Gay Clinton Supporters Joining Obama Team
By Michael Crawford
The Obama campaign recently announced that former supporters of the Clinton presidential are joining the Obama campaign’s LGBT steering and policy committee. Rep. Tammy Baldwin D-WI, former head of the Clinton campaign’s LGBT committee, was invited to join the Obama committee as co-chair alongside sitting chair Tobias Wolff, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
From the Washington Blade:
Baldwin told the Blade that she was interested in joining Obama’s committee because “the contrast is stark” between Obama and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on gay issues.
“It matters to LGBT people in America who wins the next election,” she said.
Baldwin said she feels “a special role” in communicating the difference between Obama and McCain to the gay voters — and highlighting this contrast will be a primary goal of Obama’s committee.
The Obama LGBT steering and policy committee currently has about 100 community leaders and other activists with strong backgrounds in LGBT civil rights and grassroots organizing.
Other Clinton supporters joining the committee include:
- Mandy Carter, an African-American lesbian North Carolina activist
- Jesse Garcia, president of the Dallas Stonewall Democrats
- H. Alexander Robinson, CEO of National Black Justice Coalition
Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, LGBT, Tammy Baldwin
