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发帖数: 3803 | 1 Same-sex marriage debate: Many of Obama’s top fundraisers are gay
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By Dan Eggen,
The controversy that has erupted this week over President Obama's stance on
same-sex marriage has cast a spotlight on the importance of the gay
community to his re-election fundraising efforts.
Many of Obama’s key financial supporters are gay, including finance
director Rufus Gifford and Democratic National Committe treasurer Andrew
Tobias, and the campaign has held a steady series of fundraisers focused on
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender donors.
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A review of Obama’s top bundlers--those who have brought in $500,000 or
more for the campaign--shows that about one in six publicly identify
themselves as gay. His overall list of bundlers also includes a number of
gay couples who have wed in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage was legal.
“It’s a very important constituency,” said Los Angeles attorney Dana
Perlman, a top Obama bundler who is helping organize a 700-person LGBT
fundraiser for the president on June 6. “The community for the most part is
wholeheartedly behind this man.”
But the flare-up over marriage equality has put a strain on that
relationship, just months before Obama will attempt to win re-election with
the help of conservative-leaning swing states. Biden said in an interview
aired Sunday that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriage,
a statement that appeared to put him at odds with his boss, who has said he
is “evolving” but still opposed.
Some liberal gay donors also have threatened to withhold contributions over
Obama’s decision to shelve an executive order banning same-sex
discrimination by federal contractors. Obama is expected to elaborate on his
views, and perhaps embrace gay marriage, during an interview with ABC News
being conducted Wednesday afternoon.
Many Obama fundraisers say the marriage issue should not overshadow his
overall record on gay rights or his stark differences with Republican
challenger Mitt Romney, who favors a constitutional amendment defining
marriage as between a man and a woman. Romney, who does not appear to have
an outreach effort aimed at LGBT voters, reiterated his opposition to gay
marriage Wednesday.
The Obama campaign’s list of bundlers includes a number of prominent names
in the gay community. Rainmakers at the top $500,000-and-up level include
Perlman and his partner, Barry Karas; interior designer Michael S. Smith and
HBO executive James Costos; Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts, a board
member of the Lambda Legal gay rights group; and Colorado political activist
Tim Gill and his husband, Scott Miller.
The Advocate, a publication focused on the gay community, assembled a list
of “Obama’s Power Gays” last year that includes many of his biggest
fundraisers. In addition to Perlman and others, the Advocate list included
pharmaceutical executive Sally Susman ($500,000-plus); activist Kevin
Jennings ($50,000 to $100,000); and Texas philanthropist Eugene Sepulveda ($
500,000-plus).
Chad Griffin, the incoming president of the Human Rights Campaign, which has
at times criticized Obama’s stance, has raised between $100,00 to $200,000
for the president’s re-election campaign.
Griffin was the person who asked Biden at a recent closed meeting with gay
activists, “How do you feel about us?” Biden recounted the question, and
his emotional answer supportive of gay marriage, during his interview on NBC
’s “Meet the Press.”
Griffin said in an interview with the Washington Post earlier this week that
he has repeatedly pressed Obama in private to support marriage equality and
said he expects it will come up again during the upcoming LGBT gala in Los
Angeles.
One persistent theme among gay and lesbian supporters is the belief that
Obama is basically on their side when it comes to same-sex marriage, but is
reluctant to say so before the November elections because of his need to win
socially conservative swing states, according to interviews with numerous
donors.
Many of his top givers say they remain pragmatic, pointing out that even a
state as socially liberal as California rejected gay marriage in a public
referendum. On Tuesday in North Carolina, a key swing state that will play
host to the 2012 Democratic convention, voters resoundingly approved a
constitutional ban of gay marriage.
Ray Mulliner, philanthropic and political adviser to former Luxembourg
ambassador James C. Hormel, a prominent donor in the gay community, said
many of Obama’s supporters accept that he needs some flexibility.
“We can only assume, given his educational background and former comments
in support of this issue, that he will in fact be more supportive after the
election,” Mulliner said in a recent interview. “I think that we are
sophisticated enough to realize that in an election year we can only expect
so much from the president.” | P*********0
发帖数: 4321 | 2 Well you can tell cuz they are out of closet. GOP gays are all underground.
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【在 l******a 的大作中提到】
: Same-sex marriage debate: Many of Obama’s top fundraisers are gay
: Text Size PrintE-mailReprints
: By Dan Eggen,
: The controversy that has erupted this week over President Obama's stance on
: same-sex marriage has cast a spotlight on the importance of the gay
: community to his re-election fundraising efforts.
: Many of Obama’s key financial supporters are gay, including finance
: director Rufus Gifford and Democratic National Committe treasurer Andrew
: Tobias, and the campaign has held a steady series of fundraisers focused on
: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender donors.
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