Wednesday, April 06, 2011

A True LGBT Ally Has Been Picked to Head DNC

I've never been a fan of Tim Kaine's when it comes to his fair weather support on LGBT issues. He will give a certain amount of lip service but time and time again he fails to act and get things done. The new adoption regulations currently causing a firestorm in Virginia - and again highlighting that Virginia is generally down right hostile towards its LGBT citizens - is a case in point. Kaine waited until only two months before his term ended to start the process. revising adoption regulations. Why wasn't is started far earlier in his terms? Now, with Kaine running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jim Webb (I will likely vote for Kaine merely because the GOP candidate will assuredly be an anti-gay Neanderthal), Debbie Wasserman of Florida has been tapped to head up the DNC. Her appointment may not bring all that many in the LGBT community might want, but at least we will now have someone at the top of the Democratic party who does seem to actually give a damn about LGBT citizens and their lives. Here are highlights from the New York Times:
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Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida was named Tuesday as the new chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, with President Obama selecting her to lead the party’s fund-raising and organizational efforts heading into the 2012 election cycle.
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Ms. Wasserman Schultz, 44, accepted the position during an afternoon call with the president. She succeeds Tim Kaine, who served as the party’s national chairman for the last two years but announced earlier Tuesday that he is running for a Senate seat in Virginia.
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Ms. Wasserman Schultz is known inside the party for her strong fund-raising abilities, and she represents South Florida, which will be a critical battleground in the 2012 presidential race. She also would become one of the few high-profile women to speak on television on behalf of the president and the party.
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“She’s part of the next generation of Democrats,” said Jenny Backus, a longtime party strategist and former official at the Democratic National Committee.
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[H]eading into the 2012 presidential election year, when women voters will be among the key constituencies, the president was encouraged by advisers to select Ms. Wasserman Schultz.
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Four years ago, Ms. Wasserman Schultz supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary fight, but she quickly switched her loyalties to Mr. Obama when he became the presumptive nominee. She campaigned aggressively on his behalf for the rest of the 2008 campaign.

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