There may be a thawing of relations between Obama and Clinton supporters after all.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has hired Luis Vizcaino, who is openly gay and most recently served as the California communications director for former presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton.

Harris is the California campaign co-chair for Senator Barack Obama's presidential bid.

"I've always worked on issues that I feel very strongly about and passionate about," said Vizcaino, 39. "When I met with District Attorney Harris, I understood that she's in public service for all the right reasons, to really make a change" and improve the lives of people in the LGBT community and others.

"It's no secret that the LGBT community is many times targeted just for who we are, and District Attorney Harris will prosecute criminals that commit crimes against the community just for being who we are," he said.

Vizcaino, who oversees two deputy spokeswomen, started his new job August 4. He replaces Debbie Mesloh, who is now working as Obama's Missouri communications director.

Mesloh's salary as listed in 2007 San Francisco salary data was $92,152. Vizcaino's salary has not been determined.

Vizcaino said his goal is to strengthen the line of communication between Harris and the community, whether it's by her being at more public events or through various media channels. He said the LGBT community would be seeing a lot of Harris in the months to come at public forums.

Harris is working to make the city safer with programs such as Back on Track, a program designed to lower recidivism by helping people with education and employment opportunities, to "improve the system and make it a system that works for the victims and for the residents," Vizcaino said.

Harris said, "Luis being here is going to allow us to communicate with the community in a stronger way about work we've been doing and are committed to doing. What Luis brings is a caliber of communications skills that is top-notch."

Harris said doing outreach on hate crimes is one area of interest, and she's excited about Vizcaino reaching out to LGBTs and other communities.

Vizcaino, who was born in Ecuador and has a degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, said working for Clinton was "an honor and a privilege." He's also held other high-profile positions, including national communications and marketing director for the Human Rights Campaign, the Washington, D.C.-based LGBT lobbying organization.

Asked about what it is like working with Harris, who's supporting Obama's presidential bid, Vizcaino said, "At the end of the day, we're all Democrats. We support Senator Obama to be the next president."