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07/13/2007
And he didn't even have to Grovel
After much grousing about Sen. Mike Gravel (pic.) not being invited from their forthcoming presidential event, HRC has now had a change of heart and invited the pro-gay Senator to the soiree. This from a new HRC release:
Los Angeles, CA -- The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Logo, a division of Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks, today made additional announcements about the presidential candidate forum on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues to take place in Los Angeles on August 9. After enthusiastic community response, former Senator Mike Gravel has been invited to participate. Confirmed candidates now include, in alphabetical order, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), former Senator John Edwards (D-NC), Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). The format of the program will also be extended to 90 minutes to ensure in-depth conversations with each candidate. Discussions are continuing with a variety of journalists and a moderator for the forum will be announced in the near future.
Emboldened by the payoff, we hear Team Gravel will now start bitching directly to the hearts and minds of the nation's Democratic voters until they too let him in.
Hey, it's a strategy!
At this point, Gov. Bill Richardson is the only major Dem candidate to not publicly aknowledge the HRC/ Logo invitation (Biden declined, citing scheduling conflicts). Clearly that means he prefers NGLTF & Bravo!
MORE NEWS ANNOUNCED ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION AND LOGO
PRESIDENTIAL FORUM [HRC]
**SEE ALSO: Pressure from bloggers causes HRC reversal on Gravel; Former Alaska Senator will participate in forum on LOGO [P1Q]
Technorati Tags: HRC, Logo, Mike Gravel
Your thoughts
"After enthusiastic community response..."
Since when is denouncing a stupid decision "being enthusiastic"?
Spin cycle to maximum...
Posted by: KipEsquire | Jul 13, 2007 4:55:55 PM
Do the math. Another ABSURD aspect of this Not A Debate/Not Really A Forum, and further proof that LOGO/MTV have their heads up their collective asses, is that only 90 hour is being allotted for 25-30 million gay Americans to hear their lives directly discussed on television for the first time in history by candidates for President!
Gravel makes 6 candidates that have accepted so far. Richardson will, too, for 7.
Deduct at least 5 minutes for LOGO/MTV promos and program intros ["Good evening. You've never heard of me but my name is Joe Solmonese and I am God blah blah blah."]. and the questioning of each candidate separately [NB: they will NOT be on the stage at the same time], and another 5 minutes for the close ["You probably still don't know who I am but I want to thank the candidates and LOGO and MTV and my proctologist and give a shout out to all my homos er homeys at the Human Rights Champagne fund blah blah blah"]. Deduct at least another five minutes [and that’s being generous] for candidates moving on and off stage as they will appear individually. That leaves 75 minutes which means just a little over 10 minutes total for each candidate’s time on stage.
How many questions for each or how they’ll be asked is the unknown at this point. But let’s assume the minimum: one 30 second question per candidate, plus hellos and goodbyes, another 30 seconds. Now we’re down to 9 minutes per candidate. I count at least 8 important issues affecting the gay community: marriage/civil unions, protecting gay kids in school, DADT, ENDA, the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill, gay adoption, gay immigration rights, and AIDS prevention and care. That means there’s, at best, just over ONE MINUTE per candidate per issue! But, hey, we didn’t want to hurt Gravel’s feelings. That's what was most important.
Posted by: Leland | Jul 13, 2007 9:18:52 PM
I so, so wish that this had been hosted by any organization other than the ineffectual and partisan HRC. I'm disappointed because I want to support the HRC, but Joe Solmonese seems more interested in promoting the interests of a particular party than truly doing what is best for the LGBT community. I'm sure they mean well - maybe they think that their only hope is the Democratic party, or something, and perhaps they're not to be blamed (it sure doesn't seem like the Republican party is coming around). Still, it would be wise to garner input from everyone who's willing to help, and if Gravel is, then the panel shouldn't deny him the opportunity to speak out .
Posted by: Marie S, it | Jul 14, 2007 6:29:35 PM
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