Many rumored vice-presidential contenders have already stated their positions or taken action on key gay issues. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the top candidates and their views.
Gov. Tim Kaine (va) Political Experience: Governor of Virginia since 2006; Lt. Governor from 2002 to 2006. Gay Rights Positions: Kaine re-issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination in state employment on the basis of sexual orientation. He urged Virginia voters to reject the Marshall-Newman Amendment to the state constitution, which defines marriage as an agreement between one man and one woman. In 2001 he claimed never to have supported gay marriages or civil unions, but said he favors offering “civil benefits” to gay people in long-term relationships.
Gov. Deval Patrick (ma) Political Experience: Governor of Massachusetts since 2007; Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under the Clinton administration. Gay Rights Positions: Patrick supported equal marriage rights for gays in his gubernatorial campaign. He announced plans to reconvene the defunct Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crimes, a body that was disbanded by Gov. Mitt Romney. He appointed two domestic violence advocates for gays to the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (ks) Political Experience: Governor of Kansas from since 2003. Gay Rights Positions: In 2005, Sebelius opposed a state constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, arguing that state law prohibiting gay marriage was sufficient. She said she has no opinion on gay marriage. She issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination against state employees because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Gov. Janet Napolitano (az) Political Experience: Governor of Arizona since 2003; attorney general of Arizona from 1999 to 2003. Gay Rights Positions: Napolitano opposes same-sex marriage and supports an Arizona law banning gay marriages. She opposed the federal marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution on the basis of state’s rights. She issued an executive order barring employment discrimination based on sexual orientation in some state agencies. She backed a plan that would provide domestic partner benefits to state workers.
Gov. Bobby Jindal (la) Political Experience: Governor of Louisiana since 2008; U.S. Congressman from Louisiana from 2005 to 2008. Gay Rights Positions: While in Congress, Jindal voted in favor the federal marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He voted against hate crimes legislation and did not vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In his gubernatorial campaign, he stated that he would not renew the executive order issued by Gov. Kathleen Blanco prohibiting discrimination in state employment on the basis of sexual orientation.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (mn) Political Experience: Governor of Minnesota since 2003. Gay Rights Positions: In 2007, Pawlenty vetoed the state budget because it contained language that would have allowed the same-sex partners of state workers to buy into the state health insurance plan. He has urged the state Legislature to make a decision one way or the other on state gay
marriage legislation.
Gov. Charlie Crist (fl) Political Experience: Governor of Florida since 2007; attorney general of Florida from 2003 to 2007. Gay Rights Positions: Crist opposes gay marriage and signed a petition to get an anti-gay marriage state constitutional amendment on the ballot. Last year, Crist said the Florida Republican Party should "probably not" put more money into the petition campaign for a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He said he is “fine” with civil unions and was undecided about whether or not to repeal Florida’s ban on gay adoption. He said he does not support protection against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Political Experience: Secretary of State since 2005; National Security Adviser from 2001 to 2005;
director, and then senior director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council and special assistant to the president for National Security Affairs from 1989 to 1991. Gay Rights Positions: Rice has ducked questions on her opinion of same-sex marriage. She referred to U.S. global AIDS coordinator Mark Dybul’s same-sex partner’s mother as Dybul’s “mother-in-law.”
The primaries aren’t over, but political observers are already speculating on who the running mates for the presidential candidates might be.
Some pundits have suggested that whomever comes out ahead on the Democratic side — Sen. Barack Obama is leading and gaining momentum over Sen. Hillary Clinton (see story on Page 1) — should take the runner up as running mate.
Hastings Wyman, the gay editor and publisher of Southern Political Report, said either Democratic candidate “is a fool if they don’t offer the other one the second spot.”
“The party is closely divided that I think you’ve got to have partisans of both on board,” he said.
Dan Pinello, a gay City University of New York government professor, said he thinks there has been too much hostility between Clinton and Obama for that combination to be possible.
“I think a lot of people in the party would hope a kind of dream-ticket would be combining those two, although at this point I don’t know if it would be personally feasible for one or the other to accept that position,” he said.
Pinello said it would be unlikely for Clinton to take on the position as running mate after having served as first lady for eight years and U.S. senator for eight years. He also said Obama would be “eating a slice of humble pie” if he took a backseat to Clinton.
If a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton ticket would not be possible, Wyman said the Democratic nominee could choose as a running mate someone who resembles the losing candidate.
Clinton could choose Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, who is black and who has been a strong Obama supporter, Wyman said.
If Obama were the presidential candidate, he could select a white woman as his running mate to appease Clinton supporters. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, who gave the Democratic reply to President George Bush’s State of the Union address this year, would be a potential choice, Wyman speculated.
“In her State of the Union reply … her message just sounded like it was crafted by an Obama speechwriter,” he said. “It was the same inclusive, ‘let’s all work together’ kind of thing.”
Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona would be another possibility for Obama, Pinello said. A selection of either Napolitano or Sebelius would bring both geographic and gender balance to the Democratic ticket, he said.
Wyman said Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia “might not be a bad choice” as running mate.
“He’s from Virginia, he’s Southern, he’s very popular so far,” Wyman said.
Wyman noted that Kaine is Catholic and said “that doesn’t hurt in a party that’s lost of lot of support among Catholic voters in recent years.”
On the Republican side, Wyman also said McCain would be wise to select a runner-up for the Republican nomination as his running mate. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas would be a possibility, but former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts would be McCain’s strongest bet, Wyman said. But he questioned whether a McCain-Romney ticket “is doable or not” after a competitive Republican primary.
Pinello said Huckabee is not a contender for the running mate slot.
“I don’t think Huckabee would accept it since McCain is so unpopular among social conservatives and Huckabee is running as the champion now of that group,” Pinello said. “McCain might also look as though he’s pandering too much by offering it to someone like Huckabee.”
Pinello said Gov. Mike Pawlenty of Minnesota would be a better choice and could offer regional balance because he comes from a different part of the country.
“States like Minnesota and Wisconsin and so forth in that area in the Midwest are typically very competitive in the general election, so having someone on the ticket from that area would be a potential advantage there,” Pinello said.
Pundits have also thrown around as a possible running mate Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, whom conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called “the next Ronald Reagan.”
Pinello said Jindal, an Indian-American, is extremely conservative on social issues and might help McCain “rally conservative voters to the Republican ticket.”
Wyman said he didn’t think Jindal would bring additional voters to McCain. McCain should be able to carry Louisiana and there are not that many Indian-Americans in the country to attract to the Republican ticket, Wyman said.
Both Pinello and Wyman said Jindal is a newcomer to the political scene and unlikely to go on a national ticket yet.
“He was just elected governor last year, so he’s relatively new in terms of that high-level position and relatively untested in terms of … a national campaign,” Pinello said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is another possibility mentioned by some conservative pundits, but both Wyman and Pinello said it would be unlikely that she would be a running mate.
“She’s never run for elective office before and I think that’s a pretty important test,” Wyman said.
Pinello said Rice is well liked within the Republican Party, but has no experience in campaigning or appeal to social conservatives.
Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida is another good possibility for McCain. Pinello said Crist is popular in a politically important state, noting that the election controversy in Florida in 2000 decided the results of the presidential election.
In October 2006, the Blade reported that Max Linn, who ran against Crist in the Florida gubernatorial election, outed Crist as gay. Crist denied that he is gay.
Wyman said that rumor is “not going to be helpful” if McCain selects Crist as a running mate, but added that such a rumor wouldn’t be as harmful as it was 10 or 20 years ago. The fact that Crist isn’t married would be more detrimental to the campaign, Wyman said.
“The Republicans are the family values party, and where’s his family?” Wyman said.
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