The results of new poll from Zogby International suggest that the majority of Americans would vote for an openly gay President and that even more would support an openly gay Vice-Presidential candidate or cabinet secretary.

According to a press release analyzing the Zogby Poll’s discoveries, the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI) for which Zogby conducted the poll, reports that more than six in ten US voters say they could support an openly gay candidate for President of the United States, and 70% say they’d support the appointment of an openly gay cabinet secretary.

Sixty-six percent of poll respondents said they could support an openly gay Vice-Presidential candidate, while 69% said a gay candidate for US Senate could get their vote.

The poll of 1,089 adults was conducted August 13 to 15 for the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI), a non-partisan leadership development organisation.

“These results prove that most Americans want to be fair to gay people,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of GLLI.

“Our aspiration is to always see each other as individuals first, and though we may not always succeed at that, our underlying fairness and decency means that one day soon we will. This marks tremendous progress for our community and for the voting public.”

The poll results come just a week after an openly gay congressional candidate, Jared Polis, won his Democratic primary in Colorado.

If Polis wins the general election in November, he would become the first non-incumbent, openly gay man ever elected to Congress.

More than 415 openly LGBT elected officials serve at every level of government throughout the United States, a ten-fold increase in just the last two decades.

At the federal level, five openly gay or lesbian Members have served in the US House of Representatives, including current Representatives Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Both are Democrats.

No openly LGBT candidate has yet been elected to the US Senate.

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In response to concerns that the website might be perceived as supporting John McCain, executives at Manhunt asked Mr Crutchley to step down and then went public with their request to eliminate any doubts about such support.

In an email to the blog Towleroad, Manhunt co-founder Larry Basile said:

“It should be known that Jonathan Crutchley’s donation to McCain left the entire Board in disbelief.

“I am disappointed that we have lost some customers, and I understand the anger.

“It is too bad for the web site if we lose customers, but PLEASE never refer to me as a Republican. I consider it an offence.”

According to Ben Smith’s blog at Politico.com, Mr Crutchley defended his donation on similar grounds to those McCain has offered on other hot-button social issues: They agree on national security issues, and can argue domestic policy later.

Mr Crutchley’s support of McCain underscores ongoing concerns about disunity in the Democratic party and the possibility that once steadfast party supporters may vote republican in the November general election.

McCain’s campaign has not yet responded to questions about the $2,300 contribution.

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At the heart of the draft was Senator Clinton’s plan for universal health care along with her campaign’s commitment to women’s rights as well as John Edwards’ chief campaign plank involving the elimination of poverty in America.

There is however very little mention of issues pertaining to gay and lesbian rights in the 54-page document.

In total, the 2008 DNC platform makes just two mentions of ‘sexual orientation.’

The first is with respect to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Under the heading “Allow All Americans to Serve,” the draft platform offers up the following:

“We will also put national security above divisive politics. More than 10,000 service men and women have been discharged on the basis of sexual orientation since the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was implemented, at a cost of over $360 million (£180m).

“Many of those forced out had special skills in high demand, such as translators, engineers and pilots.

“At a time when the military is having a tough time recruiting and retaining troops, it is wrong to deny our country the service of brave, qualified people. We support the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the implementation of policies to allow qualified men and women to serve openly regardless of sexual orientation.”

Thereafter, the only other mention of sexual orientation in the entire document as it is currently written can be found under the general heading, “A More Perfect Union,” wherein the DNC makes the following pledge:

“Democrats will fight to end discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age and disability in every corner of our country, because that’s the America we believe in.”

LGBT issues aside, the Democratic party platform promises to “restore our constitutional traditions, and recover our nation’s founding commitment to liberty under the law” by, among other things, rejecting “illegal wire-tapping of American citizens” and torture, unequivocally supporting a woman’s right to choose and committing to an overhaul of nation’s immigration laws that will allow illegal immigrants the opportunity to “get right with the law.”

The Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver between August 25 and 28. Click here for more information.

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Hailing what it describes as a “significant expansion” of their national and grassroots LGBT team, the Obama campaign has announced that out Representative Tammy Baldwin, the Chair of Hillary Clinton’s National LGBT Steering Committee, and Tobias Wolff, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania who chaired Obama’s LGBT Policy Committee during the primary season, will serve as the co-chairs of the campaign’s new National LGBT Steering and Policy Committee.

“I am proud to support Barack Obama for President and work hard for his election because we share a commitment to equality for all Americans. This is our quest and our common goal,” said Congresswoman Baldwin.

“From now through November, we will reach out aggressively to our fellow LGBT Americans to ensure that they know there is only one candidate in this race who will stand up for equal rights and build a coalition that can deliver the change that we desperately need,” Baldwin continued.

In addition to Baldwin and Wolff, other grassroots leaders who held leadership positions in both Obama and Clinton’s primary campaigns have joined forces to lead the national grassroots mobilisation of LGBT voters.

Obama Pride, as the effort will be called, hopes to organise networks of activists in all fifty states who are committed to identifying, registering and turning out lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters for Senator Obama in November.

There will be five national co-chairs of Obama Pride. In alphabetical order, they are:

Marsha Botzer who served as co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Board of Directors during 2005-6.

Mandy Carter, a member of Hillary Clinton’s North Carolina LGBT Steering Committee, who has been organising North Carolina African Americans and LGBT people for years, and has served as a member of the DNC.

Jesse Garcia, President of the Dallas Stonewall Democrats who served on Hillary Clinton’s National LGBT Steering Committee.

Campbell Spencer, an active supporter of Hillary Clinton’s campaign this year, who is now President of Boost Strategies in Washington DC.

Eric Stern, lead organiser of LGBT support for John Edwards during the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, who has served in a leadership role in Obama’s LGBT organising efforts since February of this year.

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According to a new poll unveiled by Lifetime Networks’ non-partisan Every Woman Counts campaign, women are torn over whether they will support Senators John McCain or Barack Obama in November.

With neither nominee claiming a majority among women voters in the poll, Obama claims 49% of women voters, while McCain claims only 38%.

The caveat, however, is that 6% of the women polled by Lifetime indicated that they were only ‘leaning toward a candidate’ and another 10% remain firmly undecided, meaning the balance of power in the race could shift at any moment.

Moreover, the poll revealed that one in five Hillary Clinton voters plan to cross party lines and vote for McCain in the general election.

Elsewhere in the Lifetime poll, signs that Barack Obama is dogged by limited support from women outside minority groups remain persistent.

While the Democratic nominee is doing expectedly well with minority women, with support from 89% of African-Americans and 62% of Hispanics, McCain is steadily earning support from nearly half of Caucasian women surveyed (47% vs. 38% for Obama).

Adding further instability to the race, Hispanic women (14%) were more undecided than African-Americans (4%) or Caucasians (11%).

To win over women voters both McCain and Obama will have to be strategic in their outreach to the core group, but according to the Lifetime Poll choosing a woman Vice Presidential running mates will do little to improve either’s chances of securing a bump among women.

According to the survey, the majority of women voters polled say gender does not matter.

Accordingly, Obama’s selection of a woman running mate makes no difference to 55% of women voters, and McCain’s selection of a woman as his number two makes no difference to 62%.

That said, Obama would benefit twice as much as McCain from offering the second slot to a woman (29% more likely to support Obama if he picks a woman vs. 15% who would be more likely to support McCain).

In actuality, selecting a woman number two would result in a net negative for McCain, says the Lifetime Poll.
While 15% of women said they would be more likely to support McCain if he picked a woman, 20% said they would be less likely to pick him if a woman were on his ticket.

The most interesting part of the Every Woman Counts poll has to do with the way respondents view the future of women in politics.

Nearly half (44%) of women polled believe the country will see a woman in the Oval Office within eight years, including 23% of them who said it will happen in 2012, suggesting many believe whomever is elected this year will be a one-term President.

Intriguingly, three in ten women polled also still believe Hillary Clinton will be the first female President.

Lifetime is the leader in women’s television and one of America’s top-rated basic cable television networks.

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.

For decades, Dobson and Focus on the Family have been active anti-gay advocates who have used their power and influence to work against issues including gay civil rights, marriage equality and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and DOMA (Defence of Marriage Act) policies.

The news that Dobson’s programme will now be honoured for its anti-gay message which can be heard on more than 4,000 stations worldwide in 27 languages, is considered by many in the community to be a major slap in the face.

Ironically Dobson beat out big names like Howard Stern, Bob Costas and Dr Laura Schlessinger in winning induction into the Hall of Fame, by receiving the majority of the 70,000 votes cast in an online poll by the public, members of the Museum of Broadcast Communications and a select list of 2,000 radio historians and industry leaders.

In response to the announcement of Dobson’s honour gay activist Wayne Besen organised a campaign against the Hall of Fame that resulted in several hundred emails demanding that Dr Dobson be removed from the list of nominees.

“It is an affront for the Radio Hall of Fame to honour James Dobson, a right wing demagogue,” Besen says.

So far the Radio Hall of Fame has not shown any sign of rescinding the honour despite mounting pressure to do so.

In a public statement, Bruce DuMont, the chairman of the National Radio Hall of Fame (NRHF) said the organisation’s selection process is not based on the politics or religious beliefs of the candidates but solely on “tenures and accomplishments in the radio industry.”

“Our only criterion is the number of years in the business,” Dumont told the Chicago Reader.

“He’s [Dobson] been broadcasting more than 15 years on more than 3,000 stations. He’s qualified.”

Still, Besen and the pro-gay group Truth Wins Out have vowed to protest the November 8th Radio Hall of Fame Awards Dinner Induction ceremony in Chicago.

There were more kudos for Dobson recently when conservative Senator Sam Brownback introduced a resolution in the US Senate congratulating Dr James Dobson and the Focus on the Family radio programme for their induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

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In the song Ludacris, a.k.a. Christopher Bridges, encourages people to go to the polls and make Obama the first black President of the United States:

“So get off your ass, black people, it’s time to get out and vote. Paint the White House black and I’m sure that’s got ‘em terrified.”

However rather than being warmly received by either the Obama campaign or its supporters, the song has been derided in most circles for being at odds with Barack Obama’s ostensibly positive message of change and hope.

In the expletive-laced track Ludacris, in addition to endorsing Obama’s candidacy, mercilessly and tactlessly rips into presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain and former Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton.

Of the Republican nominee, Ludacris raps, “McCain don’t belong in ANY chair unless he’s paralysed.”

Similarly, the rap star has none too kind words for Obama’s former rival Senator Hillary Clinton of whom he spouts the following:

“Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant.”

Even Reverend Jesse Jackson gets a bit of tongue lashing from the rhyme-spitting rapper who sends a message to the civil rights leader in verse.

“Jesse talking slick and apologising for what? If you said it then you meant it how you want it have a gut!” he raps.

That said, Ludacris saves his most vicious attacks for current President George W Bush, whom he calls “mentally handicapped” and “the worst of all 43 Presidents.”

In response to the negative tone of the musical endorsement, Senator Obama and his campaign were quick to distance themselves from the song.

Though Senator Obama is said to be fan of Ludacris, Obama spokesperson Bill Burton told Politico.com that he has condemned the song.

“This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear,” said Burton.

Here are the complete lyrics to the Ludacris’ ode to Barack Obama:

I’m back on it like I just signed my record deal

If you said it then you meant it how you want it have a gut!

And all you other politicians trying to hate on my man, watch us win a majority vote in every state on my

The world is ready for change because Obama is here!

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.

Some had speculated that Clinton would request the nomination so that her supporters could cast their first vote for her, thus validating the closeness of the Democratic race while simultaneously symbolising the historic nature of Clinton’s bid to become the first woman nominated for President by a major party.

But that seems unlikely at this point.

A source close to the New York Senator confirmed she won’t file a formal request to the convention asking to be nominated along with Barack Obama, who secured the nomination with the help of Democratic superdelegates.

“She is not going to submit the signed request,” the insider told the Daily News. “People are still circulating petitions on her behalf, but this is a done deal.”

Though Obama’s nomination is certain at this point, Clinton’s supporters and delegates can vote for whomever they want during the roll call of the states.

And some may well still vote for Clinton instead of Obama, though the former First Lady is expected to release her delegates when she speaks to the convention on August 26th.

“Depending on the dynamics, hundreds of delegates might decide to demonstrate their support and affection,” a Clinton source speculated to the Daily News.

While Clinton appreciates the support, she is encouraging those who supported her to back Obama.

“Hillary Clinton is 100% committed to helping Barack Obama become the next President of the United States and realises there are passionate feelings that remain among many of her supporters,” said Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand.

In a show of Democratic Party unity, Senator Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Michelle Obama will appear together when women’s group EMILY’s List (a major Clinton backer in the primary) throws a gala during the Democratic Convention in Denver.

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But the latest polls out today show that whatever bump the presumptive Democratic nominee may have scored with his trip overseas, has all but vanished.

The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update of national registered voters, taken from July 28 – 30, now has Barack Obama ahead of John McCain by just one percentage point, 45% to 44%.

In other words, the two candidates are locked in statistical dead heat with McCain gaining and Obama losing ground.

Such has been the back and forth of the 2008 election cycle.

According to Gallup’s Frank Newport, “The race has been very close before, with Obama holding a one point lead as recently as July 15-17, and the race tied for several days in late June.

“The story of the election through the summer months has been a close race that simply does not seem to want to change. Obama has generally been in the lead, and it is significant that McCain has never held even a one point lead among registered voters in Gallup Poll Daily tracking since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in early June.”

All eyes are now turning toward the party conventions in the coming weeks to change what has been a relatively stable dynamic in the 2008 race for the White House.

“The relative stability of the race, even in the aftermath of such a high-visibility event as Obama’s foreign trip (coupled, of course, with the McCain campaign’s vigorous efforts to defuse its impact) continues to suggest that it may be the conventions in late August and early September that will offer the next potential timeframe for significant and/or sustained change,” Newport says.

McCain’s gains on Obama come after a recent spate of more negative campaign ads from the Republican nominee’s campaign which began appearing this week.

The Obama campaign has responded by berating McCain for taking the “low road” of politics.

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.

Today Senator John McCain launched a new ad that compares his Presidential rival Barack Obama to fluffy celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Without making specific reference to the troubled pop star or the hotel heiress, McCain’s latest negative ad portrays the presumptive Democratic nominee as having star power, but not being ready to become President.

The ad opens with flashing images of the Hilton and Spears and then cuts to shots of Obama waving to massive crowds.

Meanwhile, as the crowd chants “O-ba-ma,” a female voice intones:

“He’s the biggest celebrity in the world. But, is he ready to lead?”

Pundits suggest that the McCain strategy was fuelled at least in part by Obama’s European tour, which though successful on the surface, does not appear to have helped the Democratic nominee’s numbers among American voters.

Despite the reception Obama received abroad and the image of leadership he projected in meetings with world leaders, McCain has surged ahead of the Senator from Illinois in some polls, leading some to now suggest that Obama has hit a ceiling of support below the 50% mark with likely voters.

The attention-grabbing ad also puts the McCain camp back in the news and the Obama camp on the defensive.

For its part, the Obama campaign has responded to McCain’s Britney-Paris-Obama ad with a new attack ad of its own which calls McCain’s latest negative spot, “the same old politics.”

© 2008 GayWired; All Rights Reserved.

The vote comes on the heels of a unanimous state Senate vote approving the repeal earlier this month.

The measure will now go to Governor Deval Patrick, who is expected to sign it into law.

Once that happens, Massachusetts will become the second state in the US to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry regardless of their place of residence.

“I’m glad that we finally did it,” said Representative Byron Rushing, a Boston Democrat, who, according to Boston.com, described the repeal on the House floor as a “question of fairness and… a question of equality.”

After the vote, Rushing said he hoped lawmakers or the Governor would add an emergency preamble to the bill to speed its effect and allow for September weddings.

Originally the 1913 Massachusetts law barring unions by out of state residents grew out of the national outrage over the interracial marriage of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson.

Its intent at the time was to prevent interracial couples from the thirty states that banned interracial marriage from crossing borders to marry in Massachusetts.

The law eventually became nascent until gay marriage was legalised in Massachusetts and then-Governor Mitt Romney resurrected the law as a means of preventing the state from becoming what he called “the Las Vegas of gay marriage.”

The repeal of the 1913 law is yet another victory for marriage equality advocates who have seen significant progress in a recent months.

Though New York has yet legalise same-sex marriage, last month Governor David Patterson issued an important directive requiring that state agencies recognise gay marriages performed in another jurisdiction.

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.

However, for as impressive as that total may seem on the surface, it conceals the fact that Hillary Clinton’s largest donors have continued to withhold their financial support from the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Of Obama’s $52 million June take, Clinton’s 311 big money ‘Hillraisers’ contributed only $19,250 to Obama’s campaign .

According to Seth Colter Wells from The Huffington Post, only about eight of the well-heeled, well-organised Hillraisers donated to the Illinois Senator, though others may have tried to round up other donors.

Meanwhile, a separate, broader Washington Post survey of overall Obama donors found only around 2,200 Clinton donors contributed to Obama in June for a total of $1.8 million.

(This number does not take into account donations less than $200 which the Federal Elections Commission does not track).

That sum represented a measly 3.5 percent of Obama’s monthly total and less than a tenth of what Clinton herself raised in April.

Most interestingly, only about half of the $1.8 million came from 355 Clinton donors contributing more than $2,000 apiece, which contradicts the notion that Obama is attracting significant support from the millions of small-sum donors from Clinton’s base.

This is particularly bad news for Obama given his efforts to inspire party unity as evidenced by the joint fundraising events he’s held with Senator Clinton since clinching the nomination.

However, on the upside for Obama, raising over fifty million dollars without the help of Clinton supporters is not only an impressive accomplishment, but may also bode well for how he will perform in the general election in November in spite of the fact that many of Clinton supporters continue to organise against his campaign.

Even though Senator Hillary Clinton conceded the Democratic Presidential nomination to Obama in early June and urged all of her supporters to vote for him, some of her most stalwart campaigners have resisted preferring to continue to work to get Clinton’s name into nomination or to work on behalf of John McCain.

Will Bower, the 36-year-old full-time head of the anti-Obama, pro-Clinton PUMA PAC, estimates that there are 250 PUMA-related Web sites and 2.5 million PUMAs online.

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.

However, the former President is still not making a commitment as to what his level of involvement will be at the Democratic Party convention in Denver this August.

Speaking at a news conference for his foundation, Clinton said he had not thought about whether he would like to be a convention speaker, which is a traditional role for most former Presidents at their party’s convention.

Referring to a conversation that he had with the presumptive Democratic Party nominee a few weeks back, Clinton said of his plan to campaign for Obama, “I told him that whenever he wanted me to do it, I was ready, and so it’s basically on their timetable,” Clinton said.

“He’s got a lot of things to do between now and the convention, of which this is simply one, so I’ll do whatever I’m asked to do, whenever I can do it.”

Senator Hillary Clinton has already begun her reconciliation with Senator Obama, having recently engaged in a series of joint unity fundraising events in the Northeast with her formal rival.

However, until his remarks yesterday, former President Clinton, who some speculate took his wife’s loss even harder than she did, had only issued as statement of support through a spokesperson for Senator Obama.

According to The Associated Press, at the news conference, Clinton was also asked whether he had spoken to Reverend Jesse Jackson regarding the crude off-air remark Jackson made about castrating Obama and using the N-word in what he thought was a private conversation during a taping of a Fox & Friends news programme.

Clinton told reporters that he had not spoken with Jackson, but added that Jackson was right to apologise to Obama for the comments. He also was a bit sympathetic.

“If all of us lived on live mics, then 100 percent of us in this room would be embarrassed from time to time,” Clinton said.

The Obama campaign has welcomed the former President’s support, though the question of how he will be deployed on behalf of the campaign remains unanswered.

© 2008 GayWired; All Rights Reserved.

According to Jason Horowitz of the New York Observer’s Politiker blog, this morning Senator Clinton sent out a special message to supporters who donated up to $2,300 (£1,145) to her anticipated 2008 general election campaign, all of which must be returned to the donors by August 28, unless she gets their permission not to.

In the new appeal, which includes a photocopy of a handwritten note from Clinton, the former First Lady writes:

“Dear friend, your commitment has meant so much to me over the course of my Presidential campaign.

“You were there for me when I needed you the most and I’ll never forget it.

“I hope you’ll help me continue to fight for the issues and causes we believe in by filling out the enclosed form in support of Friends of Hillary.”

The form, once signed, allows Clinton staff to transfer the money from the 2008 general election fund into the 2012 Senate re-election treasury, where it can earn four years of interest.

Interestingly, Clinton could once transferred shift the money once again from her Senate reelection campaign to a 2012 Presidential campaign, in much the same way she did when took $14 million left over from her successful 2006 Senate reelection campaign for use in the 2008 Presidential race.

Is Clinton hedging her bets for 2012? Maybe.

But the bottom line is that though Hillary Clinton raised well over $200 million for her primary race, she still has $20 million in debt to pay off from her 2008 campaign and holding on to money already raised for a 2008 general election campaign that is not going to happen is one way of tackling the problem.

Furthermore, there is no question that Clinton will run for re-election in the Senate in a few years or that no matter what happens in November, 2012 and 2016 are not so far down the road for politicians like Clinton who are known to think ahead.

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.

Controversy is now swirling about the fact that Paul, though a practising physician, did not offer health insurance to his campaign staffers.

As activists mourn Snyder’s loss, the late campaign chair’s family and friends are now scrambling to raise money to cover the exorbitant medical bills he left behind.

To that end a web site has been created which calls on Paul supporters to contribute to a special fund to help Snyder’s family pay the bills, which come mostly from his two-month hospitalisation.

So far, the site has raised about $32,000.

The question of whether or not Paul should have offered his staffers health coverage is now the subject of debate among many of his supporters and Republican activists.

Though the Presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain all provide full health insurance coverage to their paid staff, the practice is not a completely common one.

According to Jordan Lieberman, publisher of Campaigns and Elections’ Politics Magazine, which is considered an authority on American political campaigns, in the recent past, health insurance was almost never offered by campaigns operated by either Republicans or Democrats.

Now, Lieberman said, the trend among larger campaigns, especially Presidential campaigns, is to offer health insurance benefits.

Most interestingly, Jesse Benton, who served as communications director for the Paul Presidential campaign, says that it was Kent Snyder himself who made the decision not to provide health insurance to the campaign staff.

“Kent Snyder as the chairman of the campaign ran the business operation,” Benton said. “So it was his decision as to what would be offered to employees.”

Benton said Snyder’s decision was not unusual in the realm of political campaigns.

“As a general practice, virtually no political campaigns offer health insurance,” Benton said. “It’s just not done. A campaign is a temporary organisation that could disband at any minute.”

But gay Democratic activist and political consultant Steve Elmendorf disputes Benton’s assessment, saying that in recent years, a growing number of campaigns have begun providing health insurance to paid staffers, with the campaigns of Democratic candidates offering medical coverage in greater numbers than Republican candidates.

Though Representative Paul himself called Snyder’s death a “great loss” to the Libertarian movement and praised him for his 20 years of service and for playing a key role in advancing libertarian causes, a spokesperson for Paul’s Congressional office said the Texas Congressman would have no comment on the question of whether his campaign should have provided health insurance for the staff.

As a Libertarian, Paul opposes universal health care.

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.

Over the weekend in an interview with The New York Times, Senator McCain appeared to align himself with President George W. Bush’s tough stance on gay adoption, which would see gays and lesbians prevented from adopting in all circumstances even if it meant that the affected children would end up in America’s broken foster care system.

“I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption,” McCain told the Times.

During the interview, the Arizona Republican and presumptive party nominee for President of the United States, remained resolute about his position on the gay adoption issue even after the reporters made it clear that the alternative would be “the kid staying in an orphanage, or not having parents.”

Now McCain seems to be re-thinking those comments.

In a statement sent in response to Andrew Sullivan’s blog on the subject, the McCain campaign’s Director of Communications, Jill Hazelbaker, made the following clarification:

“McCain could have been clearer in the interview in stating that his position on gay adoption is that it is a state issue, just as he made it clear in the interview that marriage is a state issue.

“He was not endorsing any federal legislation.

“McCain’s expressed his personal preference for children to be raised by a mother and a father wherever possible.

“However, as an adoptive father himself, McCain believes children deserve loving and caring home environments, and he recognises that there are many abandoned children who have yet to find homes.

“McCain believes that in those situations that caring parental figures are better for the child than the alternative.”

Bottom line: Gays and lesbians can adopt as a last resort, unless the state says otherwise, seems to be the message of the McCain camp.

Yep. That clears things up.

© 2008 GayWired; All Rights Reserved.

According to a Newsweek poll released over the weekend, Obama leads John McCain by a mere three percentage points in a national head-to-head general election match up.

Taking into account the statistical margin of error, that essentially means the two Presidential contenders are locked in a virtual dead heat.

The latest numbers could suggest a substantial dip in favor for Obama, who enjoyed a 15 percentage point lead over McCain as recently as June 20 in a similar Newsweek poll.

Some observers are now saying that Obama may have peaked too soon.

The results of the latest Newsweek poll suggest that voters are upset with what has been perceived as Obama’s flip-flopping in the last weeks, given his change of position on FISA legislation, his decision to opt out of the campaign public-financing system, and his recent attempt to modify his strong pro-abortion positions.

Most strongly affected by Obama’s move to the centre are former Hillary Clinton supporters, who account for 50% of the overall total of 53% of voters who believe that Obama has changed his position on key issues in order to gain political advantage.

Obama also seems to be losing the support of moderate and independent voters who now favour McCain over Obama 41 percent to 34 percent, whereas in June, Obama led McCain among independent voters by a healthy double-digit margin of 48 percent to 36 percent.

The results of the Newsweek poll are supported by the latest Rasmussen daily Presidential tracking poll which shows Obama ahead of McCain by a slight margin of 44 percent to 42 percent after both candidates had been tied at 43 percent each for the two previous days.

When “leaners” are included, it’s Obama 47% and McCain 46%, a gain for McCain after the Rasmussen survey had Obama leading by about five percentage points for most of the last month-and-a-half.

Despite results from Newsweek and Rasmussen Reports, other recent polls paint a less grim portrait for the Senator Obama as they show him faltering but still maintaining a decent lead over McCain. According to at least one such poll from Pew Research, Obama is still eight points ahead of his Republican rival.

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“Not as far as I know,” Wolfson told Fox News yesterday when asked if Clinton had been “asked to participate in the vetting process for VP.”

While other possible Vice Presidential choices like Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd have been asked to turn over personal information about themselves as part of a formal vice presidential vetting process, no such requests have been made of Senator Clinton.

That said, some, including Wolfson, suggest that Hillary Clinton has already been vetted not only by her 18 month campaign for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination, but also by her more than three decades in public life which have been scrutinised ad nauseum by the media and right-wing conservative forces.

So far other potential Obama VP choices like Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill and Senator Joe Biden have directed inquiries about the Obama veepstakes directly to the Senator’s campaign.

Freshman Virginia Senator Jim Webb has already officially taken himself out of the running for the job.

As has Ohio governor Ted Strickland, a former Clinton advocate, who earlier this year responded to queries about the possibility of him becoming Obama’s VP by saying, “If drafted, I will not run; nominated, I will not accept; and if elected, I will not serve. So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.”

Meanwhile, Senator Hillary Clinton described herself as playing Ginger Rogers to Barack Obama’s Fred Astaire on the campaign trail at a Women for Obama breakfast in New York this week.

© 2008 GayWired; All Rights Reserved.

Now America finally had the opportunity to hear exactly what Jackson said to stir up a hornet’s nest of controversy.

In advance of the airing of Jackson’s derogatory comments about Obama on Fox News last night, the Reverend was already backpedalling from the slurs captured on tape as quickly as possible.

“For any harm or hurt that this hot-mic private conversation may have caused, I apologise,” Jackson said in a written statement, according to CNN.

“My support for Senator Obama’s campaign is wide, deep and unequivocal. I cherish this redemptive and historical moment.”

Rumours flew throughout the day on Wednesday about what exactly Jackson said, but America had to wait until the evening broadcast of The O’Reilly Factor to hear the quotes for themselves.

The commentary, captured by a hot microphone, was recorded while Jackson was unaware he was still being taped. So what did Jesse Jackson say that has stirred up so much controversy?

The quote that launched a thousand news articles and blog responses was: “See, Barack been, um, talking down to black people on this faith based… I want to cut his nuts off.”

Watch the video of Jackson’s on-air slip below.

According to Fox News, Jackson’s rant referenced Obama’s recent speeches in black churches.

By way of explanation, Jackson said he was trying to emphasise that Obama’s moral message should “not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy.”

Jackson also told The Associated Press on Wednesday he was “very sorry” for his comments about Obama. He called his comments “a side light in a broader conversation about urban disparities.”

Obama, meanwhile, has accepted the apology from Jackson over the comments.

A statement released by Obama’s campaign spokesman Bill Burton on Wednesday said that the Senator will “continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Rev. Jackson’s apology.”

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So what did Jesse Jackson say that has stirred up so much controversy?

Among the comments Jesse Jackson reportedly made about Sen. Barack Obama was his assessment that the Illinois senator was ‘cutting off his nuts with black people’ and guilty of ‘talking down to black folks’.

Other media outlets report Jackson saying he would like to ‘cut [Obama's] nuts off,’ though the exact wording of his mistakenly overheard commentary still remains unclear.

Jackson is now backpedaling from those off the record remarks which he told CNN he didn’t realise were being captured by the live microphone of a Fox News reporter.

“For any harm or hurt that this hot-mic private conversation may have caused, I apologise,” Jackson said in a written statement.

“My support for Senator Obama’s campaign is wide, deep and unequivocal. I cherish this redemptive and historical moment.”

According to Fox News, which has exclusive access to the recording of Jackson’s comments about Sen. Obama, Jackson’s rant referenced Obama’s speeches in black churches.

By way of explanation, Jackson said he was trying to emphasise that Obama’s moral message should “not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy.”

Jackson also told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he doesn’t remember exactly what he said Sunday but that he was “very sorry” for his comments about Obama.

He called his comments “a side light in a broader conversation about urban disparities.”

Fox News is scheduled to air the comments in full at 8PM ET tonight on The O’Reilly Factor.

© 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.