Hillary Clinton continues to grab the gay vote.
A number of news agencies went after the homos after yesterday’s super duper primary votes and The Advocate‘s Kerry Eleveld turned the data into this easily digestible snippet:
The exit polling found that among the 4% of California voters who identified as GLB, 63% voted for Clinton, 29% for Obama, and 1% for Edwards. In New York, 7% of voters self-identified as GLB and 59% voted for Clinton, 36% for Obama, and 3% for Edwards.
New York and California were the only states in which this question was asked. The results show that the GLB electorate didn’t move much from where they were last fall in Hunter College’s national polling of the community, when likely GLB voters preferred Clinton by 63%, Obama’s by 22% and Edwards at 7%.
Looking at these numbers, it seems that at least 3% of New York’s gays and !% of California’s didn’t receive the memo that Edwards dropped out of the race.
miguelito
The gays are still fucking pissed with Obama over his homphobic campaigning. I surely wont forget it.
CitizenGeek
There’s just something about Hillary that really attracts us gays (probably that she’s a woman, and women have typically been more compassionate than men when it comes to issues of gay rights).
But, still, I haven’t worked her out fully. She only ever mentions the issue of homosexuality when she’s in front of a gay crowd, whereas Obama has brought up the issue numerous times, including in a Church, in front of a black audience. Honestly, I’ll be supporting (in whatever little way I can – I’m Irish and I live in Ireland, so I can’t necessarily vote) either of the two when the nominee is decided!
mozzer13
Obama had one slip-up with a bad campaigning decision asking that nut onto his tour. Ever since, he mentions us in every speech, even when conventional wisdom would show it is to his detriment. As CitizenGeek points out, she only mentions us when she’s talking to us, just like Bill did. The Clintons have thrown us under the bus time and time again. Why would we expect she will treat us any differently this time around?
emb
Good points, Mozzer13 and CitizenGeek. And Migueulito, while you’re holding grudges for stupid decisions, don’t forget DOMA and DADT, brought to us by Team Clinton.
danomite
I like Hillary partly because everyone else hates her so much. Plus Obama never actually talks about anything. Don’t forget in the 90’s Bill Clinton was working with a republican congress…it was also a MUCH different time.
John
Gay voters are wise to stay away from the Kool Aid. Obama’s a good speaker. I’ll grant him that. But his record and experience is lacking.
Obama staffers keep on telling us their candidate has a marginally better “legislative agenda” on GLBT issues than Hillary. What they conveniently forget to mention is that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would never go further than what Hillary has promised. As a member of Congress, Obama surely knows the votes aren’t there as well. So, the few extra scraps he’s throwing out is as worthless as his allusions to Jesus Christ.
Obama’s supposed support for state-level ENDA legislation in Illinois is equally dubious. The legislation was passed long after he had left the State Senate (2006). And while he didn’t oppose previous versions of the bill, he was never a co-sponsor / co-author. At most, he was a backbencher who didn’t get in the way.
Speaking of the backbench, Obama’s sole accomplishment as a U.S. Senator can be summed up as “intends to become president.” Again, he was little more than a presidential candidate in his short years in that body. He won the office in a barely contested election against loony Alan Keyes.
He snubbed Gavin Newsom at a fundraiser in California over same-sex marriage. Even though Obama was the one who asked for the event in the first place (before the gay marriage bruhaha). This is a major breach of protocol. You don’t insult your host at a gathering he attended at your request.
And we’re all aware of the more recent Donnie McClurkin stuff, as well as his refusal to talk to the gay press until the situation blew up in his face. Even then, he refused to condemn his buddy. He merely promised…you guessed it…”dialogue.”
You may not agree with Hillary’s deeds. I find her campaign against violent viedo games / movies ridculous and a waste of time, for instance. But at least she has deeds to speak of.
hisurfer
Some of these statements are just wrong. Obama doesn’t mention gays in every speech, and Hillary isn’t silent on gays. In fact, their positions are remarkably similar.
The media seems awfully stuck in 1980’s-era identity-politics …. every article I read this week talks about how Latinos like Hillary and Blacks like Obama and Old Ladies like Hillary and Young Christians like Obama and White Men can’t make up their minds and blah blah blah
emb
And that, John, is exactly why there’s no reason to think the dems can’t come together after the primaries. Both candidates have good positives–one’s response to their attributes depends on whether you’re looking for a track record of legislative events or for squishier communication skills. Since I don’t view the presidency as analogous to being ceo of a corporation, I’m quite happy with Obama’s skillset, and his potential as a presidential communicator and motivator and unifier: potentials that Clinton, for all her other fine experiential qualities, sorely lacks (i.e., her speech last night, which was excellent text, but she clearly read it, rendering a potentially inspirational and motivational speech little more than a board room presentation sans Powerpoint). Is Obama perfect on all the issues of interest to me? Heck no (on selectsmart.com’s Presidential Selector tool, he had 88% of my “ideal candidate”‘s objective stands on issues; HC had 82%. Hardly a blowout.
Fact is, for one wonderful time dems have two exceptional candidates, with different skills and characteristics but pretty similar views. We end up arguing/deciding based on fractions and intimations. So come November, if we’re all sensible over the next few months and don’t irreparably divide ourselves over very little of substance, we can all rally together.
Lyle
Looking at these numbers, it seems that at least 3% of New York’s gays and !% of California’s didn’t receive the memo that Edwards dropped out of the race.
More likely, they submitted their absentee ballots before he dropped out.
Bitch Republic
Go Hillz!
Bitch Republic
Obama’s rallies remind me of the rise of Hitler. Hitler gave good speeches and got large crowds excited, too.
Alexa
I don’t think so, Lyle, these figures are from exit polls, so not from absentee ballots. I was tempted to vote for Edwards anyway, because I don’t much like either Obama or Clinton, but in the end the persistent misogyny from the media and the constant Obama pimping from them helped swing my vote Clinton’s way.
Jack Jett
I love this woman so much for the way she has endured such right wing bashing for dickwads like
…well like them all, and some of the very people that she has helped are giving her and her hubby shit just because they are on the Obama bandwagon.
I don’t want to get all Chris Crocker on you but please leave Hillary alone…even if you aren’t going to vote for her…don’t trash her like she is used bottle of poppers.
Bill Perdue
Like Obama, Hillary Clinton is a hustler in a right centrist party who supports the war. Like Obama she’s a handpuppet for HMO’s and insurance companies who oppose socialized medicine. Like Obama she panders to bigots; her base is infested with christian bigots who’ll expect her support. Like Obama, Clinton supports NAFTA and other union busting efforts. Both are handpuppets for big business who favor tax cuts for the rich. Both of them supported the demolition of welfare, health care and unemployment insurance programs. Their antiunion and pro business deregulation policies sent the economy into a tailspin and because of them and the Democrats we have no safety net.
Now is not the time to be willfully gullible or become hypnotized by election year hysteria. Unless of course you’re a supporter of the war like them, oppose socialized medicine and favor their bipartisan union busting. If you like the way the Democrats gutted ENDA, refused to repeal DADT and DOMA, dropped the hate crimes bill, oppose reinstating welfare and passing weekly tax cuts for the rich then by all means vote for them. If your vote ends up condemning all of us to 4 or 8 more years of Bush Lite don’t do what once gullible Republicans are doing now, wandering around muttering “George Bush, never heard of him.”
John
I don’t think identity politics ever left the room. New identities come to the forefront and old identities fade. But as long as there are fights over resources and wealth, there are identity conflicts.
The post-modernists – who are mostly upper class white intellectuals – were just blowing a lot of smoke to obscure the reality that the structural inequalities persist.
blackiemiko
Obama is the most electable across this country. He also has the same LGBT positions as Hillary. double edged sword
emb
Um, Bitch Republic (love the name, btw!) that’s really not a good analogy. By that logic, JFK, Martin Luther King, and Bill Clinton would all be analogous to That German. In any case, please don’t go there: to paraphrase Jack Jett above, if you don’t like him don’t vote for him, but there’s really no reason to be trashing either of them (especially since they’ll probably end up running together, and won’t we all feel silly then)
hisurfer
Post-modern? Them’s fighting words, John.
I’m more worried that a slight trend, endlessly repeated and commented on by the media, can become an entrenched reality. Two weeks ago Obama had lots of female support and Hillary lots of black support. But now, if Obama becomes THE Candidate for Black Americans … and Hillary goes out and wins … will African Americans still vote in large numbers in the general election? Will feminists feel disenfranchised if Hillary doesn’t win?
hells kitchen guy
Totally agree with Danomite and Jack Jett: Anybody that hated by the right must be doing something right! I also know people who know her personally, and they are all impressed by how smart — and, yes, funny — she is. She’ll be a great president. Oh, Bill Purdue; SUPPORT THE TROOPS! (insert middle finger extended here)
hells kitchen guy
I should also add that this “exit poll” data is a complete ball of shit, because the sample was in the very, very low double digits. The advocate tries soooo hard to tie itself into the Big Story. I wish its reporters would till their own garden.
Peter Pan
Hilary should be in jail! She is a ruthless psycho in my opinion. You Americans amaze me with you plastic values:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JOOwvDtSo3M
From the EU.
Peter Pan
Sorry forgot this: H.C. voted to attack Iraq in 2002 and Iran in 2007, giving Bush blank checks both times. Voted for Patriot Act, didn’t speak out against Guantanamo and removal of Habius Corpus. Obama spoke out against Iran and Iraq votes, spoke out against Patriot Act, and consistently outdraws her crowds 2400 Hillary supporters in NY versus 24,000 there for Obama. Isn’t that Hillary’s home turf?
Bill Perdue
Hells kitchen chicken hawk has no allegiance to the American troops getting mauled in Iraq and Afghanistan- on the contrary his allegiances are to candidates who are hand puppets of Texaco. He, like the ‘liberal’ Democrats during the Vietnam war are willing to let tens of thousands of our soldiers die to make oil companies, Halliburton and the racists who run the zionist apartheid state safe and prosperous. He’s willing to do anything but enlist. He figures that others should do his fighting.
Hells kitchen guy is a rightwing racist who want to murders as many Middle Easterners as he can. He’s said so any number of times. Hells kitchen chicken hawk said “Well, let’s keep this in mind when Bill Purdue, the Prof VP and the rest of them start screaming about American imperialism. I say, go bush – nuke the bastards.’ Posted: Dec 5, 2007 at 6:02 pm. Several shocked replies followed asking him if he was serious. He repeated ““Yeah, I’m a Bush/Hill supporter. Whatever. Bomb ‘em. Bomb ‘em. They’re beyond redemption at this point. they’re a hateful mass of religious fanatics whose only purpose on this earth is to spread hatred, ignorance and intolerance.â€Posted: Dec 5, 2007 at 10:30 pm. The open racism of Hells kitchen chicken hawk is disgusting.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, virtually the only senior religious leader in the world who’s gay friendly is also opposed to the Israeli practice of erecting an apartheid system against Palestinians. Tutu said that he was “very deeply distressed” visiting Palestine and said “it reminded me so much of what happened to s black people in South Africa”. Tutu said his criticism of the Israeli Government did not mean he was anti-Semitic and went on to say that the zionist practitioners of apartheid would disappear. “The (South African) apartheid government was very powerful, but today it no longer exists. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosevic, and Idi Amin were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dustâ€. American soldiers should not be dying to protect a government like that.
The only way to support the troops is to continue to push for the immediate and total withdrawal of US forces from the region.
John
Hisurfer,
The Democrats are acting as if the revolution has already happened, and they are fighting over who gets to be Hugo Chavez. It’s more than a little premature.
Need I remind everyone about that McCain fellow is still around? Or that the Republican machine should not be underestimated? Democrats haven’t actually won anything yet. And while the excitement favors them now, this is an incredibly fickle populace. The average American changes their mind about a candidate faster than the networks cancel TV shows.
You need to defeat the enemy before you start going after each other for the spoils.
dgz
Obama’s likeability isn’t a valid reason for voting for him, imho. Remember last time a “likeable” president was elected?
And, is Hillary really “divisive” and “unelectable,” or is that self-perpetuating nonsense from the talking heads on TV, spouting sound-bites?
I think Obama will make a great prez… in 2016.
hisurfer
McCain frightens me the most at the moment, if only because some of my moderate, vaguely liberal coworkers think he’s a good guy.
Nathan
Peter wrote: H.C. voted to attack Iraq in 2002 and Iran in 2007, giving Bush blank checks both times. Voted for Patriot Act, didn’t speak out against Guantanamo and removal of Habius Corpus. Obama spoke out against Iran and Iraq votes, spoke out against Patriot Act
Actually, Obama failed to speak out against the Iran resolution until after it had passed and he conveniently wasn’t there to vote against it (to avoid hurting his presidential candidacy). Also: he did vote for renewal of the Patriot Act. And actually both Obama and Clinton have spoken out against Guantanamo and the removal of Habeus Corpus.
Clinton’s domestic policies are solid, progressive and her rhetoric is in direct contrast to Obama’s history of appeasing the right and dividing the left.
Jon
Obama has said he will actively work toward national civil unions that are equivalent to marriage, Hillary wants to leave it up to the states, which as we have seen ends badly. This is the only issue that really separates them in my mind and is why Obama will be getting my vote.
hells kitchen guy
Gee, Bill, thanks for proving my point about the Hill. If the wrong people hate on you so viciously, you must be doing something right.
hells kitchen guy
P.S.: You’re a gasbag.
Bill Perdue
hells kitchen chichken hawk – I don’t hate Billary, I just describe her. Similarly, I don’t hate you, I just quote you, then every one hates you.
hells kitchen guy
Bill, you’re lucky that no one pays any attention to anything you say. (Hint: They don’t.)