Dean calls gays a vital force in campaign

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06155/695579-84.stm

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told a group of gay and lesbian political activists yesterday that he wanted to "work side by side" with them to fight discrimination and wrest control of Congress from the Republicans.

Mr. Dean said their priorities should include unseating U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., whom he called "one of the most mean-spirited and corrupt politicians in Washington."

"And that says something," added Mr. Dean, a 2004 presidential candidate and former Vermont governor, who delivered the keynote address to the convention of National Stonewall Democrats. The three-day gathering on the University of Pittsburgh campus, held to provide members with political training, concludes today.

The group has gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members and takes its name from the Stonewall Inn, a New York bar police raided in 1969 for serving gay patrons. The ensuing violence fueled the gay-rights movement.

[Olney Blue]

1. Good for Dean.

:applause:

[theoldman]

2. If 10 % of the population is gay then they make up over 10%

of the voters. My reasoning is that gays are more educated than the average person and therefore vote in greater number. They also have a greater incentive to vote. If you have 100 million eligible voters than you have at least 10 million (10%)gay voters. Out of 100 million eligible voters only 50 million vote. My guess is that at least 6 million are gay. 6 million out of 50 million is almost 12%. My numbers may not be correct but you should get the point I am trying to make.

[Olney Blue]

3. Interesting reasoning. We should try to find some published data to see

if you are close.


And btw, hi, theoldman- welcome to DU!

:hi:

[theoldman]

4. If I am correct the gay vote is very important.

[Olney Blue]

5. It certainly is- and in my mind, it means that we are giving the right

message of equality for all under the Constitution. That is what the Democratic Party should stand for,
and why I am pleased that Dean is saying it.

[nealmhughes]

13. Been in a gay bar lately that's not in Atlanta, NY, Chicago or the

West Coast big cities lately? More educated? Give me a break. Being gay crosses ethnic and educational boundaries. I would say that "on average, politically active gays tend to be more educated than straights." And that would be a stretch. I'm still waiting on my monthly gay stipend that was secretly promised all us gays when Fidel came to power...
The average gay bar is about as entertaining on an intellectual level as a trip to WalMart. Hell, there is even a gay WalMart, it's called International Male...
All comedy aside, this seems to equate to a stereotype of "gays are all well educated and handsome and/or pretty and have great wardrobes and are rich and have ponies..."
Gay is big enough catchall phrase to collect everyone from every strata of society.

[rucky]

14. And that's probably 15-20% of the overall Democratic vote...

seeing as it's pretty clearly against their best interests to go Republican.

[Cha]

6. KNR! Dean's

a sweetie..what was all that talk about Dean turning his back on the Gays?

This is timely in light of bush's marriage amendment proposal for his acrid-fire breathing radical pseudo-Christian debased base.

[cyr330]

7. Pardon my French

. . . but fuck him. He paraded around like a fool on the 700 Club, falsely portraying the Democratic platform. I'm not buying anything he has for sale.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Ditto here!

Words are cheap!

[ShockediSay]

9. specifics?

?

[cyr330]

10. marriage platform

He said that the Dem platform stated that marriage was only to be between a man and a woman. That is not true. The platform never said that at all. I would have been more inclined to believe that he had made an honest mistake had he not been on the 700 Club when he said it. I mean, gimme a break. . . . The 700 Club? What the fuck is any Democratic candidate doing in that shit hole of fascists?

[theHandpuppet]

12. Thank you

Dean's belated sucking up to the GLBT community is only as good as his next appearance on the 700 Club -- or whatever fundie audience he'll be playing to next. Fool me once, Dr. Dean...

[closeupready]

15. Amen. Talk is cheap.

(or did somebody already say that?).

This doesn't really amount to a hill of beans.

[jonnyblitz]

16. exactly.

:applause:

[truthisfreedom]

11. with the illegal immigrant issue and the homophobia of the thugs,

the Democratic Party is beginning to look like the new "big tent" party!

[Orsino]

17. If he keeps lying about them, they certainly will be. n/t

[BigDDem]

18. Later on...

Dean passed out samples of Pat Robertson's protein shakes.

[Zhade]

19. Don't cozy up to Robertson again.

And don't EVER fucking think our vote can be taken for granted. EVER.