Patrick Sammon: Gays Should Vote for McCain
By Alex Blaze
Cross-posted at Bilerico
Patrick Sammon has an article up in the Washington Blade about why John McCain is good for LGBT people. I kid you not – even though he lied to The Advocate and said that LCR is focused first on LGBT rights in the Republican Party, he turns around and writes a column telling LGBT to vote for John McCain.
His reasons are hilarious, absolutely hilarious. But then he knows that he’s coming from an intellectually dishonest position in order to get new donors from the 23% of the LGBT community that voted for Bush in 2004 when LCR didn’t endorse him and that he has to push for a sub-par candidate.
His reasons and a few responses are after the jump.
First, McCain is a maverick — a different kind of Republican who’s willing to buck his own party to stand up for what he believes. Case in point is his consistent opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment. He’s the only candidate in this race who paid a political price for voting in a way that benefits the LGBT community.
I don’t understand the “political price” that he’s paid, considering that he’s got full fundie support and the Republican nomination for presidency. There isn’t much more the party could be doing to support him right now. And why doesn’t Obama’s opposition to the same FMA count?
But this is just wrong:
FOURTH, McCAIN’S HEALTHCARE reform plan would increase competition, lower prices and improve access. His plan allows people to purchase insurance across state lines thus increasing competition. McCain’s proposal emphasizes individual ownership of health insurance, rather than relying on employers. This provides stability after a job loss. And it’ll prevent discriminatory practices against gay people by an employer.
Sammon’s right – McCain’s health care plan is a mix of deregulation, individualization of risk, and a tax credit to sell the whole mess. In fact, he wrote this in a column just this past month in Contingencies:
Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.
Yes, and that worked out so well for the finance industry.
McCain wants to move the tax break employers receive for providing their workers with health care to the individual. What this means is that health care providers will be more free to say no to an individual, effectively disqualifying people with pre-existing conditions from getting coverage.
The point of health care is that people come together to pool their risk, making sure that no one has to bear the cost of an extraordinary disease on their own. Since health care companies wouldn’t want to take on someone who they think would have more health care expenses than what they’d pay in premiums (someone who’s likely to get cancer because they’ve already had it, perhaps), they’ll simply refuse to take on those individuals. At least at the workplace, eligibility can be guaranteed since health care providers want to take on an entire corporation or business.
Obama’s health care plan is less-than-ideal, but McCain’s is simply a train-wreck. It’s just about the last reason to vote for John McCain.
And here’s the actual last reason:
Fifth, he’ll provide a strong voice challenging the radical Islamic regimes that criminalize same-sex behavior — and even execute gay people. McCain wants to confront tyrants like Iran’s president. Obama wants to talk to him without preconditions.
I don’t even get where this is coming from; will McCain pressure Islamic governments to decriminalize homosexuality? Besides the fact that it just wouldn’t work (”John McCain told us the gays were OK, so we’ll turn around our legal systems!”), and besides the fact that using homophobic human rights abuses as a reason to justify war and colonialism in non-white countries makes a mockery of the gay-rights movement, John McCain has made absolutely no indication that he would use his platform as president to champion gay rights around the world.
Why is Patrick Sammon just making up reasons to vote for McCain?
There’s no reason for LGBT people to trust McCain, and with his nomination of a true-blue fundamentalist to the running mate slot and promise to nominate more conservative judges, we can be sure that McCain will do what he can to turn back the clock on gay rights.
The LCR should drop the whole “working from the inside” shtick, unless they want to change that to “Working from the inside of the gay community to get Republican votes.”
(h/t Pam Spaulding)
Tags: Election 08, John McCain, LGBT rights, Log Cabin Republicans, Washington Blade
