Paul Hackett, Pro-Gay and Proud of it.

For a couple months now I've been answering the "what are your plans after college" question with a vague idea about working on a 2006 congressional campaign for a returning Iraq War vet running as a Democrat, or a Fighting Dem, as they have become known as.

The problem for me has been figuring whose campaign I want to jump on. Figuring that out involves questions of location, strategy, principle, and well, personality. While I'm still not even close to making a decision, Paul Hackett's campaign sent out an email today that definitely shifted me a bit towards him.

Here's what he said that made me feel that he might be a politician I could work for in good conscience (granted I don't know all his positions yet):

Last week the Columbus Dispatch published a column about my candidacy that said, in part, the following:

"Asked to define being pro-gay rights, Hackett said anybody who tries to deny homosexuals the same rights, including marriage, as every other citizen is un-American. Are you saying, he was asked, that the 62 percent of Ohioans who voted in November 2004 to constitutionally deny same-sex marriages are un-American?

"If what they believe is that we're going to have a scale on judging which Americans have equal rights, yeah, that's un-American. They've got to accept that. It's absolutely un-American." Columbus Dispatch (01/15/06)

It wasn't long until the Republican attack machine came after me demanding an apology. They called what I said "hate speech." The Republican Party was up to its old tricks again, using fear to silence opposition. They expected me to back down like too many Democrats have in the past.

My response?

I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it. Equal justice under the law for all regardless of who they are and how they were born is fundamental to our American spirit and our American freedoms. Any person or group that argues that the law should not apply equally to all Americans is, frankly, un-American.

I realize that compromises have to pragmatically be made in politics, especially when running in tough races, but support of gay marriage and equal rights for sexual minorities is one place where I feel like I can't bend too much on principle. Truthfully, I'd have an easier time supporting a pro-life candidate than I would one who is against equality for gays and lesbians, though ideally I want support a candidate who is both pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. Although I disagree with pro-life policies, I can empathetically understand why someone would advocate against abortion if they think a fetus really is equal to an out of womb human. I can't empathetically relate to someone who is anti-gay.

Oh, and in the vein of support for pro-life Democrats, I was formally considering jumping on to Bob Casey's campaign for Senate in PA because I would really love to see Rick Santorum out of office, but his declaration that he would support Alito killed that idea for good.

So, yeah. In terms of currying my grunt work support: Hackett - 1, Casey - 0

- Glitter