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Loading ...Biden pick praised by gay groups
08.23.2008 4:20pm EDT
(Washington) Barack Obama’s choice of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate has been greeted with praise by LGBT civil rights groups.
During his career in Congress, Biden has a proven record of fighting for and supporting issues of fairness and equality, the Human Rights Campaign said Saturday.“In selecting Senator Joe Biden as his running mate, Senator Obama has chosen a proven and effective advocate for fairness and equality that our entire community can be proud of,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
“Senator Biden’s record in the United States Senate is one of support and understanding that has been unwavering throughout his career.”
Recently, Biden, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, played an instrumental role in securing the passage of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), legislation which included Senator John Kerry and Senator Gordon Smith’s provision repealing the discriminatory HIV travel and immigration ban.
“His working across the aisle guaranteed that the Kerry-Smith provision was adopted. Furthermore, when opponents of the provision attempted to garner support to strip the provision from the bill, Senator Biden fought to keep the provision in the bill and helped secure the votes for PEPFAR’S final passage, said Solmonese.
“If the support Senator Biden has proven on our issues is any indication of the type of Vice President he will be than our community can be assured that Senator Obama has chosen a thoughtful and staunch advocate for equality as his closest adviser,” Solmonese said.
Gay Democrats who began their annual convention in Denver on Friday also were quick to praise the choice of Biden.
“With the selection of Senator Biden, Democrats now have a national ticket that is ready to lead our party to victory this November,” said Jon Hoadley, Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats.
The selection won kudos from Obama’s former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton who called Biden “an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Obama-Biden ticket will bring the change the country needs, including a filibuster-proof Senate majority.
But the campaign of Republican rival John McCain wasted no time, immediately producing an ad featuring Biden’s previous praise for McCain and comments critical of Obama from an ABC News interview last year. Biden had said he stood by an earlier statement that Obama wasn’t yet ready to be president and “the presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.”
“There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden,” McCain campaign spokesman Ben Porritt said in a statement. “Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing – that Barack Obama is not ready to be president.”
See, and I’ll take Bud’s Labor Party and raise it one Libertarian Party. I very much prefer a party that is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I want the government to stop interfering with people in their every day lives. Both the Republicans and Democrats have supported a government that is bloated and reaches into everyones lives and pocket books. I say they need to keep their hands out of my bedroom and out of my wallet!
Wake up people! Obama does not support gay marriage. That’s not good enough! If you dont ask for equal rights we will never get them. The Clinton’s were the first National Politicians to stand up for us. Biden over Hillary is a real set back for us. Why does the right hate the Clintons so much? In 1993 Bill atempted to end gay military ban. That’s where it began. We stuck with his, he won again. Dont be silent here. The longer we remain “officially second class” the gay bashimgs will continue. SPEAK UP! Remeber teh saying “GET USED TO IT”. It worked.
Wake up people! Obama does not support gay marriage. That’s not good enough! If you dont ask for equal rights we will never get them. The Clinton’s were the first National Politicians to stand up for us. Biden over Hillary is a real set back for us. Why does the right hate the Clintons so much? In 1993 Bill atempted to end the gay military ban. That’s where it began. We stuck with him, he won again. Dont be silent here. The longer we remain “officially second class” the gay bashings will continue. SPEAK UP!
In the mid eighties, my corporate gay employee support organization (I worked for Digital Equipment Corporation…DEC), invited Arlene Isaacson to speak to us. Isaacson was the main lobbyist for the proposed Massachusetts state law that would ban discriminating against gay people in employment (the bill would become law in ‘89 or so). She said to us, “I really believe in this saying: if you like good sausage or [mainstream] politics, don’t look at how either are made.” My favorite story was how they had to have volunteers escort certain members of the Massachusetts state legislature from home, to breakfast, to their office, and, finally, to the legislative chambers…because we couldn’t count on them showing up to vote any other way. And those were our “allies.”
What’s my point? If you want to engage in mainstream politics, it’s really not helpful to sit back in an arm chair, philosophize and pontificate, and demand complete satisfaction for your agenda. Instead, it’s really important to engage in [mainstream] politics the way it’s been done for many years, and that requires a lot of hard work. It takes donations, attending meetings, holding signs on street corners, cultivating support, cultivating future candidates, strategizing, lobbying, writing letters, making phone calls, and, probably most important of all, being willing to engage in “horse trading” (I’ll vote for you on this vote if you vote for me on that vote) and incremental progress (we get part of our agenda now and wait for the more controversial parts of it).
Six years ago, in 2002, gay marriage wasn’t ON THE MAP for most of us. (It came into my awareness in the summer of 2003, when Canada granted marriage rights and the Massachusetts court decision came down.) So, given the way that [mainstream] politics works, I don’t think it’s fair to demand that a presidential candidate support us on the fledgling issue of gay marriage, when it hasn’t adequately worked its way through enough states to build mainstream political traction, yet. (Contrast that with 20 states having antidiscrimination laws, an over 50% polling approval for such laws, and McCain refusing to support ENDA. Obama supports ENDA. Why? Because we did the hard work for that part of our agenda, and its time has come. Same with repealing DODT. We’ve done the grunt work already, and it’s time to “get ‘er done.”)
I used the word “mainstream” a lot, because more radical, street-level politics exists, and I think that that kind of politicking is a very useful part of the process. It’s that kind of activism that pushes the boundaries, is more creative, and gets us thinking about and positioned for the future. In my twenties, I protested in the streets and got arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court to protest Bowers v. Hardwick. Activist political activity? I get it. It’s just that I’m 47, have a bit less energy, a bit more money, and am a bit more practical. I’ve shifted over to mainstream political activity. (But you GO activists!)