Joe Solmonese made a big stink about the Log Cabin Republicans this morning when he blasted the gay group's support for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. Recent reports, however, claim that Joe and his Human Rights Campaign are much closer to the McCain-backing Cabinites than they let on.

A website called Boycott HRC last week reported that a "reliable source" told them HRC had donated $10,000 to the LCR, while giving none to the National Stonewall Democrats.

TransAdvocate, meanwhile, published an email purportedly sent from NSD co-chair Steve Driscoll to executive director Jon Hoadley, among others. In this email, Driscoll derides HRC for their "high-handedness" at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and gripes that the organization had been stonewalling discussions on a possible 2008 collaboration.

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Almost everyone's heard the proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child." Hell, Senator Hillary Clinton loves that saying so much, she used it for a book's title - and in stump speeches! Well, if that adage proves true, then one could say it takes a nation to birth a party platform. And it may be as painful.

As we speak, operatives and politicos on both sides of the aisle are hammering out their final philosophy, the document that will guide them to November and, they hope, to the White House.

Rather than keeping the drafting internal, both party's are trying to reach out to voters, the Republicans with a website and the Democrats with community drafting committees. These structures, set up by Barack Obama and spread across the land, give ordinary citizens a bit more say in the matter. But, as with all civil negotiations, everyone wants a piece of the political pie.

Too bad no one ever said democracy's fair - or, if they did, had never heard of the Rolling Stones.

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Politics can be a meticulous business. There are voters to analyze, boxes to be checked, heads to be counted and put in a row. Well organized electoral campaigns require a certain amount of numeric dissection. And, as with any game, numbers matter, especially when discussing potentially divisive social constituencies, like the gays.

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Democratic presidential Barack Obama released a gay pride message earlier this month. His Republican rival John McCain.

Now, in an effort to remind voters of McCain's commitment to restricting gay rights, National Stonewall Democrats are circulating a video of the candidate's most shameful moments, like how he opposes gay adoption rights, marriage and other "straight" privileges. It's not pretty.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama knocked out the competition in South Carolina Saturday. The Democratic Senator from Illinois became the number one stunner with a whopping 55% of the total vote. Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator John Edwards received 27% and 18% of the vote, respectively, which means - well, Obama beat the pants off his main competitors. In fact, Obama received more votes than Clinton and Edwards combined.

Many analysts attribute Obama's victory to a high black turnout, which, yes, definitely helped give Obama an electoral boost. According to the AP, four out of five black voters leaned toward Obama. Only 25% of white folk gave him their blessing.

More importantly than race, however, is the fact that Obama has been preparing for South Carolina far longer than his party peers:

Democratic activists here in South Carolina said that the Obama campaign had perhaps the most extensive field operation ever seen in this state.

The reach of the Obama field operation extended even to such often forgotten places as Allendale County, which has the second smallest population of any of the state’s 46 counties.

To cite another locale, Obama had had about 20 supporters working out of his Greenville, S.C. office since mid-summer; Clinton had only five or six starting in the fall, according to one Greenville Democratic activist.

Regardless of one's political leanings, South Carolina illuminates the unprecedented level of excitement within the States' Democratic circles. The last election only brought out 293,000 democrats. MSNBC points out that Obama alone received more than that amount of primary votes.

The campaigns certainly turned out the vote, but let's not forget the gay rights activists who worked tirelessly to break South Carolina's records. The National Stonewall Democrats focussed their energies on South Carolina because of the state's high concentration of black homos and homettes. Said Jon Headly, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats:

Of all the early presidential states, it is the only one with a significant LGBT African American population. We decided to use that as an opportunity to deepen our organizing within the LGBT community, and especially LGBT communities of color.

The Wallers' eschewed traditional events, like fancy-schmancy fundraisers, and instead focused on drawing candidates and their campaigns to a common ground with their potential supporters. For example, the National Stonewall Democrats worked to - and succeeded - draw the candidates to Black Pride events. South Carolina's Stonewall leader, the uber-titled Rev. Dr. Keith L. Riddle explains:

I think presidential candidates expect to encounter our community at black-tie events on the Upper West Side, but not necessarily on historically Black college campuses in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Our presence this season has demonstrated that our community is everywhere and that Democratic politicians should be prepared to address hard questions and issues that impact our families no matter where they find themselves.

We think that's just swell. For too long the national LGBT debate has been framed within insider institutions. It's nice to know that non-profits - and the candidates themselves - are looking elsewhere for perspectives on homo matters. Let's hope that the Democratic candidates remember the little people if elected to office.

Earlier we reported on some less than flattering internal DNC emails about potentially racist staffers. While the Washington Blade only published excerpts, we've included the actual files, after the jump…

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Internal emails indicate a race-based culture war within the Democratic National Committee.

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It's a very special day in Gayville: Transgender Day of Remembrance: a solid 24-hours of commemorating our gender bending allies who have fallen on the road the freedom. In honor of this honorable day, the National Stonewall Democrats would like to share the following thoughts:

Whenever transgender citizens are told that their inclusion hinders the advancement of the LGBT movement, our own history is ignored and strategic lessons forgotten. As we remember the lives of those we have lost, we must work to secure equal protections for our entire movement. We owe a special duty towards those whose contributions have already led to legal protections for many in our community but not for themselves. If we are to reduce violence against transgender citizens, we must reduce attempts to marginalize transgender Americans within the law and, when necessary, within our own community.

Human Rights Campaign also delivered a trans message: they're not holding a memorable event. They are, however, encouraging their supporters and staff to attend a vigil at DC's Whitman Walker Clinic. Pawning Transgender celebration onto another organization?

Why are we not surprised…

John Edwards' presidential campaign just got another gay boost this week. Six more gay leaders pledged support to the Senator. National Stonewall Democrats' alliteratively blessed board members Kenda Kirby and Greg Gallo join the likes of uber-producer Darren Star and former PlanetOut president Jeff Soukup in backing Edwards.

The new additions bring Edwards' confirmed queer total to 38. Hillary Clinton's queer committee holds 63 homos. Barack Obama, however, clobbers both Clinton and Edwards: his gay-centric MySpace page boasts 737 friends. Boy's popular…