I ran into Guy Cecil, Clinton's openly gay national field director, in her Philly HQ and asked him what he thought of the comments of Barney Frank (a Clinton supporter) earlier this week that the Democratic candidate who is trailing by June 3rd, should drop out of the race.
"It depends on what trailing means," Cecil said. "I think there is a reasonably likely possibility that either one of us could end up with the popular vote and that regardless of where the pledged delegate count is, it may not reflect what the overall popular vote of the election is. That’s something that I think will be considered."
Cecil reiterated the campaign's position that superdelegates are called upon to make an individual assessment as to who they think the best candidate is.
He suggested that the race is still fluid too fluid to call and then brought up Michigan and Florida. "Democrats should never ever be about disenfranchising voters and regardless of the rules and processes, the fact is that 2.5 million people voted in these states," he said. "I’m a native Floridian and it was the single largest turnout in primary history in the state of Florida -- almost 1.8 million." Disenfranchising voters, he added, was not "the right thing to do" nor was it a smart move for the Democratic Party.
"What we have said all along is we want all the votes to be counted, and there is a process in place, and the process may end June 3rd, it may end July 1st and rather than setting an arbitrary deadline, I think it will become clear at some point in the campaign that it’s time for the apparent nominee to be in and for the other person to be out. But I don’t think we’re comfortable saying here’s the date," he said.
Asked whether it would play out before the convention, Cecil responded, "Well, I think that’s the most likely scenario, but I don’t know that that’s going to be the case. Look, there’s a lot of focus on the campaigns going back and forth and what does this do to the nominee? The greatest thing that could have ever happened to our party is a spirited contest in which 100s of thousands of new people are registering to vote as Democrats, hundreds of thousand of new people are coming out to vote ... those are all good things. So I think it’s been a good thing just looking at it from a party perspective, and I do believe, when the nominee is selected -- and we are hoping and expecting it to be Hillary -- that the party’s going to come together."
As for Rep. Frank, he said, "While we’re more than happy and thrilled to have Congressman’s Frank’s support -- and he’s been great in helping us -- we should not set an arbitrary deadline for when the nominee should or should not be determined."
I think it's safe to say Barney's comments weren't vetted by the campaign.
Chelsea's gay welcome at Woody's Friday night, Photo: Jon Winkleman
It's no secret that more than a few gay men have harbored a crush on Hillary Clinton ever since her days as First Lady. But Chelsea is now emerging as a close runner up in her own right. It all started in Dallas, TX when she attended last-minute events at JR's and Sue Ellen's (the two gay bars in town ... for real!) with Gloria Steinem and producer/director Rob Reiner. The trio drew nearly 1,000 people total at the two events (not bad for 24 hours notice). Since then, Chelsea has really come into her own, attending Portland's Red Dress party, and a couple weeks ago she head-lined a town hall meeting organized by the Liberty City Democrats at Woody's, a local gay bar in Philly.
New York LGBT activist and devout Clinton supporter Jon Winkleman has volunteered for Hillary in several states and he summed up Chelsea's evolution this way: "Early in the primary she was very quiet and reserved -- never really spoke at events in Iowa and New Hampshire. When I waited on her at the Four Seasons and told her I was going to both states for her Mom, she simply gave a thumbs up but didn't really speak. But over the course of the campaign, she really found her voice and comfort level. She gets a great response from gays. And with the response she's getting, I'm suspecting that she is really enjoying us. I liked her in December. In April, I'm in love with her. As Chelsea finds her voice, she is becoming a better secret weapon for Hillary than Bill."
Chelsea stumps with Rob Reiner looking on and Gov. Rendell in the foreground, Photo: Jon Winkleman
Chelsea's gay draw was in full display Friday night when she joined Gov. Ed Rendell, actor Robert Gant and Reiner for Rendell's traditional pre-election LGBT pub crawl, from Bump and Woody's to Sisters and Tavern on Camac. Maybe it's no coincidence she shares a name with one of New York's most legendary gayborhoods.
Jennifer Beals tours the Mazzoni Center's newest edition to their LGBT health facilities
The backstory here is that Jennifer Beals really started leveraging her LGBT star-power to get the word out about her candidate when she interviewed Sen. Obama's LGBT policy advisor, Tobias Wolff, in a video podcast on OurChart.com.
"One of the things that I noticed was that there was a real disconnect between the gay and lesbian community and the Obama campaign," she told me. "There was a lot of information about Hillary’s campaign. But I thought in order to service a true democracy, before you make a decision, you need to have as much information as possible. To that end, I asked Tobias if he would be willing to be part of a podcast where we would answer users questions. Because people didn’t know, people didn’t have the answers and they weren’t readily being given on the web. It was a little obtuse trying to find the answers so I thought, well, that’s the quickest way to give information. Because it’s really about getting the information, framing the issue for yourself and then deciding. "
Mazzoni Center's tribute to the condom -- classy enough for every gay man's home
While Beals attended four different queer-oriented events in Philly Thursday and clearly wanted people to know that she's backing Obama, she also drew a distinction between supporting her candidate and telling other people how to vote. "I would never presume to tell any community who to vote for," she said. "I can tell you who I’ll vote for. All I can really do is give the information and you can make up your mind for yourself, because God knows, I don’t think I’ve ever met a more self-determined community."
She called meeting the Illinois senator "truly revelatory" and said hearing him speak moved her to get involved politically for the first time in her life. "Really, I've always harbored a distrust of politicians and I've met several and they didn't really convince me and it wasn't until I met Barack Obama and I heard him speak that I thought there was a possibility for change -- that somebody could actually change the paradigm or even the psychology of politics," she said. "The pronoun that they use is ‘we’ – Yes, we can. It’s not ‘I’. And to make that a reality, it’s incumbent upon all of us to do our best to bring our best selves to the table on behalf of everyone else, not just ourselves.
Asked why she is specifically focusing on the LGBT community and our issues in the context of this election, Beals said, "I think it’s an extension of playing the character for so long. For me, I do feel myself in some ways rooted in this community and I do feel like an honorary lesbian, and with the amount of visibility that I have, I have a unique opportunity to advocate for change, or at least recognition."
Beals said her first glimpse of the discrimination many LGBT people experience came during an appearance several years ago on Deborah Norville's show. "I was doing press for the show and they were going to show a clip from The L Word that included a love scene of sorts between me and another character, and she had the audacity to say, 'If there are any children in the room, you might want to ask them to leave.' And my mind was blown open and I said to her, ‘If it had been a heterosexual love scene, would you have asked the same question?’ I asked her on air, because I thought, it’s important to ask -- it contextualizes the import of the show. My feelings were hurt and it just spoke to me of what the gay and lesbian community has to deal with on a day-to-day basis in terms of popular media. And that was when it started. And I think from playing this character for so many years and becoming more aware of different political issues, I would just start to read the headlines more and more. My mind was truly blown open when I found out that the LGBT community was not included in federal hate crimes law. I just couldn’t believe it, it was so infuriating to me. So whenever I have the opportunity, I try to stand up and say something and if I’m not given the opportunity, I sometimes will try to create the opportunity."
At the LGBT People of Color Forum, Photo Credit: Obama campaign
Beals was also genuinely enthusiastic about sorting out the minutia of
LGBT policy during her interview with Tobias Wolff. "We talked for
three and a half hours and I learned so much. And I learned so much
from the users' questions. I'm really excited to be a part of the
community and a part of the campaign even though it's in a very small
way. I think it’s really just about getting information out and
determining how you feel and realizing that it’s not only about you but
it’s about the well-being of the group at large. So, here I am."
And LGBTs across Philly happily received her. Beals did not speak at the LGBT People of Color Forum, but her presence alone elicited a mini uproar from the crowd.
The Philadelphia Gay News may still be keeping track of how many days it's been since Sen. Obama has talked to the local gay press (1,536 on today's cover), but the Philadelphia Weekly, among others, is singing a different tune. Sen. Obama finished pretty close to a clean sweep of the state's
editorial boards Thursday when he got the endorsement of the Philadelphia Daily
News (adding to The Pittsburgh Post Gazette and dailies in Allentown, Scranton, and others). That puts the fourth estate at odds with most of the state's politicians such as Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter who support Sen. Clinton (excluding Obama supporter Sen. Bob Casey).
At the Obama HQ yesterday, one volunteer in the elevator charged that Clinton supporters were sabotaging the Philadelphia Weekly endorsement by removing the free paper from boxes around the city. There were plenty still available in boxes as I walked the city, but it highlighted the sense of urgency people have.
While the Philadelphia Gay News decided to refrain from endorsing a candidate, citing the fact that it was "too close" to the issue, it added, "...what we can do is urge you to look at the endorsements from the LGBT political organizations in Pennsylvania. To our knowledge, not a single one has endorsed Obama." True, Philly's Liberty City Democratic Club and Pittsburgh's Steel City Stonewall Democrats both endorsed Hillary. Harriburg's Capital Region Stonewall Dems have remained silent on the race.
Here's a quick look at the Obama HQ in Philadelphia, which was a bustle of activity. By around noon on Thursday, a spokesperson said about 80 volunteers had already stopped through to phone bank, pick up canvassing assignments, etc.
Apparently, some Obama volunteers had the time to decorate.
The Clinton HQ, which wasn't quite as glam, was mostly filled with paid staff members. Mark Walsh,
who heads Clinton's LGBT steering committee, said the bulk of their
volunteers work out of Clinton's field offices rather the HQ.
Maybe they vacated because they were scared of the motherboard. At first, I wondered if Hillary was taking over the world and it was all starting in Philadelphia with this tangle of chords. Then I started to worry that if the 3AM phone call actually came, it might not get through.
Pictured: Beals with Nurit Shein of the Mazzoni Center and Jessi Salazar from the Obama camp.
Here's a little teaser for all you Jennifer Beals fans:
After speaking about 50 women at a professional luncheon, Beals toured two of the Mazzoni Center facilities, which provide LGBT health services. She asked questions ranging from the funding of Ryan White Care Act to how the centers get referrals and conduct outreach. Beals is starting to get a little wonkish in the arena of LGBT policy ... in a good way, of course.
The L-word veteran later said that she had never been this involved in politics before: "I've always harbored a distrust of politicians and I've met several and they didn't really convince me. It wasn't until I met Barack Obama and I heard him speak that I thought there was a possibility for change -- that somebody could actually change the paradigm or even the psychology of politics. That it's not just other people that are making decisions, not just corporations that are making decisions but that we all have to be included in that process."
Kerry Eleveld here ... on the ground in Philly, where the streets are abuzz with campaign workers on the home stretch to the Pennsylvania vote next Tuesday, April 22nd. Right now, Hillary is hanging on to her lead by anywhere from 5 to 10 points depending on the poll. The pundit spin is that she must win PA by double digits in order to be viable. Anything less could be the beginning of the end.
I've got a busy couple days planned for all you campaign fans. Here are the coming attractions:
--Touring an LGBT outreach center in Philadelphia with Jennifer Beals later today. --Covering a forum to address issues for LGBT people of color later tonight. Attending will be the head of Sen. Clinton's LGBT steering committee Mark Walsh, Sen. Obama's chief LGBT policy advisor Tobias Wolff, and Michael Nutter, the mayor of Philadelphia who has endorsed Sen. Clinton. --And last but not least, Friday night's pre-election LGBT pub crawl with Gov. Ed Rendell (Clinton endorser) and none other than the gay man's second favorite Clinton, Chelsea. --I'll also give you a look inside both campaign HQs so you can see what's shaking first hand.
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