With a week to go before election day, Sen. Barack Obama delivers his “closing argument” as to why we should elect him as our next president.

John McCain, Sarah Palin and the GOP will throw every bit of slime and diversion they can muster to try to scare, terrorize and fool voters into voting for them. We have to expose their lies and continue to talk to voters about why a victory by Sen. Obama is so crucial for us as LGBT people and for the country.

I don’t remember counting down the days before an election the way I’m doing this year. Others are doing the same thing. Last Friday night outside DC’s Lincoln Theatre, as fans arrived for the Reel Affirmations film festival, I found an old friend who was a proud Hillary Clinton supporter selling Obama Pride t-shirts. The crisp autumn air has brought Democrats the smell of victory.

We’re a long way from last January. Back then, a prominent, progressive gay blogger asked me whom I supported for President. “Obama,” I replied. He was incredulous. “Do you really think a black man can get elected?” he asked. “I don’t know,” I said, “but I plan to vote for him.” “Most white people will never vote for him,” he assured me. One of many satisfactions from an Obama victory will be the disposal of smug dismissals like that one.

Of course, there are still naysayers. Some gay conservatives have taken to accusing Obama’s gay supporters of neglecting the California No on 8 campaign by donating instead to Obama, as if we cannot do both. I sure hope those critics have given No on 8 all the money they would otherwise have given John McCain.

Another conservative charge is that Obama will be to blame if Prop 8 wins, because polling suggests that the increased African American turnout for Obama will break disproportionately against marriage equality. These critics avoid mentioning the salient fact that the same poll shows Democrats breaking in favor of marriage equality, and Republicans against. Instead of exploiting ballot initiatives for cynical sniping, the Nobamacons should be educating their fellow conservatives about the concept of equal protection of the law.

Speaking of conservatives, it is satisfying to see so many of the most illustrious abandon the McCain ship. McCain’s operatives still seem not to have noticed that their over-the-top attacks fall flat because they are so at odds with the Barack Obama that people have been watching for two years. Last week, Sacramento County Republicans removed a call to “Waterboard Barack Obama” from their website after their own state party leaders were offended. Others inevitably get into the act, like blogger clifylq at LiveJournal.com, who stated in August that “Obama is a Gay Muslim.”

The lunar-orbit quality of such attacks was captured on Saturday Night Live when the McCain Rally Lady wandered onto the set declaring that Obama “is 50 percent Egyptian, he’s going to change the White House to a pyramid.” The desperate, tone-deaf hatefulness of the right-wing robocalls and ads perfectly illustrates the scorched-earth politics voters want to change.

Not long ago, many Democrats feared Obama’s preternatural calm would leave voters cold, and urged him to get hotter. But the financial crisis put Obama’s cool demeanor in a new light. Now it is seen as a key presidential trait, while McCain’s shoot-from-the-hip combustibility reminds voters that eight years of cowboy politics have not made them feel safer. Last week, conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks compared Obama’s self-assurance to that of figures like FDR and Ronald Reagan, who “rise with an unshakable serenity that is inexplicable to their critics and infuriating to their foes.” Obama’s smooth blend of thoughtfulness and elegance recalls a classic jazz orchestration with Duke Ellington at the keyboard.

Obama has set a new standard for grassroots organizing, his operations in red states promising to boost down-ballot Democrats and help build a governing majority. At the same time, his history of respectful outreach across party lines reflects his ambition for transformational wins instead of the usual petty Washington gamesmanship.

Obama’s more supple and confident approach has considerable appeal after eight years of a president on a mission from God who only talks to people who agree with him. The greatest benefit of an Obama victory might be prying open the ideological echo chambers into which so many across the spectrum have retreated.

Last Saturday night I encountered a couple of young women holding signs saying, “Stop Bitchin’ and Start a Revolution.” I haven’t the slightest interest in starting a revolution, nor do I need tips for creating change from people who fervently reject any candidate with the remotest chance of actually getting elected. The pursuit of power may be a morally fraught business, but romanticizing disempowerment is no improvement.

Lose the drama. Give us Obama.

Copyright © 2008 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.

Rick Rosendall can be reached at rrosendall@starpower.net.

We must work as hard as we did when Obama and Sen. Joe Biden were down on the polls and Sarah Palin had just begun winking her way into the hearts of (male) right-wing ideologues. That’s why you should read the following and do all that you can to get out the vote for Obama and Biden on November 4.

TOP 5 REASONS OBAMA SUPPORTERS SHOULDN’T REST EASY

1. The polls may be wrong. This is an unprecedented election. No one knows how racism may affect what voters tell pollsters—or what they do in the voting booth. And the polls are narrowing anyway. In the last few days, John McCain has gained ground in most national polls, as his campaign has gone even more negative.

2. Dirty tricks. Republicans are already illegally purging voters from the rolls in some states. They’re whipping up hysteria over ACORN to justify more challenges to new voters. Misleading flyers about the voting process have started appearing in black neighborhoods. And of course, many counties still use unsecure voting machines.

3. October surprise. In politics, 15 days is a long time. The next McCain smear could dominate the news for a week. There could be a crisis with Iran, or Bin Laden could release another tape, or worse.

4. Those who forget history… In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote after trailing by seven points in the final days of the race. In 1980, Reagan was eight points down in the polls in late October and came back to win. Races can shift—fast!

5. Landslide. Even with Barack Obama in the White House, passing universal health care and a new clean-energy policy is going to be hard. Insurance, drug and oil companies will fight us every step of the way. We need the kind of landslide that will give Barack a huge mandate.

If you agree that we shouldn’t rest easy, please sign up to volunteer at your local Obama office by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/obama/office.html?source=blog&id=14534-4287560-uoUVCox&t=1

David Plouffe, Barack’s campaign manager, reported the news to supporters via a special online video update. The average contribution was $86. The previous record was $66 million set by the Obama campaign in August. The total number of people that have contributed to the campaign is 3.1 million.

This news will undoubtedly make the McCain/Palin campaign and the GOP go apoplectic. They will unleash a wave of racist, xenophobic and slanderous attacks against Barack and Joe Biden unlike anything we have seen in recent presidential campaigns. Already McCain has hired three of the attack machine specialists who spread the lies and innuendo that sunk McCain’s presidential campaign in 2000. Among the lies they spread during the 2000 South Carolina primary was that the Bangladeshi child that McCain and his wife Cindy adopted was McCain’s illegitimate Black daughter. If they are were willing to go after a member of their own party like this, can you imagine the bile they are prepared to unload against Barack?

This makes it all the more important that for the next 16 days we do all that we can to ensure that Barack is elected our next president. The time for the viciousness of hyper-partisan Republican politics is over.

I recently had the chance to talk to Steve Hildebrand, the Deputy Campaign Manager for the Obama Campaign and the highest ranking gay staffer for the campaign.

Steve has spent more than twenty years organizing some of the most targeted and high profile political campaigns in the nation and is recognized as one of the best political strategists in the United States. Working extensively in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, Steve has managed races and ran two political parties. He served as Midwest Political Director for the DNC during the Clinton re-elect in 1996 and as Political Director at the DSCC in 97/98. In 99/2000, Steve ran the Iowa caucuses for Vice President Gore and ran the Women Vote! Program for EMILY’s List in 2000. He managed Senator Tim Johnson’s campaign in 2002 and Senator Tom Daschle’s campaign in 2004. In 2007, decided to serve as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

The full interview, with discussion ranging from LGBT voter outreach to Anti-Gay Marriage Amendments to a fully-inclusive ENDA, after the jump.

Waymon Hudson- Florida is a battleground state, and it has been reported, a top priority for the Obama Campaign. How does LGBT voter outreach play in to that? Are there specific LGBT “get out the vote” efforts?

Steve Hildebrand- There are many LGBT organizers in the state- but we always need more. Voters of all backgrounds have a tremendous amount at stake in election- whether it be in foreign policy, the economic crisis, or whether issues are gay-related- there is a lot a stake. People have to get involved and make sure their issues are answered.

WH- Florida is facing a dangerous “Marriage Protection” Amendment that would not only ban same-sex marriage, but also roll back domestic partnerships and benefits (much like what happened in Michigan). While the campaign has said Obama does not support this (and other state amendments like California and Arizona), will Obama and his top level surrogates be talking about this during campaign stops? It seems like Obama taking a strong stand on this would make the point to many in the community that he will be a strong supporter of the LGBT community once elected.

SH- Obama is very clear that there should not be any amendment that writes discrimination into the constitution. He has made the fact that he does not support these amendments very clear. That being said, he is running for national office. He feels it might not be appropriate for him to tell Floridians how to vote since he is not a Floridian. But that being said, there is no question where he stands on it.

WH- HIV/AIDS is a huge issue in Florida and around the country. What is Obama’s plan domestically to combat the rising rates of infection?

SH- Awareness and education are critical. Prevention is key- through education and regular testing. Barack is one of the few political figures to have taken an HIV/AIDS test in public, both in Africa and LA, which has a huge impact to encourage testing. We have to find the funds to fight HIV/AIDS- we have to make sure drugs are available to those that can’t afford them so they can live a strong, healthy, dignified life. And we have to educate that this is not just an LGBT disease; all communities are affected by HIV/AIDS.

WH- What important LGBT issue could he act on quickly if President, what would be most likely to pass?

SH- There are a lot of important issues, but if I advised Barack, I would say to seek passage of an Employment Non Discrimination Act. Jobs and employment security is vitally important to LGBT Americans and no one should be afraid to lose their job because for their sexual orientation. That is a vital piece of legislation that could affect huge numbers of LGBT Americans and a basic right no one should be without.

WH- Would he sign a non-inclusive ENDA or hold out for a fully-inclusive one? Would he actively lobby for a fully inclusive ENDA?

SH- Barack has made it clear that gender identity and expression are vital parts of any legislation passed, especially ENDA. He solidly supports a fully-inclusive ENDA.

WH- There have been reports of voter suppression (McCain and RNC emails confusing voters, new Florida voting laws) which could harm both Obama and the fight against Amendment 2 and other anti-LGBT legislation around the country. How is the campaign combating these tactics?

SH- Well first, shame any Republican who wants to suppress votes. Political games should never be played with the right to vote. Democrats need to find any way possible- through early voting, absentee ballots- to make sure the basic right to vote is upheld. That may not suit Republicans, but it is important to give more opportunities to vote- better voting hours, vote by mail options. It should be easier, not harder to vote. Every vote needs to be counted.

WH- Immigration Equality for LGBT couples is an important issue in Florida and around the country. What would Obama do to help keep bi-national LGBT couples, many who are forced to split or leave the country since there is no national recognition of same-sex relationships, together?

SH- Barack does not feel like he gets to decide what a family should look like. Families should stay together. There are complications with immigration issues, but there are ways to work that out legislatively, to help work towards the opportunity for couples to stay together. Barack has been speaking with the Human Rights Campaign and other groups to talk about how that issue can be solved quickly.

WH- Would Obama put LGBT people in high level administration positions?

SH- Barack would run his administration the way he has lived his life and run his campaign. Diversity is important to him, and to Michelle- it is critically important to him that he hears different voices and different opinions. Barack has always sought out different opinions in his life and would continue to do so once in office. There would definitely be strong LGBT voices in his administration.

WH- Is there anything else you’d like to tell LGBT voters?

SH- This election is in a dead heat- people’s involvement is vital. There is a lot at stake. We need a strong advocate in the White House, an advocate like Obama- certainly not someone like McCain and Palin. As a gay American, I want a strong advocate for my issues, for the things that are important to me and my rights. I get that with Obama, but not with McCain/Palin.

People need to participate. If you are not registered to vote, do it, register. If people you know aren’t registered, walk them through it. Time is running out to make sure your voice is heard. Get out, volunteer, give what you can, but most importantly get out and vote.

For information on how to register to vote, get an absentee ballot, or check your voter information, go to VoteForChange.com.

For more information on the Obama Campaign, visit BarackObama.com.

Today the Chicago Tribune endorsed Barack Obama for the presidency. This is the first time in the 161 year history of the Tribune that they have endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate.

Obama is deeply grounded in the best aspirations of this country, and we need to return to those aspirations. He has had the character and the will to achieve great things despite the obstacles that he faced as an unprivileged black man in the U.S.

He has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions.

When Obama said at the 2004 Democratic Convention that we weren’t a nation of red states and blue states, he spoke of union the way Abraham Lincoln did.

It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation’s most powerful office, he will prove it wasn’t so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama’s name to Lincoln’s in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.

The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain’s disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama’s relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.

Read the Washington Post endorsement of Obama.

That is the question that popped into my mind this morning while reading yet another story about the gutter style politics of John McCain. You remember The Grinch, right? He was dead set on stopping The Whos from celebrating Christmas.

Let’s look at the evidence after the jump…

1. The Grinch, as you may recall, tried to kill the spirit of The Whos by stealing their Christmas presents and destroying their decorations.

McCain is trying the desire of the American people for serious political change by unleashing a wave of negative attack ads. McCain and the RNC spent $11 million on ads attacking Barack Obama between September 28th and October 4th.

Nearly every TV ad Republican John McCain ran last week was negative, compared to just 34 percent of those by Democrat Barack Obama, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

The harsher tone in McCain’s ads mirrors the sharper attacks he and his running mate Sarah Palin have been making on the campaign trail as polls show Obama opening up a lead.

And, as Waymon pointed out, McCain and Sarah Palin are engaging in rhetoric that is inciting anger, hate and threats of violence.

2. The Grinch wore a permanent mask of bitterness and contempt because his heart was two sizes too small.

Here’s John McCain at the presidential debate on October 7th:

3. The Grinch had the nasty habit of raging against anything that smacked of joy, tolerance and community celebration.

McCain, in attack ads, speeches and interviews, has repeatedly made sarcastic reference to Barack Obama’s message of hope and progress and the desire of many Americans for political change.

But, unlike The Grinch who sneered at The Whos to their faces, McCain doesn’t have the courage to look Obama in the eyes while talking his trash.

Of course, this comparison isn’t 100% conclusive, but you have to admit that the parallels are striking.

You’re a mean one Sen. McCain….

First published in Bay Windows, October 9, 2008

All the talk of mavericks during the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate started me humming the theme from The Magnificent Seven. There they are, a ragtag bunch of rugged loners in a wild country. Will they learn to work together in time to save the beleaguered townsfolk from the marauding villains? Hey, wait a minute — they ARE the marauding villains.

Maybe I just have movies on my mind, since Washington’s gay film fest starts next week; but the McCain campaign increasingly feels like a movie in which the director is desperately trying to make us suspend our disbelief and buy the Republican nominee as the guy to fix the wreckage wrought by the Republican incumbent over the past several years.

Barney Frank is having none of it. The congressman from Massachusetts pounds a simple point he has made for years regarding the gay dimension in politics: that the far better record of Democrats on gay rights points to a partisan conclusion.

Defending their endorsement of John McCain, Log Cabin Republicans tout his opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment; but he also endorses anti-gay state initiatives that Barack Obama opposes. They point to Democratic politicians’ opposition to marriage equality (displayed by Joe Biden last week) to discredit gay Democrats, but Obama supports civil unions legislation while McCain does not. Sarah Palin’s talk of tolerance mirrors the ex-gay movement’s love-the-sinner rhetoric, and her suggestion that private contracts are sufficient for gay couples is contradicted by the experience of family law attorneys working to protect LGBT families, who have found that wills and powers of attorney are a poor substitute for marriage.

Frank wrote in 2004, “Only if an attempt to make gay bashing a national political platform clearly fails will Republicans who dissent from that view begin to get the political strength to free their party from its shackles.” The Palin choice suggests that the GOP’s shift in emphasis this year does not reflect an ideological change.

On Real Time with Bill Maher in 2006, Frank noted conservative dissent against the Supreme Court’s 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling overturning sodomy laws: “The Republicans do think it should be a crime, and I think there’s a right to privacy, but the right to privacy should not be a right to hypocrisy. And people who want to demonize other people shouldn’t then be able to go home and close the door and do it themselves.”

Long one of the smartest and wittiest people in Congress, Frank is now one of the most powerful. As Financial Services Committee chair, he has been instrumental in addressing the financial crisis. On Sep. 29, after a vote on the $700 billion financial recovery bill fell a dozen votes short and Republicans blamed partisan remarks by Speaker Pelosi, Frank was withering: “Because somebody hurt their feelings, they decide to punish the country…. Give me those twelve people’s names, and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them, and tell them what wonderful people they are, and maybe they’ll now think about the country.”

Frank is one of the sharpest debaters the House has ever had, and his toughness is essential. A favorite Republican tactic during the current Congress is introducing motions to recommit in order to derail bills that are about to pass. Responding to one such motion in April 2007, Frank said, “Members on the other side had every opportunity at the committee and in this open rule fully to debate this and to offer amendments. They chose not to. They chose instead to legislate by ambush.”

Frank was addressing a similar motion in November 2007 during debate on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act when he grew emotional while describing the impact of homophobia on 15-year-olds and concluded, “Please don’t turn your back on them.” The House erupted in cheers.

Frank has no shortage of detractors (a right-of-center gay Washingtonian recently created a Facebook group called “Capital Punishment for Barney Frank”), but that is a sign of his success. As I watched him respond to Bill O’Reilly’s charges of cowardice and unmanliness last week by rebuking the Fox News demagogue for his ranting and bullying, I thought how lucky we are that Frank, as The Almanac of American Politics wrote in 2006, “is one of the intellectual and political leaders of the Democratic Party in the House – political theorist and pit bull all at the same time.” He’s one of us, he’s right where he should be, and he’s at the top of his game.

Copyright © 2008 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.

Rick Rosendall can be reached at rrosendall@starpower.net.

Jerame turned me on to the new Obama iPhone application late last week and I wanted to share it with ya’ll. I know a lot of our readers are Mac users and several of you e-mail me from your iPhone, so this should go over like gang busters!

It’s amazing how technologically advanced the Obama campaign is. While McCain can’t get online, the Obama team is using every advantage computers can give. From their masterful use of text messaging to their campaign site where you can download your own local walk list, the Obama camp has definitely grasped the new face of politics.

The coolest feature of the application is “Call Your Friends.” The app will go through your address book and sort them by battleground states; it arranges them in order of who you should call first to urge them to vote for Barack. Once you’ve made the call, the app records it and asks you how the call went: “Considering Obama,” “Voting Obama,” “Left message,” etc. It will also provide you with the latest news, info on local volunteer activities and upcoming events in your area.

You can download the Obama iPhone app here.