How An Early Endorsement From The Worlds Largest LGBT Group May Reveal Hillary Clinton's Worst Fears

[liberalnarb]

(HUFFPOST)

This week the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBT group, endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. It was a bit of a shocker not because HRC endorsed a Democrat -- the group has only endorsed Democratic presidential candidates, as the GOP has always been hostile toward LGBT rights -- but that it occurred before even one vote has been cast in the Democratic primaries and while two hugely gay-supportive candidates are so close in the polls in the first contests.

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Its curious that a group that hasn't endorsed any Democrat until it was certain who the nominee would be, endorsed Hillary as early as January.
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In 2008, HRC endorsed Barack Obama, but not until June, when it was clear he would be the nominee. (For 2012, the group endorsed the president, who had no major challenger, in May of 2011). In 2004, HRC also endorsed the Democratic nominee, John Kerry, in June, after all the votes in the primaries were in. And it's very first endorsement of a presidential candidate, Bill Clinton, came in June of 1992.

.......


But here we are less than two weeks from Iowa, and Senator Bernie Sanders is surging in the polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire, looking like he will take one or both. He has many LGBT donors and supporters, many of whom are HRC contributors who are, judging from Twitter, bewildered and angry. As I wrote last fall, Sanders has a stellar gay rights record, having been one of only a small handful of federal legislators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act (when he was in the House), and he's been out front in this campaign. Last spring Sanders called for amending the Civil Rights Act to include LGBT protections -- 14 years after Bill Bradley did, but several months before Hillary Clinton did -- and he backed open transgender military service before Clinton too. Sanders wasn't always supportive of marriage equality, even when he voted against DOMA -- though he likes to cloud that fact and his own past now -- but he certainly was publicly for marriage equality several years before Clinton.

[merrily]

1. Familiar pattern: Heads of organizations endorse her; the members are in an uproar.

Heads of organizations, 1 vote a piece.

Members of organizations, many votes.

It's looking good for Hillary at the endorsement stage and it's looking good for Bernie at the voting stage!




Go, Sanders!

[chervilant]

5. OMG!!!

Where do I get the cheerleaders with the awesome pink pom-poms????


(Feel the BERN!!!)

[merrily]

6. You can get them right out of my post. Just right click on each one.

[chervilant]

8. Okay, but how do I get them into the reply box? n/t

[merrily]

9. You right click, then you click on "copy image location." Then, you paste in the reply box.

[chervilant]

10. You ROCK!

(I don't have that option, but I figured it out from your instructions!)

[merrily]

11. Thanks!

[stillwaiting]

2. I am gay and I have contributed to Human RC many times in the past. I have gone to many of their...

... events and marches, and I am FURIOUS with them.

So pissed they are interfering with the Democratic primary process. For me Bernie has been MUCH BETTER for LGBT individuals than Hillary Clinton.

[merrily]

7. Better and much sooner. Supporting equal rights a year after Obama did was not leadership or a

profile in courage. Supporting the community 35 years ago and voting against DOMA was far preferable.

[ReallyIAmAnOptimist]

3. What will time reveal?

Time will tell, but my guess is that some kind of 'purchase' of these endorsements was made.
It's the ONLY thing that makes any sense.
Period.
End of story.

[NCjack]

4. Yes -- there is likely a quid-pro-quo. The remedies are:

1. Members should vote for a change in leadership.
2. Donors should give to local groups that are too small to play the early endorsement game. When PP sends me an email asking for money, I send back this: "No. I don't like PP interferring in the DEM primary. Instead of PP, I'm donating to a local women's health charity."

As for me, I'm no longer giving to those that are interfering in the DEM primary by give early endorsements. Easy to find local women's health charities thru internet search.