
June.
Marble
said
the
group
offered
its
endorsement
“with
accountability
as
well”
and
said
the
organization
will
continue
to
press
Obama
on
gay
issues
during
the
campaign.
LOG CABIN
UNDECIDED
While
gay
Democrats
rally
behind
their
party’s
presidential
candidate,
the
National
Log
Cabin
Republicans
have
yet
to
make
a
decision
on
whether
or
not
to
endorse
Republican
presidential
candidate
John
McCain
in
his
bid
for
the
White
House.
The
gay
GOP
group
did
not
endorse
President
Bush
in
his
bid
for
re-election
in
2004.
Patrick
Sammon,
Log
Cabin
president,
said
his
organization
had
yet
to
make
a
decision
on
the
McCain
endorsement
because
leaders
are
“continuing
to
assess
the
situation.”
The
organization
is
getting
input
from
members
and
is
having
discussions
with
the
campaign,
he
said.
Sammon
said
he
did
not
want
to
give
a
timetable
for
when
Log
Cabin
would
make
a
decision.
The
organization
did
not
make
its
decisions
in
2000
and
2004
until
after
the
Republican
National
Convention.
He
said
the
process
is
on
a
similar
track
this
time.
While
gay
political
organizations
make
their
decisions
on
whom
to
endorse
for
president,
a
recent
poll
is
showing
that
Obama
is
trouncing
McCain
in
support
among
gay
Americans.
A
Harris
Interactive
poll
published
Monday
found
that
while
60
percent
of
gay
Americans
are
supporting
Obama,
14
percent
are
supporting
McCain.
Comparatively,
among
all
registered
voters,
the
Democratic
candidate
leads
with
44
percentage
points
compared
to
the
GOP
candidate’s
35
percentage
points.
Marble
said
Obama’s
lead
in
the
polls
shows
that
the
candidate
is
in
a
stronger
position
with
the
gay
community
than
previous
presidential
nominees.
“I
expect
that
60
percent
number
to
be
a
baseline
and
to
go
higher,”
he
said.
“I
think
there’s
a
good
chunk
of
undecideds
that
are
still
out
there.”
But
Sammon
said
he
was
skeptical
of
the
numbers
in
the
poll,
noting
that
President
Bush
got
around
25
percent
of
vote
from
self-identified
gays
in
2004
even
though
he
supported
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment.
“McCain’s
record
is
much
more
inclusive
and
I’m
confident
that
he
will
get
25
or
30
percent,”
Sammon
said.
“If
he
runs
a
centrist,
middle-of-the-road
campaign,
he
could
do
even
better
than
30
percent.”
While
McCain
has
taken
some
flak
from
critics
for
some
his
positions
on
gay
issues,
he
said
last
week
that
he
would
be
open
to
a
review
of
the
U.S.
military’s
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy,
which
prevents
servicemembers
from
being
out.
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