Will the ascension of failed presidential aspirant to the chair of the DNC help the Democrats develop a winning recipe for future elections? Well, not if the Democrats have any say in the matter.
With a rebel now heading the Democratic Party, Florida’s gay Democrats vowed Saturday to be puppets of their party no longer and to bring social issues to the front of their party’s concerns.
“I don’t want to reach across the aisle; I want to win,” said Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who is openly gay. “Republicans used our community as a wedge in the [2004] election.”
It seems, with the fact that Sens. Kerry and Edwards’ choice to bring up Vice President Cheney’s gay daughter in two of four national debates, the Dems were also quite willing to use the gay community as a wedge issue.
Sheehan was one of about 40 Democrats from across the state to attend the quarterly meeting of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Caucus of the Florida Democratic Party in Orlando. Agreeing that a lack of organization hurt Democrats in November, they said unity will be vital if they are to overcome roadblocks to gay civil rights.
“We have four more years with [President] George [Bush], and we have a big X on our heads,” caucus President Michael Albetta said.
Already, a group with ties to conservative Christians has launched a petition to ban gay marriage in Florida. The group hopes voters in 2006 will amend the state constitution to declare that marriage is a union between “only one man and one woman” and that no other kind of union is equivalent to marriage.
State law bans same-sex marriage, but an amendment would remove the Legislature’s authority to change that.
The gay community does not have a bix X on their heads because of President Bush. If there is an X there, it is because the community has sought, through the courts, to push for an agenda of new rights that the majority of America isn’t willing to grant at this time. The gay-marriage proponents pushed in the courts — mainstream America pushed back at the ballot box.
In addition to social issues, the caucus is focused on the re-election campaign of Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and the Florida governor’s race, both in 2006.
November’s election, in which the issue of gay marriage figured prominently, “was a real wake-up for a lot of gays,” said delegate Warren Day of Pompano Beach. “A lot of us hadn’t realized how hostile things were. We thought we were beyond that.”
Things weren’t hostile. There was an election where people in several states blocked legal end runs. The wake-up seems to have been for those who oppose gay marriage or or not ready for it yet without public consideration and debate. Those people resented the judicial antics after the gay-marriage crowd overplayed their public support.
The caucus also heard from Scott Maddox, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, who called Saturday afternoon from the Democratic National Committee meeting in Washington.
Maddox promised to offer more political candidates “with guts,” saying that in the last election “our candidates were afraid to tell what was exactly in their hearts.” Several members of the caucus criticized Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry for running a presidential campaign that was too cautious and never took a hard stand.
Ummm … actually Kerry did take a stand against gay marriage, at least as firm a stance as the man is capable of taking.
“We’re liberal; we’re not in the middle,” said Donnell Morris of Fort Lauderdale. “Let’s get away from that.”
News that former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean had been elected the new chairman of the DNC was met with cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd.
Although Dean’s strong opinions and caustic comments have sometimes led to controversy, caucus members said he understands gay issues and realizes that gays and lesbians are a vital part of the Democratic Party.
“Democrats have always prided themselves on being a grass-roots party,” said Katy Peterson of Wilton Manors. “That’s what we’re getting back to.”
As a candidate, Dean effectively built a grass-roots campaign based upon elements of the far left that could barely muster any success within his own party during the primary season. While those same leftist elements may feel inspired to boisterously push their agenda now that Dean has the helm of the DNC, Dean himself must find a way to reach across a broader spectrum lest he take his party the way of his own campaign.
“We’re liberal; we’re not in the middle,” said Donnell Morris of Fort Lauderdale. “Let’s get away from that.”
The antecedent for “that” is not immediately clear. Perhaps Morris is referring to any hope of electoral success.