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|| Election 2008 ||
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Obama Gets Back to the Issues

The Obama campaign is getting back to the basics this week, talking about the economy, swing states, and shoring up the Democratic base. The campaign also finally sits down with Philadelphia Gay News, making good on that blank page publisher Mark Segal infamously ran alongside the publication's interview with Sen. Hillary Clinton.



The Obama campaign is sticking with the issues this week. After losing last week to a full-bore discussion of Sarah Palin and lipstick and pigs (not necessarily in that order), Sen. Obama has spent the week driving home messages about the dire economy in his speeches while his surrogates reached out to interest groups one by one, swing state by swing state with LGBT concerns resting right at the nexus of both.

Not only did the campaign hold a conference call with reporters Wednesday designed to remind the LGBT community that Sen. Obama backs repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the Illinois senator finally granted an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News that was set to hit stands Thursday.

Among other things, he hit the military theme again, telling PGN he would not use an executive signing order to overturn the ban.

"I want to make sure that when we reverse 'don’t ask, don’t tell,' it’s gone through a process and we’ve built a consensus or at least a clarity of that, of what my expectations are, so that it works,” Obama said. “Although I have consistently said I would repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ I believe that the way to do it is make sure that we are working through a process, getting the Joint Chiefs of Staff clear in terms of what our priorities are going to be. That’s how we were able to integrate the armed services to get women more actively involved in the armed services.”

In an interview earlier this year, Sen. Obama told The Advocate that he would not use support for repealing the ban as a "litmus test" for choosing his Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The PGN interview could be considered a PR move of sorts for Sen. Obama in a battleground state where he may have ruffled some LGBT feathers. During the heated primary with Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Obama campaign declined to speak with PGN, prompting publisher Mark Segal to run the paper's interview with Sen. Clinton alongside a blank space where Sen. Obama's interview would have gone. Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes are considered critical to Democrats in November -- many pundits say Obama cannot win the election without winning the state and recent polls show him in a dead heat with John McCain there.

The campaign also dispatched Vice Presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden, who hales from Scranton, to Pennsylvania earlier this week, mainly to court white blue-collar workers, a demographic that helped deliver the state to Sen. Clinton during the primary, and Catholic voters, who have been getting a barrage of messages from conservative bishops warning them against voting for candidates who show support for abortion rights (i.e. Barack Obama and Joe Biden).

While the military served as a vehicle for wooing LGBT voters this week, elsewhere the Obama campaign happily pivoted to the economy after news that financial firm Lehman Brothers collapsed and the Federal Reserve bailed out insurance behemoth American International Group.

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FILE UNDER:  2008 ElectionBarack Obama

Reader Comments
  • Name: WFT?
    Date posted: 9/20/2008 6:40:00 PM
    Hometown: USA

    Comment:

    Obama supports giving the states the right to have gay marriage, He opposes prop 8, he is in favor of allowing gays in the military openly, he is in favor of anti-discrimination laws, and in favor of allowing gays and lesbians to adopt. This is better than any presidential candidate of a major party in the history of the country.

  • Name: Granny
    Date posted: 9/19/2008 4:11:00 PM
    Hometown: Menifee, CA

    Comment:

    I am a Roman Catholic and I have been for my 72 years. I am a Democrat and I always vote MY CONSCIENCE. I don't give a tinker's damn what anyone else, including the Church tells me how to vote on any issue. Please don't put all Catholics in the same basket as the "holy" ones. This religious path via the evangelicals is what has gotten us in trouble in the first place. I think of Jesus' words: Render to Ceasar the things that are Ceasar's and to God the things that are God. Separation of Church and State. AMEN my fellow gays. One more thing: OLD IS NOT A NUMBER, IT IS HOW YOU THINK AND WHAT YOU DO. IF YOU ARE YOUNG AT HEART THEN YOU STAY YOUNG AND STOP LIVING IN THE PAST. MC CAIN IS OLD AND I AM YOUNG (IN HEART).

  • Name: Xavier
    Date posted: 9/19/2008 1:40:00 PM
    Hometown: Amsterdam, NL

    Comment:

    silly me what was i thinking...you all are right...let's keep quiet one more year. i'm sure if we pray hard enough. someone will come around to stand up for our equality.....NOT! All i have to say is thank god I live in Amsterdam! you all can keep your shameful candidates!

  • Name: Roger Burr
    Date posted: 9/19/2008 12:21:00 PM
    Hometown: Marble Hill, MO

    Comment:

    THANK GOD Obama is getting back to basics! The Republicans stated this election would be based on personalities and they have tried everything possible to AVOID talkng issues with the electorate. WHY?? Because the Bush/McCain record on those issues is abyssmal! With Obama now putting their feet to the fire, especially on the economy, he is hitting the Republicans exactly where it hurts! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!! I pray, daily, for PRESIDENT Obama. Please join me.

  • Name: Dennis
    Date posted: 9/19/2008 10:20:00 AM
    Hometown: Philadelphia

    Comment:

    Xavier, this is backpeddling in a good way though. He originally said that he would simply repeal DADT, somthing the president cant actually do all by himself. He figured that out, and rather than just dropping the issue, he figured out a different way to get it done.

  • Name: Xavier
    Date posted: 9/19/2008 6:28:00 AM
    Hometown: Amsterdam, NL

    Comment:

    WTF...what rock have you been living under? When has Obama EVER supported our issues?!?! This just proves that he has failed us yet AGAIN! Obama initially promised to repeal DADT and now he's back peddling as he did with MOST of his positions. Yeah, he's the change candidate alright....always changing his stance! If you want real change and better representation vote for a third party candidate this year. Let the Dems realize that if they want our support they need to address our issues head on! They can't be pussyfooting anymore. Especially in a time when a majority of the US population is in agreement that we deserve equality!

  • Name: WTF?
    Date posted: 9/19/2008 1:43:00 AM
    Hometown: USA

    Comment:

    Is this the best thing the Advocate can say about a politician who supports almost every single one of our issues, has a working understanding of our issues and can talk intelligently about our issues and actually understands them? One wonders why Obama isn't on the cover as the best presidential candidate in the history of America on our issues?



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