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Why Are GOP House Candidates (Barely) More Willing To Tell Voters About Their Gay Rights Positions?

We’ve been having the debate all week about whether Republicans are hijacking the LGBT rights fight from the party everyone assumed would be more likely to champion it, but what’s it say that Democratic candidates running for House seats are less likely to highlight their commitment (or opposition) to equality than their Republican counterparts?

Running the numbers Nate Silver finds that when it comes to the campaign websites of some 30 races in “toss-up districts,” gay rights is mentioned by 21 percent of Republicans and just 7 percent of Democrats.

But either way, do you find it remarkable that so few candidates in these swing districts are mentioning LGBT rights at all? Is it a sign that DADT and DOMA and Prop 8 and ENDA remain issues too controversial for voters that haven’t outwardly declared their support for one political party over another in the run-up to November?

Of course, does highlighting gay rights equal supporting gay rights? Nope. Log on to the site for West Virginia 1st District hopeful David McKinley, a Republican, and you’ll find this: “Marriage: Marriage is between a man and a woman. Period.” But hey, at least he’s honest?

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