Just out., November 05, 2004, Page 23, Image 23

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Continued from Page 2 h
W ith regard to the rout on marriage amend­
ments, she said, “The moral is that we can’t win at
the ballot box until we win at the water cooler.”
M att Daniels, president of the Alliance for
Marriage, attributed Bush’s increased support to
social issues such as the Federal Marriage
A m endm ent. He noted that in O hio, Bush’s
support went from 9 percent to 16 percent
among African Americans, while his support
among C atholic women increased by 5 percent.
Queer voters cast 23 percent of their ballots
for Bush in 2000, and most community leaders
felt that num ber would drop precipitously. It did
not. A bout 4 percent of all voters self-identified
as gay, lesbian, hi or trans in exit polls conduct­
ed during both elections, and this year 21 per­
cent said they voted for Bush.
Political science professor Ken Sherrill was
mystified by the results. “W hy was there no
change in either the direction or the intensity
of the vote?” he asked in a widely distributed
e-mail. T h at is one of the many questions that
community political leaders will have to ponder
during the coming years.
Jacques said they “were trying to get our
arms around th a t” and will continue to analyze
th at fact. “It is a very hard fact to fathom .” She
attributed it to some queer voters giving greater
weight to nonqueer issues.
T he South has become even more solidly
Republican, as that party picked up seats where
Democrats were retiring. A nd the political
prex;ess likely will become even more partisan
as two conservative firebrands first elected to
the House in 1994 now step up to the Senate.
O klahom an Tom Cohum , a physician and
archconservative, returns to Capitol Hill after a
four-year absence. During three terms in the
House, he played a leading role tin AIDS; after
retiring in 2000, he was appointed by Be S as
co-chairm an of th e Presidential Advisory
Council on HIV/AIDS.
W hile advix:ates appreciated his push for
increased AIDS funding, they strongly opposed
“Tne moral is that w e
can’t w in at tue ballot
box until w e w in
at tue water cooler”
—CAe/tyß ¿tacques
his efforts on abstinence, testing, opposition to
condoms and investigations that most saw as
harassment of AIDS services organizations. Now,
Congress
R
epublicans had a precarious 51-vote major­
ity in the Senate hut picked up at least
three seats in this election. M inority Leader
Tom Daschle of South Dakota was the only
incum bent to go down in defeat, losing a close
vote to John Thune.
Despite a string of anti-gay remarks, U .S.
Rep. Jim DeM int, R-S.C., will step up to
the Senate
as a senator, he is likely to play a
leading role on reauthorization
of the Ryan W hite Comprehen­
sive AIDS Resources Emergency
Act.
A nother member of the class
of archconservatives elected to
the House in 1994 is Jim DeMint
of South Carolina. A string of
anti-gay remarks during the cam­
paign were not enough to derail
his hid to step up to the Senate.
In a highly contested Horida race, Housing
Secretary Mel Martinez edged out Democrat
Betty Castor. HRC poured close to a half-mil-
lion dollars into an independent effort and voter
registration to help defeat Martinez.
O ne of the most gay-friendly Republicans,
Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter, won a tighter-
than-expected hid for re-election. He is in line
to become chairman of the Judiciary G irnm it-
tee, though conservatives may try to block that.
T he committee has jurisdiction over judicial
nominees and hate crimes and nondiscrimina­
tion legislation.
Gay advocates found hope in the election of
Barack Obama to represent Illinois. He will be
the only African American in that Kxly.
There never was any realistic hope for
Democrats to retake control of the House. But
Republicans are likely to gain at least two seats,
due chiefly to redistricting in Texas that shifted
congressional lines from tines favorable to
Denruxrats to Republicans. They picked up four
of the five seats targeted.
Jacques said, “92.4 percent of HRC-endorsed
candidates returned to Congress.” However,
those generally were safe seats. W herever
H R C took a real chance in endorsing an
underdog, it lost. JH
Senate M inority Leader Tom Daschle of
South D akota was the only incumbent to go
down in defeat
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