Sen. Barack Obama
got a little help Tuesday from some LGBT friends who
independently launched a new website designed to woo the
approximately 15% of gay voters who have yet to settle
on their candidate for November.
LGBTforObama.com
was the brainchild of Terry Bean, an Oregon Obama
supporter and prominent Democratic fund-raiser who said in a
statement, "I was appalled that George Bush got 24% of
the GLBT vote in 2000 and again in 2004 and vowed to
do all that I could to prevent that from happening
again with John McCain." According to a Harris
Interactive poll released Tuesday, LGBT voters
favor Obama over McCain 68% to 10% in the
presidential election, with 3% supporting Ralph Nader,
1% choosing Bob Barr, and another 15% remaining undecided.
The push to get
gay and lesbian voters on board the Obama bus came on the
heels of a campaign press call Monday aimed at contrasting
Obama's record on LGBT hate-crimes legislation with
that of his Republican opponent John McCain. More
gay-specific announcements are in the works, according to
sources close to the campaign.
The independent
website will feature a star-studded lineup of bloggers,
including such LGBT notables as former HRC executive
director Elizabeth Birch, blogger Pam Spaulding,
longtime activist David Mixner, and the Right Reverend
V. Gene Robinson.
The site will
also incorporate user-generated content. "We've
integrated a number of Web 2.0 tools into the
LGBTforObama.com platform," said site adviser Michael
Crawford. "Users can engage in discussions,
comment on news items, post video testimonials, and
tell the world why winning this election is vitally personal
to them." (Kerry Eleveld, The
Advocate)
