Sappho-journo Kerry Eleveld takes a hard look at Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton‘s campaigns to analyze their approaches to gay politics. And, yes, Eleveld – who has interviewed Obama – discusses criticism that Obama hasn’t done enough gay press: “…Personally, I’m less concerned about whether Senator Obama is talking to local or national gay outlets than the frequency with which he is talking to us.” [Advocate]
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Bob
Saint Obama wants our votes and our money, but won’t talk to us. The man is shameless.
Leland Frances
My first reaction to her article was, “OMG! Eleveld, who STILL has not publicly corrected the lie Obama told her [and “The Advocate” published] last October about cosponsoring and passing Illinois’ LGBT rights bill, like many in the hypnotized mainstream media, is finally seeing through the Great Obama Myth:
‘While mainstream mentions are critical to us gaining visibility, they do little to clarify the specifics of a candidate’s strategy for advancing LGBT rights. This is something Senator Clinton has increasingly embraced over the course of her campaign’.”
But then the same sorry fact came to me as about the members of MSM finally awakening from their Obama-induced trance: it’s too late. His Hope Dog and Change Pony Show, the smoke and mirrors, the distortions and outright lies about what he’s actually done or would do, the confusion of charisma with greatness, the oceans of Hillary Haterade, the shameless Swift Boating of her and her husband as racists that they are not, the “Love Me I’m A Liberal” “Magic Negro” phenomenon, the playing of the race and homophobe card with Donnie “gays are trying to kill our children” McClurkin campaigning for Obama in South Carolina, the “code” of his campaign’s sudden second slogan after that concert: “Stand for Change” when “Stand” was the name of McClurkin’s Grammy hit known by all of his fans across the country [thus, for them, it might as well read: “Stand Up to the Homos”], the hiding behind boilerplate bromides and paper promises rather than facing the same many gay challengers that Sen. Clinton has, ad nauseum….it’s all worked together to create Obama the Mythical Messiah.
Less than a year ago, “The Advocate” printed a story saying that gay movement patriarch Frank Kameny had died of AIDS. Before it even hit the newstands, someone informed them that not only was Kameny very much still alive but that he didn’t have AIDS—all the more embarrassing because it appeared in their “Pride” issue.
Once again, they’ve arrived late to reality.
Marco Channing
The biggest issues that need to be dealt with right now are NOT LGBT. The economy, Iraq, health care, and the abuse of Executive Branch powers are far more pressing than gay marriage. Obama will be fine for LGBT issue, but he will be far superior to Clinton in everything else.
As long as McCain is not elected, gays will be fine. Focus on the BIG picture in this election peeps.
Leland Frances
Thanks for your opinion, Marco, but it’s just that. There’s no evidence that the Dali Obama would be any better than Sen. Clinton on any of the issues you name. Based on how much his campaign [and resume] has floated on hot air, he’s likely to arrive at the Presidency and declare like that other man behind the curtain, “I don’t know how the damn thing works!” Jimmy Carter with a nice tan.
“The contrast between his broad rhetoric and his narrow agenda is stark, and yet the media—preoccupied with the political “horse race”—have treated his invocation of “change” as a serious idea rather than a shallow campaign slogan. He seems to have hypnotized much of the media and the public with his eloquence and the symbolism of his life story. The result is a mass delusion that Obama is forthrightly engaging the nation’s major problems when, so far, he isn’t.” – Robert Samuelson, Newsweek.
Vote for him over McCain? Absolutely. But the most I’m hoping for from an Obama Administration is merely what we ask of doctors: “first, do no harm.”
Afroguapo
Re: “But the most I’m hoping for from an Obama Administration is merely what we ask of doctors: ‘first, do no harm.'” I would find this sentiment to be plausible if the name were instead substituted with the laissez-faire, incompetent, willful Bush who seems to bask and flex arrogantly in his ineptitude and malfeasance (“what do you think your legacy will be in 50 years?” “Who cares, we’ll all be dead.”) and who has surrounded himself with despots who only want to enrich themselves (Heir Cheney) or McCain “I don’t know much about the economy.” Barack, on the other hand, is a true intellectual (editor of the Harvard Law Review) who studies the issues with fervor and has surrounded himself with a formidable think-tank of advisors (who are actually moderate) and would be a harbinger of what his administration might look like (see below). Yes, if McCain were to win, I would only implore him to do no harm (100 years in Iraq, making Bush’s tax cuts permanent).
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/080331nj1.htm