New LCR Ad in The Hill

Funny, I don’t hear the gay left demanding to know where Log Cabin got the money for this add in the The Hill newspaper. LCR_THE_HILL

Why JC Watts Won’t Be the Next RNC Chair

I read a Politico posting this afternoon suggesting that former Congressman J.C. Watts may jump in the race for RNC Chairman next month.  An interesting proposition.

But let’s look at a few basic facts.  Mr. Watts says he is being “encouraged” by supporters to run.  Who are these supporters?  They don’t seem to be current members of the RNC.  In fact, the article points out that Matt Pinnell, the Chairman of the Oklahoma Party and  one of the 168 who will vote for the next RNC Chairman is backing  Priebus for reelection.

While a cursory look at the RNC Rules does allow for a non-member to run for Chair or Vice-Chair, in order to be nominated, one must have the support of at least the majority vote of RNC members in each of three states in order to have his or her names placed in nomination.  So where does he go for those initial votes if his home state chairman is supporting Priebus?  And even if he were to get nominated, where does he get the votes?  Preibus already has 130 of the 168 votes locked up.

I am not saying the Mr. Watts wouldn’t be a good chairman.  But there is no groundswell within the voting membership of the RNC to replace Priebus with Watts, or anyone else, for that matter.

My belief is that in six weeks, down in Charlotte, Reince will be nominated and reelected by acclamation.   I just don’t see any other outcome.  But stranger things have happened.

VP Debate at Shelly’s

Last night, I organized a debate-watching party with members of my Log Cabin chapter who enjoy smoking cigars.  Actually, there were a few there who don’t smoke, but wanted to join in the camaraderie.  We had a great time watching Congressman Paul Ryan show class over Vice President Joe Biden’s clown face.

Good debate.  Good friends.  Good cigars!

I first had a Montecristo #2 Torpedo, then I smoked a Pléiades Paris Envoy

Congressman Paul Ryan Strengthens the GOP Ticket

For Immediate Release

Contact: Casey Pick (202) 480.2601

Congressman Paul Ryan Strengthens the GOP Ticket

(Washington, DC) – Log Cabin Republicans statement in response to the announcement that Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) will join Governor Mitt Romney as the presumptive vice presidential nominee for the Republican Party.

“Congressman Paul Ryan is a strong choice for vice president, and his addition to the GOP ticket will help Republican candidates up and down the ballot,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. “As chairman of the House Budget Committee and author of the Republican “path to prosperity” that provided the blueprint for serious spending cuts in this Congress, nobody is more qualified to articulate a conservative economic vision to restore the American economy and stimulate job creation.

At the same time, Congressman Ryan’s 2007 vote in favor of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and his consistent willingness to engage with Log Cabin on a range of issues speaks to his record as a fair-minded policymaker. Overall, while Log Cabin Republicans have not completed the endorsement process for the 2012 presidential election, this is a choice that all Republicans can be excited about, and which sends a good message about the kind of campaign Governor Romney wants to run, and the kind of president Governor Romney wants to be.”

Date: 8/11/2012
Copyright 2012 Log Cabin Republicans

Log Cabin & Rep. Eric Cantor Agree: GOP Must Be “a Party of Inclusion”

For Immediate Release

Contact: Casey Pick (202) 480.2601

Log Cabin Republicans and Rep. Eric Cantor Agree: GOP Must Be “a Party of Inclusion”

(Washington, DC) – As the Republican National Convention approaches, Log Cabin Republicans agree strongly with Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) that the GOP “need[s] to be a party of inclusion, not exclusion.” In an interview with Buzzfeed, the congressman urged tolerance and acceptance of a diversity of opinion on issues including the freedom to marry.

“The Log Cabin Republicans motto is ‘inclusion wins,’ and it is encouraging to see conservative leaders like Majority Leader Cantor promoting that message as key to victory in 2012,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. “From the Republican Party’s staunch support for candidates like Log Cabin member Richard Tisei to the leadership of conservative champions like Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), there is increasing support for LGBT equality within the GOP. The march to victory in 2012 and beyond will require a big tent, respecting diversity of opinion while uniting around the core issues that unite us as Republicans. We are grateful to Majority Leader Cantor for leading the way.”

Date: 7/20/2012

Copyright 2012 Log Cabin Republicans

Quoted in National Journal

The following article appears in the latest issue of National Journal and quotes me talking about adding INCLUSIVE language to the Republican platform.

Platform Puzzles

No cakewalk: The debate over gay marriage.

What’s black and white, rarely read, and often fiercely contested? Hint: It’s not a newspaper.

By Beth Reinhard

Family Research Council Action, a leading crusader for social conservative values, is sounding the alarm: Support for gay marriage is creeping dangerously close to the Republican platform.

“Strong voices within the Republican Party would like nothing more than to change the official stance in regards to marriage between one man and one woman,” warns a recent e-mail blast from the organization that rattles off a list of alleged heretics topped by former Vice President Dick Cheney and former first lady Laura Bush.

The e-mail promises that donations will be used to send reinforcements to the platform-committee meetings leading up to the Aug. 27 national convention in Tampa, Fla. “Someone has to keep an eye on them,” the group avows.

At a time when virtually all Republican-leaning states have banned same-sex marriage, could the GOP be on the verge of embracing gay rights in its sacred platform? No chance. The Family Research Council e-mail is less smoke alarm and more fundraising ploy—as well as a kick in the pants to the conservative grassroots in an election year.

Yet platform battles, even when stirred up by special-interest groups, the opposition party, or the media, often mark important political and cultural mileposts. The dustup over gay marriage is no exception. With President Obama this year becoming the first chief executive to embrace the cause of same-sex marriage, the issue may be eclipsing abortion as the central front in the culture war. And that shift, inevitably, will reverberate through the platform discussions of both parties this year and beyond.

Throughout American history, platform skirmishes have mapped critical shifts in each party’s balance of power. The Democrats’ abandonment of Prohibition in their 1932 platform, for instance, showed that, behind Franklin D. Roosevelt, the party’s urban northern wing had regained the upper hand over its evangelical solid southern one. Conversely, the GOP’s abandonment of support for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1980 platform signaled that social conservatives had eclipsed coastal moderates as the dominant force in their party.

Platform battles also reflect the particular ideology of that year’s nominee, because every standard-bearer tends to stray from the party line on some issues. Republican Bob Dole tried to dilute the party’s antiabortion stance in 1996. George W. Bush’s moderate positions on immigration reform colored the 2000 and 2004 Republican conventions, while John McCain’s apostasies on stem-cell research, campaign finance, and climate change worried conservative activists in 2008.

This year, Mitt Romney has committed himself to unwaveringly conservative positions on social issues (including support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage). But in a sign of the times, the District of Columbia Republican Committee—the equivalent of a state party—last month became the first official voice to call for inserting language into the platform that reads: “Individuals, without regard to sexual orientation, are entitled to full and equal protection under the laws and the Constitution.”

The D.C. Republicans don’t expect much support for their cause in Tampa. “I don’t think there will be a huge push for gay marriage at the convention this year, but we see this as the first spark,” said Robert Turner, a member of the District committee and the president of the local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, which advocates for gay rights. “I do see it happening more four years from now and four years after that.”

Could Turner be right? Only 23 percent of Republicans supported legalizing gay marriage in a May 29-31 CNN/ORC International poll. But all surveys show support for gay marriage rising among young people. And Tom McClusky of Family Research Council Action worries about what might be called the Ron Paul effect: an increase in the number of convention delegates with libertarian streaks. The D.C. Committee’s push, even if it’s ahead of its time, isn’t likely to be the last try to force Republican platform writers to debate this issue.

If there is a platform shift on gay marriage this year, though, it likely won’t come until the Democratic convention opens on Sept. 3 in Charlotte, N.C. Currently, the Democratic platform calls for equality and opposes discriminatory measures but stops short of endorsing same-sex marriage. But with Obama’s embrace of gay marriage—and the same CNN poll showing that more than two-thirds of Democrats and exactly three-fifths of independents back the idea—that  language does not satisfy leading advocates. “We think it’s important to say the words, for the platform to be clear and say what a majority of Democrats support,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, a gay-advocacy group. “It’s important for the party to get there.”

Wolfson’s group began agitating to include support for gay marriage in the platform even before Obama’s recent seal of approval brought its goal within reach. Freedom to Marry has secured support from 22 senators (strangely, several Democrats from red-leaning and swing states aren’t on the list!) and four former party chiefs. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are on board. So is the chairman of the 2012 convention, Los Angeles Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa.

The vast majority of voters will never read the fine print, or even the bold headlines, of their party’s platform. But activists on the left and right recognize it as a useful yardstick in their larger effort to tilt parties toward their causes. “For those of us who work with candidates and elected officials, the platform sets a standard to hold them to,” McClusky says. “It comes down to accountability. We think it’s important to be very exact in the wording.” Which is why advocates on both sides of the gay-marriage debate will be watching every clause and comma when the party platform writers hunker down this summer.

This article appeared in the Saturday, July 14, 2012 edition of National Journal.

Is it Condi for Veep?

Drudge is reporting tonight that Romney has narrowed down the field of candidates to be his running mate. And Drudge’s sources say that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is at the top of that list!

In light of my quote yesterday in the Huffington Post, I’ll make the following statement.  If Romney picks Condi Rice as his VP choice, he will have my vote come November!

But don’t cross her!  Just ask former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Huffington Post Piece on Young Conservatives for Freedom to Marry

Young Conservatives Rally For Same-Sex Marriage, Remain Unsure On Romney

by Lila Shapiro

The president of the Washington chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, Robert Turner, laughed when asked whether he planned to vote for Romney. “Well I’m not voting for Obama,” he said, pausing to sip from a bottle of Bud Light. “It is hard. I don’t know what I’ll do,” said Turner, 41, who has been a registered Republican since 1990.

Turner, also serves on the board of Capital Pride, a group that organizes Gay Pride events in Washington. If Romney were to rescind his marriage pledge or select a running mate supportive of gay rights, Turner might consider voting for him, he said.

Romney Meets with Black People

This morning, presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney spoke before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Folk People (NAACP).  I didn’t get a chance to watch the video, but I have read most of the text of the speech.  I encourage you to do the same before listening to the chattering class (on either side) later tonight on cable news.  Read it for yourself.  Big props to Kathleen McKinley of the Houston Chronicle for posting the entire transcript.  Wasn’t able to find it anywhere else.

Thank you, Bishop Graves, for your generous introduction. Thanks also to President Ben Jealous and Chairman Roslyn Brock for the opportunity to be here this morning, and for your hospitality. It is an honor to address you.

I appreciate the chance to speak first – even before Vice President Biden gets his turn tomorrow. I just hope the Obama campaign won’t think you’re playing favorites.

You all know something of my background, and maybe you’ve wondered how any Republican ever becomes governor of Massachusetts in the first place. Well, in a state with 11 percent Republican registration, you don’t get there by just talking to Republicans. We have to make our case to every voter. We don’t count anybody out, and we sure don’t make a habit of presuming anyone’s support. Support is asked for and earned – and that’s why I’m here today. MORE…

Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry

Last night, at the Capitol Hill Club, an initiative for a new conservative group was launched – Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.  I can just hear the leftists cracking jokes about the event was probably held in a janitor’s closet.  But know this, last night’s event was held in one of the largest rooms of the Capitol Hill Club to a packed house!  For those of you who don’t know, the Capitol Hill Club is an annex of the Republican National Committee and is a mere half a block from the Cannon House Office Building.

This campaign will spotlight and increase awareness of conservatives around the country who are speaking out on why marriage matters to same-sex couples and their families, and why conservatives should be supportive.

In a coalition with Log Cabin Republicans, Freedom to Marry recognizes the importance of forging a bipartisan partnership, instead of labeling all Republicans and conservatives as anti-gay bigots.  A message other large movement organizations would do well to heed.

In the coming days, you will likely see articles and blog posts from the Washington Blade, the Huffington Report among others.  Those are the ones I saw last night who came up and asked me for quotes.  But take a look at this piece by Julie Bolcer at The Advocate.

Freedom To Marry, the national advocacy group, launched the initiative, Young Conservatives for the Freedom To Marry, on Tuesday. The campaign intends to show the bipartisan nature of marriage equality by providing a platform for conservatives, Republicans and Libertarians under the age of 44 who believe the issue “fulfills basic conservative values of responsibility and community, as well as limited government and individual freedom,” according to a news release.