Gay activists Nancy Herman and Lane Hudson campaign for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire earlier this month. They’re continuing the effort in South Carolina while gay Barack Obama supporters stage a similar effort. (Photo courtesy of Hudson)
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CHRIS JOHNSON
Friday, January 25, 2008
Local gay supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama headed south this week to stump for their candidates as South Carolina’s Jan. 26 primary rapidly approaches.
D.C. resident and political activist Lane Hudson has led a delegation of about 12 to 15 gays and lesbians to South Carolina to campaign for Clinton. The effort is similar to the campaign effort that Hudson and fellow Clinton supporters undertook earlier this month in New Hampshire to help her win that state.
“Basically we’re going to follow the model that we did in New Hampshire where we adopt a specific area,” he said. “We will canvass that area, we’ll call that area, we’ll do visibility in that area and then we’ll do ‘get out the vote’ in that area.”
The group left for South Carolina Wednesday and plans to return Sunday.
Hudson said he and his fellow Clinton supporters intend to stake out an area in Charleston. Hudson, a Charleston native, said his delegation would work together with gay Clinton supporters in the area.
In New Hampshire, they focused on an area of the city of Franklin and nearly doubled the number of votes that Hillary was expected to take in that area, Hudson claimed.
Those accompanying Hudson include Jeff Marootian, vice president of Washington’s Gertrude Stein Democratic Club; Daniel O’Donnell, an openly gay member of the New York State Assembly; Ellen Greene, an actress on the ABC series “Pushing Daisies”; and Claire Lucas, a lesbian political activist (Lucas is facing accusations of perjury and defamation in a case stemming from a civil lawsuit that former Democratic National Committee worker Donald Hitchcock filed against the organization for firing him in May 2006; see related story on Page 1).
Hudson and his group are working with Mark Walsh, Clinton’s gay and lesbian affairs director, to connect them with staff in South Carolina. They’re supporting Clinton, Hudson said, because “she’s a known factor for everyone in the country.”
“Based on her lifetime of experience, we know what kind of president she’ll be,” he said.
Clinton has relationships with people all over the world and she can immediately use these relationships to repair what some consider damage the Bush administration has done to America’s image overseas, Hudson said.
“She also knows from her time in the White House how to use the power of the presidency to effect change for Americans and she can start doing that on day one,” he said.
Hudson and his group also plan to make a similar trip to another state on Feb. 5 for Super Tuesday, the day when 24 states will hold presidential primaries or caucuses.
“If it looks like we need to go somewhere on Feb. 5, most of the people that were either in New Hampshire or going to South Carolina want to do something on Feb. 5 as well,” he said.
The gay Clinton supporters will have an uphill battle in getting a win for Clinton in South Carolina. A recent poll of the state conducted by RCP Average shows Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois leading with about 43 points compared to Clinton’s 31 points. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina trails with about 14 points.
D.C. gay supporters of Obama are also making an effort to get their candidate nominated. Local gay supporters are hosting a fundraiser for Obama Wednesday at the Bachelor’s Mill.
Phil Pannell, a gay member of the steering committee, said local gay and lesbian Obama supporters have also gone to South Carolina to help with Obama’s campaign in that state.
Pannell said he supports Obama in the election because of “his ability to attract independents and Republicans” to vote for him. Pannell said he was enthusiastic about Obama’s promise to end partisan bickering in Washington.
“What is very important for this election is that we try to unite this country, which has been so nearly invidiously polarized,” he said. “What I feel is that Sen. Obama is truly reaching across many divisions to at least set a tone where we can engage in discourse.”
Obama’s unifying voice would be essential for the country to take on critical issues such as health care, Pannell said.
Pannell said he was impressed with Obama’s vocal support for gay issues. He commended Obama for frequently mentioning gay rights in his speeches. Obama also has the strongest commitment to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for the U.S. military, Pannell said.
Carl Schmidt, the gay co-chair for former New York City mayor and Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani’s District of Columbia Leadership Team, said there was no separate effort for local gays and lesbians in the Giuliani campaign and that their work was more fully integrated with other efforts.
“We’re all working together — we’re not differentiating ourselves,” he said.
With the Republican primary in South Carolina already over, Schmidt said Giuliani’s campaign was focused on winning the Florida primary Tuesday.
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