Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, racked up endorsements from four gay papers on both coasts this week as he heads into a showdown against New York Senator Hillary Clinton on Super Tuesday next week.
Residents in 22 states, including the gay voter rich states of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois and New York, will vote in the February 5 primaries. The outcome of the various contests will either declare a winner in the race or send the candidates scrambling to find enough delegates in the remaining primaries to secure the nomination.
Obama received the biggest boost in the hunt for LGBT voters when papers in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta all endorsed his campaign. Lining up behind the first African American to have a serious chance of being elected president were, respectively, In Newsweekly, Gay City News, the Bay Times, and Southern Voice.
As Southern Voice editor Laura Douglas-Brown sees it, "on gay issues, Barack is best" due to his backing a full repeal of the Defense on Marriage Act. Clinton has advocated for only partial repeal of the anti-gay bill her husband signed into law.
"If Obama is elected president, his principled willingness to advocate full repeal of DOMA – as opposed to Clinton's cautious pragmatism – will move the bar of gay rights farther forward, regardless of whether the actual repeal is accomplished under his tenure," wrote Douglas-Brown.
In San Jose, Obama also won the straw poll at the Tuesday, January 29 LGBT presidential forum hosted by the Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club and the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center. Of the 40-plus audience members, 41 percent picked Obama, while 28 percent went with former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who dropped out of the race the next day. Clinton received 25 percent of the vote.
The former first lady, meanwhile, added endorsements this week from San Diego's Gay and Lesbian Times and the Web site Gay Wired to the nod she received from the Washington Blade in late December.
Beyond the number tally, Clinton may in fact have been the winner this week despite having the least amount of endorsements. Earning the backing of a gay paper this presidential cycle appears to have jinxed, if not doomed, a contender's chances.
The gay media curse, if you will, started with Clinton, the first Democrat to win a gay paper's endorsement. Shortly after the Blade backed her, Clinton nosedived in the Iowa caucus and staved off a repeat performance in New Hampshire only after she gave a teary-eyed response to a voter's question the day before the vote.
Next up to experience the gay paper pox was New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who officially bowed out of the race only hours after the Bay Area Reporter came out with an endorsement for his campaign.
This week it was Edwards's turn. He ended his second bid to be president Wednesday, the same day he received the support of the Tucson Observer. In an e-mail he signed as Mark "Can't Pick 'Em" Kerr, the paper's editor said he did include op-ed pieces for Obama and Clinton in the same edition.
"The Observer expressed its support for Edwards for his ideas but couched it by stating that any of three will be a plus for the LGBT community, which they could vote for in the November general. The Observer also urged people to vote and vote for their choice," wrote Kerr. "In other words, I had a sick feeling and covered the bases, so to write. People are going to vote for their first choice and whomever wins, the Observer will move mountains to get them elected, even in Arizona."
If past history is any guide, then Obama's racking up gay papers' support this week could lead to a Clinton sweep on Tuesday.
In the eyes of Joseph Pena, editor of the San Diego paper, that would be the best outcome for the LGBT community. As he wrote in his paper's endorsement of Clinton, it could lead to what some are calling "the dream ticket" in the November general election.
"Ideally, we'd like to see a Clinton/Obama ticket and 16 combined years of leadership between the two candidates. Their progressive stands on health care and aid for the middle and working classes, coupled with their commitment to protect civil rights and repair America's tarnished global image would create a powerful partnership aimed at realizing the hope we all have for this great country," wrote Pena. "Barack Obama, a capable candidate, represents hope for the future. Hillary Clinton is the hope we need now."