Gay marriage shift gives Obama fundraising boost
President Barack Obama arrives at Los Angeles International Airport, Thursday, May 10, 2012, in Los Angeles. / AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
(AP) NEW YORK - President Barack Obama has seen an uptick in fundraising since he announced his shift on gay marriage, with some Democratic rainmakers citing renewed interest from gay and lesbian donors who had been urging the president to clarify his stance on the divisive social issue.
"The phone calls went on until one in the morning after the president spoke — people calling saying `Where do I go, what can I do to help, what events are coming up,"' said Robert Zimmerman, a Long Island, N.Y., Obama bundler. "People I've been seeking out for campaign support for months have been calling me saying, `I'm ready to give."'
Obama's campaign has declined to say how much it has collected since the announcement but some staffers have asked supporters to give money as a way of expressing their approval. Following the Obama interview with ABC News, Rufus Gifford, Obama's national finance director, said in a posting to the campaign website that "if you're proud of our president, this is a great time to make a donation to the campaign."
Chad Griffin, an Obama bundler and incoming president of the gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, said most prominent gay donors had been supporting Obama all along despite his reluctance to champion gay marriage. Most had already given the maximum contribution to his campaign, Griffin said. But he said Obama's announcement had boosted enthusiasm among many gay donors.
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"There was a tad bit of uncomfortableness because of his position on marriage, even though most people saw where he was headed," Griffin said. "The thing he did (Wednesday) cleared any uncomfortableness anyone had."
Obama said Wednesday he supported gay marriage, marking a shift in his personal view on the issue after once opposing it and saying more recently that his views were "evolving."
Even before the gay marriage news, Obama has long stressed his commitment to gay rights. The president repealed the military's 18-year-old ban on openly gay service members, called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and instructed the Justice Department last year to stop enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
Some gay rights advocates have pressed Obama to sign an executive order barring discrimination against gays and lesbians who work for companies with federal contracts.
Obama was attending a New York fundraiser Monday with gay and lesbian donors hosted by singer Ricky Martin, his first fundraising event with gay supporters since his announcement. The president is scheduled to attend a major fundraiser with gay supporters in Los Angeles on June 6, with tickets priced as high as $25,000 per couple. Griffin, who is co-hosting the event, said he was confident it would sell out.
At least one leading gay activist has said he will attend the June 6 event after pledging to withhold support for Obama if the president did not embrace gay marriage.
Lance Black, an Academy Award-winning screenwriter based in Los Angeles, penned a column in the Hollywood Reporter last month saying he would not contribute to or vote for Obama and urged other gay activists to withhold support as well. Obama's statement Wednesday changed his mind, Black said.
Now I can do all I can to help him financially. I am going to go big, and I'm not alone there," Black said. "He blew me away (Wednesday). I walked around for the first time in three years thinking, `Yes we can."'
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Mort, your argument truly holds no merit, and you now why it doesn't. You just like the argument. Former's point about it being a 'straw-man argument' is exactly right.
Truth being truth, a heterosexual can legally marry the person with whom they fall in love. A homosexual does not currently have that same legal right.
That is the equality that is sought. You know this, and probably understand it on some level. You just don't like it and choose to make these baseless arguments.
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I could not have said it better myself.
No comeback.
No defense.
I'd call it an ace.
But those that believe differently believe that your position is damned stupid. And they have every right to feel that way also.
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Of course they do.
But making a criminal out of any single person who has sex is insane...
Former, we are talking about legality here.
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And the stupidity behind some of it, mort.
How idiotic a mindset to try to tell everyone that a single person can have no sex for their entire lifetime.
THAT'S JUST DAMNED STUPID, mort!
As a hetero, I am not free to marry anyone I chose in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I cannot marry someone of the same gender.
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Mort, mort, mort....
I know this a lot for you to handle with that empty toolbox you pack around, but if you're a hetero, you wouldn't be marrying anyone of the same gender would you?
C'mon, mort.
Sheesh.
We have also made it illegal to have sex with anyone but your spouse.
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And you wonder why I say your head is stuck in the 18th century, eh?
Sheesh.
How many thousands of teenagers have you and the state religious posse prosecuted to date, mort?
They already do have equal treatment.
A gay man has just as much right to marry a woman as I do.
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And why would a gay man marry a woman, mort?
That's about as ignorant a straw-man argument as you have ever used - and that's saying something.
You, as a presumed hetero, can marry whomever you choose.
A gay can not marry whomever they choose.
You drape yourself in the right yet try to deny it to others because of your cultist views and think they are some kind of justification for your condoning discrimination.
They are not.
Your condoning of discrimination is disgusting regardless of what your mythological beliefs say.
Truth being truth, a heterosexual can legally marry the person with whom they fall in love. A homosexual does not currently have that same legal right.
That is the equality that is sought. You know this, and probably understand it on some level. You just don't like it and choose to make these baseless arguments.
Yes, it is illegal for a man to cheat on his wife in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a Class 4 misdemeanor.
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Meaningless as it is almost never enforced, mort...
Adultery is illegal in Virginia, although it is rarely prosecuted. If convicted, it is a Class 4 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $250.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081205194800AAS6czi
Gays need no extra laws and rights as NORMAL people.
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Agreed.
They simply deserve equal treatment like the rest of us under the laws of the land.