Is Bernie's WeHo Whistle Stop Tour Too Little, Too Late?

Campaigning in West Hollywood on Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders barnstormed around the gay-friendly city and even swung by Hamburger Mary's for drag brunch.

The Vermont senator's appearance caused quite a stir on Santa Monica Boulevard, but will it be enough for him to defeat Hillary Clinton in Calfornia, or even win over the state's significant LGBT population? Sanders hasn't made many direct plays for the queer voting bloc.

It was news when Sanders released an LGBT-targeted web video late last month, in part because he'd done little like that previously in the year-long campaign. The ad makes the case that Sanders was first to the fight for LGBT rights, and the comparison to Clinton is inferred. That's a debate that had been raging between Sanders and Clinton supporters for months now.

Sure, both Sanders and Clinton frequently mention LGBT rights as a cause they are championing in campaign stops and even during interviews with mainstream news.

Meanwhile, Clinton has also released several ads featuring same-sex couples. The former secretary of State campaigned hardest for the LGBT vote in New York and ended up winning decisively. Buzzfeed wrote an extensive piece outlining all of the ad-buying on LGBT websites and grassroots campaigning Clinton had done to lock up LGBT support in her home state. Even Chelsea Clinton was dispatched for an emotional forum with Christine Quinn held at the downtown LGBT center.

New York wasn't the start of Clinton's LGBT-targeted outreach. She gave a speech to the Human Rights Campaign, the most prominent LGBT rights organization, way before the group endorsed her. It included a long list of promises (we counted 10) as she outlined her agenda to a cheering crowd.

Then HRC endorsed her, and days after winning their endorsement back in January she held a rally alongside the group's president, Chad Griffin, in Iowa of all places. Sanders called the endorsement "establishment" politics and it became an even bigger story for a week or so.

In other words, when it came to wooing LGBT voters, Clinton did a lot more "retail" politicking than Sanders. That's what the Washington media likes to call the type of thing Sanders did by heading over to drag brunch and shaking hands and taking pictures.

Clinton's LGBT record is not flawless though, and many Sanders supporters are quick to point out he embraced civil unions and marriage equality before Clinton did. He voted against the Defense of Marriage Act that was signed by her husband. And he opposed the "don't ask, don't tell" policy vigorously. All of that is in the campaign video finally released last month. You have to wonder, what if that video had been released in October?

Clinton had made missteps -- more than one. She angered queer voters when heralding Nancy Reagan's AIDS record after the Republican first lady died in March. Clinton ended up apologizing -- twice -- for her statement. Before that, she tried to paper over what led to DOMA when asked about it during a Rachel Maddow interview, which upset activists who remembered a much different version of history.

Maybe none of this recent burst in Sanders campaigning for LGBT votes is a shift, but actually a response. Sanders had his own bump in the road recently when several HIV and AIDS leaders were infuriated by first canceling a meeting and then, after it was rescheduled, releasing a press statement that touted his embrace of a California ballot initiative limiting the cost of HIV drugs.

"His campaign should not have issued a press release implying this was a major topic of discussion at the meeting, and that there was general agreement on the senator's position on this," HIV activist Peter Staley told the Washington Blade. "Anything but."

Recent statewide polls show a close race, with Clinton the choice of 47.7 percent of California voters and Sanders with 45.7 percent. A national poll of LGBT voters was taken in February, with Clinton leading with 48 percent and Sanders with 41 percent.