Local Democrats gear up for convention, general election

With the Democratic and Republican conventions two weeks away, local politicos continue to gear up to support their respective candidates and to continue to campaign on their behalf this fall. An article I wrote for both EDGE and the Fire Island News this week details these desires... and the fact it will become all politics all the time once again.


With the Democratic National Convention less than two weeks away, Democrats and activists from across the five boroughs are slated to travel to Denver.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn [D-Chelsea], state Sen. Tom Duane [D-Chelsea], City Councilmember Rosie Mendez [D-Lower East Side] and United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten are among the nearly two dozen LGBT delegates to the convention. Doctor Marjorie Hill, chief executive officer for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, New York Transgender Rights Organization director Melissa Sklarz and political wunderkind Corey Johnson are among those who will travel to Denver as part of a variety of DNC committees.

In addition to preparations to attend the DNC, local, state and even national politicians have made several trips to Fire Island this summer to court potential voters and raise funds for their campaigns.

Democratic National Committee [DNC] Chair Howard Dean made his annual appearance in the Fire Island Pines on Sunday, Aug. 10, to attend a fundraiser for the Democratic Party. The former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential candidate appeared alongside openly gay Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank and DNC Treasurer and Pines resident Andy Tobias.

DNC officials had yet to tabulate the amount of money raised at the fundraiser as of press time, but Dean urged attendees to support Barack Obama this November.

"We are responsible for maintaining our own democracy-not me, but you," he said. "I believe our country is worth fighting for and this is what it’s all about."

Dean blasted President Bush on a whole host of issues that include the economy and the detention of terrorism suspects held at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. He added he feels alleged torture and other interrogation techniques used against these detainees have further jeopardized the country’s reputation abroad.

"That is the fundamental shame of what the Bush administration has done to our country and the world," Dean said.

He further criticized the administration for the way he feels it has mismanaged the War on Terror.

"We are not safer," Dean said. "We have lost 4,000 people. We are not winning the war in Afghanistan."

Dean also discussed LGBT rights. He signed the country’s first civil unions law in 2000 as governor of Vermont. These unions, domestic partnerships and marriage for same-sex couples are now legal in Massachusetts, California and more than half a dozen other states.

"The extraordinary thing has been since 2000, when George W. Bush took office, one state had marriage equivalency-mine," Dean said. "Now there’s nine. That’s amazing."

He further criticized presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain. Frank specifically referred to the landmark Lawrence vs. Texas decision that overturned the country’s remaining sodomy laws in 2003 as he stressed he feels voters should elect Obama.

"It is almost certain the next president will reshape the Supreme Court," he said. "We can’t afford John McCain."

New York Sen. Charles Schumer agreed. He appeared alongside U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell [D-Wash.] at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Aug. 2 that raised more than $120,000. The DSCC’s mission to elect a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate by supporting candidates in Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, New Hampshire and other battleground states.

Press was not allowed to attend the fundraiser, but Schumer, who had endorsed Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign, told WNYC reporter Amy Eddings in an Aug. 7 interview he feels Democrats are poised to pick up a significant number of Senate seats this November.

"The wind is clearly at our back," he said. "People want change." Schumer further conceded a number of former Clinton supporters remain upset the former First Lady will not garner her party’s nomination. He avoided a question about whether he feels Obama would choose Clinton as his running mate. Schumer did add, however, he remains confident the former First Lady will continue to support her former campaign trail rival.

"[She] knows how important it is to take back the government," he said. "These seven years of George Bush have been a disaster."

Schumer and Dean are not the only elected officials and other politicians who have stumped for votes and money on Fire Island this summer. Long Island Congressman Tim Bishop [D-Southampton] held a fundraiser in the Pines in late June, while Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian Foley, who seeks to unseat long-time incumbent state Sen. Caesar Trunzo [R-Brentwood] and Brookhaven Town Councilmember Tim Mazzei have also raised money on the beach in recent weeks. And openly lesbian New York City Council candidate Yetta Kurland is scheduled to hold a fundraiser in the Pines on Aug. 24.

State Assemblywoman Ginny Fields [D-Oakdale] held one of the more unique Fire Island political events on Aug. 2 with the second annual Ginny Fields look-a-like contest at Heaven n’ Earth in Cherry Grove.

Lola Galore and the partner of openly gay state Assemblyman Matthew Titone [D-Staten Island] proved imitation is really the most sincere form of flattery.

"Ginny doesn’t have a purse or a clutch," Titone’s partner pointed out as he dubbed himself Ginny from the Block. "She has a suitcase. That’s what this is all about."

State Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer [D-Far Rockaway], a candidate for Queens Borough President, and Islip Town Councilman Gene Parrington also joined Titone and Fields. It quickly became clear, however, Galore had won the competition.

She reflected upon her hard fought victory.

"I’m just here to celebrate with Ginny," the 2007 Cherry Grove Homecoming Queen said. "I love her and I want to support her."

Fields added she felt flattered by the local queens’ efforts. She feels it remains important to make time to connect with her island constituents and to learn about the issues.

"It’s terrific to have an elected official set their feet on the sand and boardwalks," Fields said.

Howard Dean Plugs Dems' Core Values At Fire Island Pines

Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean's appearance in the Fire Island Pines each August remains something of a political rite of passage for island politicos and those who enjoy to report on them as I wrote in the New York Blade and others for EDGE and the Fire Island News this week. The decision to bar reporters from the fundraiser was irksome in the context of previous coverage but it remains a politically and financially savvy decision for Dean to appear in the wealthy gay resort. The DNC clearly wants to court pink donors and potential LGBT voters as they seek a triumphant return to the White House next November. Their prospects remain well in light of growing GOP opposition due to President Bush's continued policies in Iraq and an overall malaise with his administration and his party. Politics remains, if anything, a game. Dean's appearance in the Pines is simply yet another move in that evolving strategy of pink courtship.

With the 2008 presidential campaign heating up faster than New York in August, Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Howard Dean made his sixth-annual Fire Island Pines pilgrimage on Sunday, Aug. 5, to headline a DNC fundraiser at philanthropist Brandon Fradd’s bayside home.

The Fire Island News and other media outlets had covered previous events, but this year, reporters were barred.

At the fundraiser, Dean reiterated his party’s support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and other LGBT-specific legislation to the more than 75 people who paid $250 to attend the event.

The former Vermont governor and 2004 gubernatorial candidate said that Democrats need to talk about equality and other universal values that would resonate with straight voters.

“We’re developing a core message that we can run on anywhere in the country based on our core values of fairness, toughness and fiscal responsibility,” Dean told the Blade in a pre-fundraiser interview.
Dean used this platform to further highlight the DNC’s 50 State Strategy. The plan seeks to help Democrats win local and statewide elections during this election cycle. Dean also applauded Democratic presidential candidates who he maintains continue to support LGBT rights in comparison to their Republican counterparts.

“They are putting into action our party’s commitment to promoting equal rights and protections for every American,” he said. “You don’t see that kind of leadership from Republicans in Washington or many other places.”

Dean criticized President Bush and the majority of GOP candidates for their continued support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would define marriage as between a man and a woman, despite Congressional inaction on the proposal last June.

The DNC’s platform opposes the FMA but calls upon each state to define marriage.

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska remain the only two candidates among the crowded Democratic field who have endorsed same-sex marriage equality.
Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan Van Capelle and other LGBT activists have criticized U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and other Democratic front runners’ failure to support gay and lesbian nuptials.

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force executive director Matt Foreman opined in a blog earlier this month that Clinton, along with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, remain largely silent on marriage and other specific LGBT issues.

Dean did not respond directly to these criticisms. Instead, he pointed out that the Democratic presidential hopefuls continue to uphold the DNC’s platform on the campaign trail.

“The fact is every single Democrat running for president supports expanding real, specific rights for LGBT people,” Dean said.

The DNC’s Pines fundraiser is the latest indication of the party’s active courtship of LGBT donors and potential LGBT voters at this relatively early stage of the campaign.

The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary are more than four months away but New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and dozens of other LGBT politicians and activists have already made their allegiances known.

Foreman conceded that Democratic presidential candidates support LGBT issues more than the majority of those from across the aisle. He added that a fundraiser in the Pines allows Dean to connect with a historical constituency within the Democratic Party.

Foreman concluded, however, LGBT donors have a responsibility to hold the candidates responsible for their positions. “They can look them in the eye and tell them what they expect,” he said. “We don’t have to wait until after the election for a candidate to deliver.”

Dirk McCall, a gay political activist based in Astoria, Queens, agreed. He applauded Dean’s efforts to reach out to LGBT Democrats since he took the DNC helm in February of 2005.

McCall concluded that Democratic White House hopefuls need to take stronger positions if they hope to expand their support among pink voters and donors.

“They can’t be wishy-washy on our issues,” he said. “We deserve better than that.”

Dean maintained his core messages of equality, fairness and change. He said that Pines residents and other LGBT New Yorkers will continue to play a pivotal role in this current election cycle as the DNC seeks to return a Democrat to the White House in 2008.

“We are raising money to elect a Democratic president,” Dean said.

Political Summer Share Dominates Agenda

Politicians at the local, state and national level all use the Fourth of July picnics, parades, barbecues, commemorations and other events to mark American independence to solidify their connections in their districts -- and to secure a plethora of good photo ops and sound bites about the various issues of the day. Presidential hopefuls are no exception. Many criss-crossed the country and even the world [U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton [D-New York] and husband Bill toured Iowa while U.S. Sen. John McCain [R-Arizona] made yet another trip to war-torn Iraq] This blogger spent the holiday on Fire Island as a reporter for the Fire Island News and garnered a plethora of gossip about the Pines and the Grove that could surely fill multiple gossip columns.

A number of sources confirmed Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean will once again make his annual pilgrimage to the Pines in early August. The initial question was whether Clinton would join the former Presidential candidate as he courts wealthy gay partisans. This appearance remains highly unlikely -- imagine how socially conservative Democrats in the Bible Belt would respond to a New York Times headline 'Clinton Courts Donors in Gay Resort Mecca.' Dean's annual visit to the Pines sends a rather calculated but powerful message his party wants to bring gays and lesbians into the fold. The DNC's platform fails to support full marriage for same-sex couples at the federal level. Partisan rhetoric will surely build on Fire Island in the weeks leading up to Dean's visit. One can argue, however, attendees should seek an explanation of this platform -- and perhaps a reassurance in support of LGBT rights -- if they want to become more than a lucrative Rolodex in the much larger political jigsaw puzzle.