Barack Obama suffered some blows in yesterday’s primaries. Hillary Clinton beat him in both Ohio and Texas, the states where Obama famously purchased gay ad space.
We asked Obama campaigner Stampp Corbin whether there’s any indication Obama’s ads swayed the gays.
Corbin, who co-chairs the Senator’s gay policy committee, acknowledges there’s still more work to be done, but highlights the “tremendous response” of the groundbreaking campaign:
By all accounts, the ads produced a tremendous response within the LGBT community. The historic nature of an ad buy with an LGBT specific message was felt from the heartland of Ohio to the inner cities of Houston, Austin and Dallas. The ads were reproduced for LGBT specific events, as well as emailed to tens of thousands of LGBT Americans throughout the nation. We were able to move many LGBT Americans to support Senator Obama and his message of equality for our community.
It remains unclear whether or not the Obama campaign will buy more space in Pennsylvania, but Corbin says it’s looking “likely”. Sales reps are standing by, we’re sure!
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Read Corbin’s entire response, after the jump…
[Image via Obama’s Flickr page.]
From Stampp Corbin:
By all accounts, the ads produced a tremendous response within the LGBT community. The historic nature of an ad buy with an LGBT specific message was felt from the heartland of Ohio to the inner cities of Houston, Austin and Dallas. The ads were reproduced for LGBT specific events, as well as emailed to tens of thousands thousands of LGBT Americans throughout the nation. We were able to move many LGBT Americans to support Senator Obama and his message of equality for our community. Is there more work to do? Of course, but it will go in the annals of history that President Obama was the first to reach out to our community through LGBT specific media messaging and more importantly, to ensure equal rights for LGBT Americans.
While we are in this battle for the nomination, many in our community don’t understand the significant hurdle our community has overcome with the placement of these ads. History will be the judge and it will be remembered as a crucial step in equality for LGBT people in America and the formal acknowledgment of our community in the fabric of America.
Jack Jett
I hope the two of them can come together for the sake of the country.
They each have very special talents that compliment each other.
Michael Bedwell
Please ask Mr. Corbin why Obama has refused interviews with, among other gay media, LOGO News, “The Washington Blade,” and Ohio’s “Gay People’s Chronicle”—all of whom have interviewed Sen. Clinton—even though he bought a full page smile fuck ad in GPC? The background of his refusal of an interview with them makes for far more revelatory reading of his and his campaign’s REAL attitude toward LGBT voters than Corbin’s spin. From bilerico.com:
“Eric Resnick is a reporter for the Gay People’s Chronicle, Ohio’s LGBT newspaper of record. Eric recently interviewed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“Initially, both campaigns were thrilled to be asked for interviews. I didn’t want to sell out too cheaply, so I set the rules:
1. No surrogates. I can talk to surrogates any time.
2. Live interviews only. No written statements or written questions. The Chronicle has policies against publishing anyone’s equivalent to an infomercial, and written questions would be researched and answered by communications staff. Even if the candidate approved the final version, it is not really their response.
3. Although it is extremely rare that I tell a potential interviewee what I want to talk about in advance, I didn’t want the candidates to be able to avoid answering questions about the day-old New Jersey report by saying, “I’m not familiar with that.” I told both campaigns to make sure the candidates were ready to discuss it.
That was Wednesday. On Thursday, the Obama campaign offered an open letter in lieu of an interview. I told them no. I can’t ask a letter questions. Then they suggested written questions, even though I told them earlier that wouldn’t be acceptable. Again, I told them no.
By Friday, about the time it would take for them to figure out the New Jersey report contradicts their candidate, the Obama campaign stopped returning my calls. When I was lucky enough to reach press staff, they were very quick to tell me they didn’t think they could work an interview into the candidate’s schedule. My editor says we couldn’t speculate in the article as to why the Obama campaign got cold, but reasonable people can come to reasonable conclusions.
This is a good time to be clear. I am not in either candidate’s camp. I supported and voted for Dennis Kucinich. I was elected the Kucinich convention delegate in the 16th Congressional District of Ohio. With Kucinich out of the race, my only dog in the fight is that the LGBT community has the best information with which to make the best choices. …
[Regarding Obama’s response to Farrakhan’s support] There are some differences, of course. Farrakhan’s support was not solicited by the campaign. McClurkin’s was. It was the hope that the anti-gay McClurkin could solidify conservative black Christian support in southern states.
Obama has explained and minimized the decision to seek McClurkin’s support in an open letter and in an Advocate interview, but has never ‘denounced’ nor ‘rejected’ him. Had Obama used the same rationale to explain Farrakhan, the Jewish community would have been irate. That’s the other difference.
It is also apparent that Obama sees his obligation to the LGBT community as fulfilled since his Martin Luther King Day speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church…
Asking the campaign to explain the difference between McClurkin and Farrakhan is a fair question. The Obama campaign, however, treated the question with indignation, claimed that the reporter mischaracterized events, and erroneously claimed that “Senator Obama spoke out against the hateful views of both Donnie McClurkin and Louis Farrakhan.”
Obama spokespeople pivot to the MLK Day speech as though it settles every debt to the LGBT community, past and future.
In my 12 years as a reporter, I have never experienced anything quite like Obama’s national communication director Robert Gibbs, either. I wasn’t biting on the crap he tried to feed me, and he got offended. When I stood there not writing any of it down, Gibbs said to me, “Let me tell you how this works. I talk and you write down what I say.”
“I’ll write down what you say when you answer the question,” I responded, adding that “I’m no campaign’s stenographer.”
Gibbs actually took the pen and pad out of my hands and wrote his own answer!
He also asked for the Donnie McClurkin letter to be e-mailed to him, claiming he didn’t remember what it said. It was. He didn’t comment further. …
Both campaigns knew that talking to me wasn’t going to be like the made for Saturday Night Live performance of Melissa Etheridge on the Logo forum. (This is not an insult to Etheridge. I can’t sing. We should all do what we’re good at.)
Nonetheless, it was Hillary Clinton, with her much longer record of talking to our community, who stepped up to the guillotine, and Obama who refused.
– http://www.bilerico.com/2008/03/the_story_behind_the_reporting.php#more
Chadnnocal
We are very lucky that Obama is showing who he really is before we swoon him into four years of ineffective, inexperienced leadership.
These ads made my mind that I am a Hillary supporter. They are disingenuous at best.
Obama can’t handle the heat during the primary elections how can he possibly handle the Presidency?
Jesse
Bitch Republic,
Whether we like it or not, this is the system we are stuck with for this election. Changing the rules in the middle of the game isn’t an option, but petitioning for future reform is.
As far as percentages, just to throw them out there…
Basing this on the current delegate count by the AP with 203 delegates up for grab including PA, Hillary Clinton needs to win ~75% of the delegates between now and Pennsylvania in order to be tied with Barrack Obama going into the May primaries.
I’ll wipe off my coolaide mustache if she can pull those numbers out of her magic hat.
Michael Bedwell
Given that Democrats outnumber Independents who tilt a little more toward Obama, Based on an end of February poll by the Pew Research Center, if keeping the Repugs out of White House is more important to Obama supporters that his simply getting the nomination, then y’all had better hope Sen. Clinton gets the nomination.
“Clinton Draws More Support Among Democrats.
The vast majority of Democratic voters say they would support either Obama or Clinton over McCain. BUT IN AN OBAMA-MCCAIN MATCHUP, 14% OF DEMOCRATIC VOTERS SAY THEY WOULD SUPPORT MCCAIN, compared with 8% who would do so if Clinton is the nominee.
One-in-five white Democrats (20%) say that they will vote for McCain over Obama, DOUBLE THE PERCENTAGE WHO SAY THEY WOULD SWITCH SIDES IN A CLINTON-MCCAIN MATCHUP (10%). Roughly the same number of Democrats age 65 and older say they WILL VOTE FOR MCCAIN IF OBAMA IS THE PARTY’S CHOICE (22%). Obama also suffers more defections among lower income and less educated Democratic voters than does Clinton.
In addition, female Democrats look at the race differently depending on the matchup. While 93% of women in the party say they would vote for Clinton over McCain, JUST 79% SAY THEY WOULD SUPPORT OBAMA OVER MCCAIN.
A QUARTER OF DEMOCRATS (25%) WHO BACK CLINTON FOR THE NOMINATION SAY THEY WOULD FAVOR MCCAIN IN A GENERAL ELECTION TEST AGAINST OBAMA. The “defection” rate among Obama’s supporters if Clinton wins the nomination is far lower; just 10% say they would vote for McCain in November, while 86% say they would back Clinton.â€
Bitch Republic
Jesse, that’s funny, you posted a comment on this story directed at me and I hadn’t even commented on this story, yet. Drinking too much Kool-Aid? I already commented on your comment on the other story where it was relevant, but in case you missed it: even if Obama wins 100% of all the delegates left to win, he still won’t have enough to win the nomination outright either, big deal.
Obviously, these ads didn’t help him much, if at all. It seems my gay brothers and sisters aren’t as easily pandered to after all.
fredo777
That you would think of Obama’s ads as pandering any more than Clinton’s LGBT-centric interviews, etc. is laughable.
I seriously would like to see more of Hillary’s supporters outline exactly what she’s done to gain their trust that she’ll do anything to make life better for LGBT citizens after being elected. Honestly, I have yet to see anything substantial. At least with Obama I can say that he made some effort to specifically address the issues of homophobia directly to the church community. Pandering? Maybe. Like I’ve said before, though, all of the candidates are. It comes with campaigning. The difference lies in how committed the candidate really is to bringing about positive change. Not just who’s older + more “experienced”.
Lee
Didn’t any of you get the memo? Edwards and his delegates will get to choose the presidential nominee — and, come to think of it, the vice presidential nominee.
Bitch Republic
Edwards doesn’t have enough delegates to have any influence at all.
Mike
Fredo,
This website is about the only forum where you would actually find so many gays like you opposed to Hillary Clinton. By and large, the gays have been wooed by Hillary, whose spent 8 full years building up a close and successful relationship with the gay community in New York and America.
This is the only place I see so many gays blindly willing to follow Obama, who has historically recoiled from gays, still enlists the support of anti-gay pastors to gain religious votes, and has never tried working with or courting a national gay organization.
alan brickman
obama calls gays “them” don’t you get it yet??
fredo777
Mike, I don’t buy it.
And I’m not blindly following anyone, fyi. I’ve just yet to see what you or any other LGBT supporter finds so phenomenal about Hillary. I keep hearing the same, stand-by negative comments about Obama (“Oh, he’s not experienced…”, “He’s all smoke + mirrors…”, blah, blah, blah…). I’m still not hearing anything concrete that proves why I should be supporting her, instead of a lot of negative statements about why Obama isn’t this, that, or the other.
If Hillary supporters are so against the “style before substance”, then back your support up with something more substantial than the same ol’.
As for the argument that Barack is just a charmer/good speaker, I think that very eloquence only makes him better for the job. I’d certainly like my president to be someone who is charming, persuasive, and charismatic when he/she needs to negotiate with other rulers, settle conflicts, etc. It could prove to be a very useful asset.
Bottom line, I’d like to hear Hillary (and her supporters, for that matter) focus less on bashing Obama + more on what makes her so ideal. Convince me.
July
He is a cuttie, he is my favorite. I love him. Is he single now? I saw him on millionaire&celeb dating site “SeekingRich.com”
last week. Just curious.
Bitch Republic
Fredo, I haven’t heard anything concrete from Obama why I should be supporting him.
fredo777
B.R., you still haven’t convinced me why I should support her. That’s just another lash out at Obama, which kind of goes along with my point.
Alacer
Hillary Clinton has made it quite clear that she supports us a heckuva lot more than he does. He spouts that same “separate but equal” civil unions crap. Forgive if I’m wrong (I haven’t done the research) but it seems like Clinton is a lot more sincere about it than he is.
Mr C
Check this out!
Hillary Clinton doesn’t support any DAMN one but Hillary Clinton and she will bait and switch who ever she can to get where she’s going and that means to smooze up to the “WHITE” LGBT community as well.
Some of ya’ll kill me with the Donnie McClurkin issue with Obama. He said what he said about homosexuality at the Republican National Convention 4 years ago. He was invited to sing for Barack and you guys went bananas. Hillary has been to so many churches, Black & White and intermixed and those Pastors feel the same way Donnie McClurkin does and Bill had Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. But OH NO not Ms Hillary or Bill we won’t hold that against you
As a Black Male who is gay. These means nothing to me. Why?
Because this community is the most bigoted, racist community there is. The Rainbow flag is a front. You hold against Obama about McClurkin and look at the white gay community time Shirley Q Liquor comes to town it’s a sell out to see a white man mock poor black women.
YEAH THIS SPELLS TO HYPOCRITE to me, Writing LOGO about canceling Noah’s Arc which was the most watched show on the network and yet still got canned!
We can’t be at PEACE with anyone until we are at PEACE with ourselves.
Saying that don’t look for
1. The Matthew Shepherd Bill
2. DOMA
3. ENDA
4. Gay Marriage Act
And any other bill to be passed for the Gay community and that will be with either 3 that wins the election.. Once again she will wine and dine and then PAY YOU ALL NO MIND! You all are more concerned with Gay Marriage then fucking combating racism in this community.
GO FIGURE……NO WE CAN’T DO THAT!
BUT OH YES WE CAN…GO OBAMA!