Harnessing the gay marriage mood, Reuters put together a “fact box” on presumptive presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama’s gay marriage policies. Spoiler alert! They’re basically the same! [Reuters]

Well, it’s a done deal. Former Vice-President Al Gore officially endorsed Barack Obama last night, shocking - well, no one. In addition to stressing the importance of the individual vote, Gore went on to blast the Bush administration and echoed the electoral zeitgeist: After eight years of incompetence, neglect and failure, we need change. After eight years when our Constitution has been dishonoured and disrespected, we need changes.” The crowd ate it up, of course.

Hoping to dispel doubts about Obama’s readiness, Gore took some time to compare the Senator to another dynamic candidate, the oft-cited John F. Kennedy: [Gore] quoted a “prominent Republican” who called a Democratic nominee as being too young, inexperienced … Continued…

“Another crack is showing in the McCain campaign’s attempts at crafting a down-home image. The campaign contributed a recipe to Parents magazine, “Cindy McCain’s Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies.” However, it looks like it was copied directly from the Hershey’s site. The McCain campaign previously got caught copying some other recipes, purportedly from Cindy McCain herself, off of the Food Network’s site.” [TPM]

Hilary Rosen may very well be Wonder Woman.

The New Jersey-born activist acted as the Recording Industry Association of America’s chairman for five years, acted lesbian social networking site Ourchart’s president, served as Human Rights Campaign’s interim executive director back in 2004 and currently serves as Huffington Post’s political director, a gig she accepted earlier this year.

With all that experience under her belt, you can be sure Rosen, who previously endorsed Hillary Clinton’s campaign, has scads to say about the current electoral climate, including the increasingly “blurred” lines between press and politics, her feelings on Clinton’s departure, sexism in the press and how the lived experience shapes one’s political views. And, thankfully, Rosen shared her thoughts - and many more - with our trusty editor.

Before getting into all of that, however, the duo start things off at the “beginning” of Rosen’s queer career: her coming out. Read all about it, after the jump…
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“As John McCain and Barack Obama battle in Ohio during the next five months, voters are not likely to hear much from them about [gay marriage], though it’s been thrust back into the headlines by a recent California Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriages in the Golden State. The expected Republican and Democratic nominees offer vastly different policies on the economy, national security and health care. They are not, however, too far apart on same-sex marriage… [However] gay-marriage opponents are using the California decision to rally Catholics, especially socially conservative Hispanics, and evangelicals to try to revive the issue nationwide.” [The Plain Dealer]

Finally facing the political reality of John McCain’s presidential nomination, Republican Ron Paul has bowed out of the race. Paul tellingly didn’t back the presumptive GOP nominee.

And that could spell trouble for McCain and company: Asked recently by Newsweek what his relationship was with Sen. McCain, Rep. Paul responded: “It pretty much doesn’t exist. He has his beliefs and I have mine, and they just don’t come together very well.”
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That lack of a relationship – if it persists - could cost Sen. McCain dearly in the fall. In Iowa, Rep. Paul drew nearly 12,000 votes in this year’s Republican caucuses, almost 2,000 more than President Bush’s margin of victory in the state … Continued…

The Democratic National Committee knows how to use it’s political dough. With about $4.4 million in the bank - compared to the rival Republicans’ $40 million - the DNC has focussed its campaign energies on short, savvy video shots at John McCain. The party previously took on McCain’s wild claim that we Americans are better off than we were four years ago. They also created a commercial criticizing the infamous “100 more years in Iraq” remarks. That very comment makes its way into the DNC’s latest advertorial endeavor: an attack on McCain’s flippant Iraq-related comment on yesterday’s Today Show:
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“At least 14 Republican members of Congress have refused to endorse or publicly support Sen. John McCain for president, and more than a dozen others declined to answer whether they back the Arizona senator… A handful of other Republicans on Capitol Hill made the distinction between ‘endorsing’ and ’supporting,’ adding that while they have not endorsed, they do support McCain.” [The Hill]

Barack Obama’s campaign simply can’t resist the gays!

Deputy campaign chairman Steve Hildebrand and communications director Ben LaBolt hosted another gay outreach call today to announce that Dave Noble will head up the team’s LGBT Vote campaign. This is the second homo-related call in less than a week.
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Republican presidential candidate John McCain knows he needs to woo at least some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters if he wants to win the White House. So, as a way of lending a hand, the kids over at 23/6 came up with some loyalty oaths for Clinton’s most die-hard fans, like women, white dudes and, yes, the gays.

Sign away!

Hey, reader! Are you gay? Are you planning on voting for John McCain? Well, we want to hear from you, so send editor Andrew a little love note at andrew@queerty.com and plead your case. He’s absolutely itching for attention - and we’re endlessly intrigued! [If you’re too lazy to send an email, you can explain yourself in the comment section, of course!]

Things are looking good for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama right about now: “In the first sign that voters are coalescing around Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, two daily tracking polls notice a widening of the gap over his Republican rival John McCain. Both Gallup and Rasmussen now have Obama holding a gap of 6% over McCain.” [HuffPo]

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s website currently features ABBA’s “Take A Chance,” because the Senator simply loves the Seventies Swedish sensation*. From The Arizona Republic: The intriguing - some might say disturbing - revelation occurred during the Johnjay and Rich show at 104.7 FM (KZZP). The presidential candidate called in at 6 a.m. as part of the duo’s Who Do You Know contest, in which famous people phone in and stump for everyday folks to win a car….

“He said that a lot of people won’t admit that they love ABBA, but he would,” radio jock Rich Berra says. “Then he asked us if it was old-fashioned to like ABBA, and we said that … Continued…

You haven’t heard the last of Rod Parsley! The preacher man, who John McCain denounced last month over Parsley’s anti-Islamic politics, took to YouTube last week to lament how the media and other “political hit squads” twisted his words…
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The general election officially began this week, so we imagined that the Log Cabin Republicans would make good on their post-primary word and endorse John McCain. They have not.

President Patrick Sammon did tell us this morning, however, that he and his peers will likely back the Arizona Senator at some point over the next month have not yet backed McCain, but will make a decision within the next month.

In the meantime, the political group has turned its sights on Human Rights Campaign, which this week released a scathing report on McCain’s gay record.

And, as part of a larger effort to set things straight, Cabin member Scott Tucker took to the blogosphere to school us on McCain’s virtues.
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