What Is A LGBT Democrat To Do In 2010?

I attended a meeting of the Hampton Democratic Party City Committee last evening and once again I was looked to for a comment on what's going among the LGBT and potential voters. Frankly, I summed up the Democratic Party's problem - at least in my view - in two words: Barack Obama. Other words might include broken promises, lack of leadership, lack of back bone, etc. Other activists who wanted to remain anonymous (hence no reference to their names or positions) shared with me their frustrations at the White House's self-inflicted wounds and the damage done to the moral of the Democratic base. From the LGBT perspective, David Mixner has a proposed game plan that makes sense to me, the most notable being: (1) vote and contribute to candidates that have voted the right way on LGBT issues, and (2) don't give a dime to Democratic Party organizations. Even if it may sadly be to late to avert disaster on November 2, 2010, the party needs to learn a severe lesson: alienate important portions of the base and pay a high price. Here are highlights from David's post:
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I know there are those who have had it with the Democratic Party and in many cases with good substantive policy reasons. Certainly the LGBT community can legitimately feel rejected, deceived and abused by the Party this year. With a vastly Democratic Congress and a Democratic President, the results for our community are pitiful. Some of that can be chalked up to a failure of leadership in our own national organizations.
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As a result, many of you are tempted to stay home or vote Green. . . . but I do not believe that is an effective strategy in a case it could either cause the defeat of a 'full equality Democrat' or elect a total destructive nut job like Sharron Angle to the United States Senate.
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[I]f you choose to vote Democrat, then this year you most certainly have choices and some good ones. This is a year we can be good citizens, participate in the battle for the best government we can achieve in these times and not blindly support any old Democrat. Here are some guidelines on those choices.
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1. Vote. For any person of any ideology not to vote is just criminal in my mind.
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2. Contribute to those candidates who support 'full equality including marriage equality' who are in tough races. I will do my best over the next weeks to point these tough races out to you. We have a number of US Senate races and Congressional races where the Democratic nominee supports us 100%. We should be there for them.
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3. Contribute to openly LGBT candidates who have a real shot either directly or through the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.
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4. Do not contribute to Democratic Party entities. Do you want your money to go to Senator Ben Nelson or Congressman Ike Skelton who oppose us to the hilt? If you contribute to the Party establishment then you are contributing to them.
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5. Do support organizations that only support candidates for full equality. If they are supporting candidates with less than full equality then don't give to them.
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6. Also the battles in states like New York, California and Minnesota for marriage equality should be on the top of our lists. . . .
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There is a lot we can do to help as LGBT Democrats in this year's elections without being blackmailed or guilted into supporting horrible conservative blue dog Democrats.