Equal Opportunity

There's not a whole lot of action in the comments, and the original post is way down the page, so I'm going to bump this up to the front page:

Bo Shuff said...

As Political Director of the Equality Ohio Campaign Fund, I feel obligated to respond to this post, and stand proudly behind David Goodman for re-election to Ohio Senate District 3.

The criteria that you mention in your post is accurate, we endorse candidates for office who champion Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equality, and Senator Goodman has met that test. While we would all hope that more people from each of the parties would be supportive of LGBT Equality, Sen Goodman went above and beyond just voting against issue 1. On the day of the floor vote, Sen. Goodman took to the floor and implored his colleagues to vote against Issue 1. He reminded them of a history that now causes us to question how people could possibly have justified slavery, discrimination, sexism, religious intolerance and hatred. He warned the Senate that if they passed this measure in time they would be seen the same way. His remarks demonstrated true leadership, no matter what party he is from. The fact that he is a Republican makes it even more noteworthy, in not only did he stand up for us, he stood up to his friends to do it.

Our endorsement of Sen. Goodman was not made in a vacuum. We feel that Emily Kreider brings a perspective to campaigns that is needed. I can say that unlike some races where we are forced to choose between a lesser of two evils, in this case we chose the stronger of two allies. Sen. Goodman has represented the interests if the LGBT community, and we are proud to support him in the face of criticism from some of our friends.

I'm flattered that EOCF took the time to respond to this blog. And I fully understand why they would support an incumbent (incumbency is actually listed as a 'preference' in their endorsement criteria) who has voted for LGBT issues. Furthermore, the title of the prior post is only partly tongue-in-cheek.

Which brings me to the (somewhat cynical) point of that last post. I've been looking for an example of 'leadership for a change' to substantiate Mr. Goodman's campaign slogan, as he hasn't provided one during the campaign. I found one. I asked, rhetorically, why he was not using it as a centerpiece of his campaign. My guess is that if he did, Emily Kreider would win going away, and he knows it. Issue 1 passed by 1.3 million votes, including a 20,000 vote margin here in Franklin Co. I don't have the district breakdown handy, but I bet it went in favor as well. We all know which way registered Republicans went.

So Mr. Goodman is making a smart political decision by keeping his anti-discrimination views in the background during campaign season. Equality Ohio is making a smart political decision, because they will end up with an ally in the Senate either way, and although they'll eventually win their friends back, a Republican legislator might not be so forgiving.

In the spirit of political decisions, let me be a little more explicit:

Liberal Bloggers and Gay Rights Groups Love David Goodman's Position on Gay Marriage!