Four Democratic
presidential candidates are now confirmed to participate
in the first-ever televised primary debate about LGBT
issues, sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and
Logo. Senators Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, and
Barack Obama and former senator John Edwards will
attend the event, to be held August 9 in Los Angeles. But
one candidate, former senator Mike Gravel, was not
invited to the debate because he didn't meet
the fund-raising threshold for participants.
HRC spokesman
Brad Luna said HRC and Logo initially set out to sponsor
two different forums, one for Republican candidates and one
for Democratic candidates.
"The
precondition we set before those forums could be confirmed
was that two out of the three leading candidates would
have to confirm their attendance," Luna said.
On the Republican side, Mitt Romney declined the
invitation, and Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain never
responded, so the GOP forum never got off the ground.
On the Democratic
side, once the precondition was met with the top
candidates, Luna said they set a standard for additional
candidates requiring them to have raised a minimum of
$100,000 in the first quarter of this year.
Of the eight
Democratic presidential candidates, only Gravel had not
reached that fund-raising bar. For the period ended March
31, Gravel had raised just under $35,000 from outside
sources and thus was not considered--although
his aides say he has now raised over $100,000 to date.
"For us, it was a matter of
viability--how much fund-raising support are you
receiving for your campaign," said Luna.
But Gravel
campaign officials were outraged by the omission. "We
don't recognize the legitimacy of this money
criteria," said David Eisenbach, a senior
adviser to Gravel. "Mike has repeatedly said that
money is the main source of corruption in American
politics. For the HRC to kick Mike out of the debate
based on money is a disservice to the gay and lesbian
community."
Eisenbach noted
that Gravel has some of the most pro-gay stances of any
presidential candidate: He's in favor
of same-sex marriage, supports repeal of the
military's "don't ask, don't
tell" policy and
wants to issue an apology to all gay service members who
have been discharged under it, and he is the only
candidate to have marched in a gay pride parade this
year.
"This is
censorship of the worst kind," said Gravel, adding
that he was originally to be omitted from the New
Hampshire debates in June but ended up participating
after CNN and other debate sponsors reversed course.
Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, the other pro-marriage equality candidate,
has not confirmed his attendance yet, and neither has
New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. Sen. Joe Biden
has declined the invitation based on scheduling
conflicts. (Kerry Eleveld, The Advocate)