Exclusive: The Revealing Internal Memos

DNC Plays Politics With Gay Press

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The Democratic Party’s certainly the more friendly of our two major political camps, but internal Democratic National Committee emails show how they play the gay game.

We’ve attached PDFs of two emails, both of which were turned over to the courts for the ongoing anti-gay discrimination case.

In the first communications director Karen Finney and press secretary Stacie Paxton discuss whether or not to give Deb Price access to Chairman Howard Dean. They agree Price is too risky, so they opt to give her current gay leader Brian Bond, who replaced ousted Donald Hitchcock.

The second email records an exchange between Finney, spokesman Damien Lavera and deputy finance director Julie Tagen. They’re discussing how Washington Blade shot down a feature on the DNC’s gay outreach. The staffers then debate how to get their story out.

After suggesting The Advocate and HRC’s glossy for their wide circulation, Tagen leaves it to Bond, writing: “You probably have a better sense since I tend to use The Blade and other gay papers in the bottom of the birdcage.” Nice…

DNC’s Deb Price email, DNC Blade Email

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