The Log Cabin Republicans are not happy with Obama. Bob Kabel, the former LCR national board chairman, thought Obama’s administration ended up being “a disappointment,” and wanted to see the President do more to reach across the aisle:
“I, frankly, was one who really believed that perhaps we were at a moment in history where his sort of optimism and sort of self-stated ability to bring people together would actually make a difference.
“But what we’ve seen in the execution during his administration has really been very disappointing – it’s actually the opposite. He’s extraordinarily partisan, he’s extraordinarily liberal, he’s really made very little effort, if any, to bring certainly Republicans and more conservative people together to resolve the nation’s issues.”
But are the LCR actually onto something? More gay people than ever are now supporting Republican candidates: 31 percent of gay and lesbian voters during the midterm House races voted for the GOP – an increase from the 19 percent who did the same in 2008. And Republican candidates are experiencing an increase in gay support by over 10 percent since 2008. Gay people who are not die-hard liberals might actually exist, everyone, and the LCR is depending on them to oust Obama from the White House in 2012.
The cohesion of the LGBT voting bloc has officially been disrupted. Over what? Kabel wants Republicans to capitalize on the economy and stray from social issues when appealing to The Gays this election season, especially since Obama is the man who repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and kind of got working on the Defense of Marriage Act. And as we’ve already observed here at Autostraddle, gay voters are super important in this upcoming election: Obama needs our money to succeed. And well, we need his support to get gay rights legislation moving anywhere. But gay voters shifting away from Obama are not alone – there’s a lot of liberal discontent with his first term. (Not that gay discontent is really a Thing. After all, the HRC already endorsed Obama.)
There are a few things to think about after the LCR’s assertion that Obama should no longer serve, like where are all of these gay people voting for Republicans? And who exactly do they plan on putting into the Oval Office who would actually care about gay rights? Do gay rights have to be the only thing you care about as a gay person? And no, really, who exactly do they plan on putting into the Oval Office, and why?
Your gay vote is more important than ever right now. Isn’t that exciting?! The only thing you have to do by election day is decide who you’re voting for. That might be a little harder for some LGBT voters than it was last election, or the election before.
