HRC’s Joe Solmonese blah blah National Organization for Marriage blah Prop 8 blah Democrats lose power of Congress blah blah. For realzies, this guy is linking the outcome of the Prop 8 trial and NOM’s summer tour idiocy to why the Democrats might lose control of the House and/or Senate? Hmmm, nothing about how the Democrats failed on their promises, including to LGBTs? And how they’ve spent two years alienating their own supporters? Solmonese is using the same disgusting and misleading fear tactics that we accuse opponents of, just to drum up some cash for an organization that haphazardly spends it. Oh just quit already, Joe. Or fire the guy writing your emails, because after this one, it’s clear he’s really having some problems.
James UK
To scare people into donating.
He needs the money for the new fall collections.
And to pay for the hair transplant he’s scheduled for the holidays.
No-one believes the cash is so he can get ENDA passed or DADT/ DOMA repealed. Do they?
Baxter
The Dems are going to lose the House because of unemployment and Obamacare. Contrary to what the HRC (and Queerty, evidently) believes, most Americans don’t spend their time worrying about The Gays.
Kris
I’m sorry…but I don’t believe that the republicans can take back the power in the government…I’ll give $100 if they do, to the people who believe they will…lol
Tom in Lazybrook
The Human Rights Campaign has to find some excuse to get people to continue their support of utter, complete, and total failure of their lobbying model.
I guess it was either that press release or blaming their failure on space aliens.
But I understand the black tie events for 2010 will be the most lavish ever!
dave
“…he never would be missed.”
JR
HRC’s Joe Solmonese needs to step down, and let someone who actually knows what he/she is doing to take over. The only thing “Uncle” Joe is good for is throwing a cocktail party, and a very bad one at that.
Jack E. Jett
WTF
reason
The economy, stupid
Jeffree
@ Reason 8: It *is* the economy, your right. Specifically unemployment, low job creation and that companies continue layoffs. The trickle down continues: Junior Executive loses her job so reduces her expenses on childcare, dining out, movies, clothing, gym membership, haircuts, manicures. Doesn’t get her auto serviced as frequently, etc. Result the people who provided those goods & services have to cut back and more people lose their jobs.
We can’t blame Obama for causing the recession, but the focus on bailing out the Big Banks rather than focusing on job creation & re-training means that even people *with* jobs worry about losing them.
Add in the costs of the wars, and it feels like the recession is going to hang around a long time.
The republican candidates have a lot of stock phrases about “reducing waste” and “smaller government” but so far few concrete plans/ideas.
Joe Solmonese hasn’t been personally affected from this so drones on about what he knows “best” in the “rights” department, but I don’t think his concerns match many other peoples’.
Mike
NOM’s summer tour? You mean the one that 6 whole people attended? It has nothing to do with the economy??? I was thinking about doing my college internship with HRC. I change my mind.
Jeffree
@Mike #10: Right on. The bus tour was a flop & a waste of money. NOM failed to rev up its base, or attract new members. Polls are pretty clear that the economy—mostly job security & job creation—is top of mind for many more people than are social issues. There will always be the fundie contingent obsessed with same-sex marriage but even they didn’t turn out in droves to see Maggie and her super-sized bus !
I do think the cost of the wars is another concern. We still have troops in Iraq, and are ramping up in Afghanistan.
Immigration is also on a lot of peoples’ minds.
I don’t trust Solmonese’s political predictions any more than I trust his ability to meaningfully change public policy. When he’s got some achievements to crow over, maybe he’ll become relevant again but for now he’s just bachground noise !
Michael C.
They are going to loose because Obama and congress have turned their backs and wound up lying about every promise they made to their progressive base. Not just on gay issues, but on the “war(s),) on executive power and state secrets, etc., etc.
Gregger
This man needs to leave public life and take vow of poverty and chastity.
I stopped donating to HRC almost four years ago as I didnt like how the org was dealing with DADT and Marriage equality. The real pisser is seeing the twinks doing fund raising on Manhattan side walks claiming that HRC was involved with the successful Prop 8 and DADT lawsuits. Both Joe and HRC seem to have credibility problems or at least delusions of activity.
Baxter
@Kris: Republicans are almost guaranteed to take the House at this point. The Senate is pretty unlikely to switch, but it’s still within the realm of possibility.
reason
@Jeffree: Good analysis, but Obama bailing out the big banks was not a mistake. If they went under main street would be in a lot worse shape then it is now. Peoples retirement vehicles would be eradicated and access to credit, if you can believe it, would be worse then it is know dragging small business down to the turf. Were Obama erred was in his naivete that the big banks would play ball after he saved them and do everything in their power to shore up the economy. He then went and made promises and did calculations based on that very wrong assumption. The banks did what was in their own best interest and hoarded as much cash as they could to invest and make accusations, recessions are when people with cash make money. Obama seems to believe that these banks have a vested interest in the American people, which could not be further from the mark, we live in a new globalized world where money can be made else where. Gone is the coveted status of the American middle class, I mean companies are even looking at Africa which as a whole will have the purchasing power of the American middle class soon enough. What some thought was big business loyalty to America was just loyalty to their bottom line, now that they can expand their bottom line else where guess what… Robert Reich was correct at the beginning of 2008 when he stated we need a much larger stimulus: we need one large enough for wall street and one for main street. If it was done that way main street would have had cash and the big banks would be rushing to do business here, that is not the case main street is broke, and the banks see us as a bad smell. Obama a man that was so in tune with the change in the political calculus really missed the change that globalization has brought, we live in a new world. The deficit is not a big deal, but if we don’t get this economy moving again it will become one.