04/04/2008
Barack Obama Gets Blank Space Punishment from Philly Gay News
Fed up with the fact that Obama has not done an interview with local gay press in 1,522 days, the Philadelphia Gay News, which yesterday published a long interview with Hillary Clinton, made their point with a big white space in the paper today.
They even let a typo in his name go uncorrected.
The paper's publisher Mark Segal spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer: "We had great success with the Clinton campaign. They were very open to us and inviting from day one. The surprise to us was the Obama campaign. When we realized we weren’t getting very far with them, we decided to enlist other people — who are supporting Senator Obama — to assist us. These people happen to be some of his superdelegates and his strongest political supporter in the state: [U.S. Senator] Robert Casey and congressman Pat Murphy. All of whom advised him this was an interview he should do. We were told there had been scheduling problems. We’ve been told this now for weeks."
UPDATE: Segal neglected to disclose that he donated $1,000 to the Clinton campaign back in 2007.
Segal: Obama Hasn’t Spoken to Gay Press Since 2004 [the daily examiner]
Posted 4:25 PM EST by Andy Towle in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, News, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia | Permalink
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Oooooh, reverse psychology! Good one, Incredulousity.
Posted by: wow | Apr 4, 2008 5:51:09 PM
All well and good. Yet in front of non gay crowds??????????????????????????
crickets chirp because hillary never says such things in front of non gay crowds
Obama has. Multiple times now spoken in front of non gay crowds. In Churches NO LESS!!!!!!!!!! in support of us.
The Clinton supporters, kudos on your support for her, but read what Donna Brazille recently said. "Hillary Clinton's supporters are ruining her candidacy......."
Also, I would like to ask Hillary supporters to detail how exactly she is going to win the nomination.
Be specific on just how she is going to overcome
-obama pledged delegate lead 120+
- OBAMA POPULAR VOTE LEAD 700,000+ NOT INCLUDING 10 CAUCUSES THAT didn't count popular vote at all which would put his total actualy over 1 million + popular vote count if they had counted the popular vote in those 10 states
- more states won by Obama
- the supers who haven't comited , one and all saying that they will NOT overturn the vote
Please give details of a plan that actualy gets her the nomination.
Otherwise you are just being spiteful and hurting the presumptive nominee and enabling McCain a chance to win
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Apr 4, 2008 5:52:41 PM
Don't worry...I'm sure he'll by some ad space in a gay rag soon and make us feel special.
I think the real issue is that he doesn't want to be tied down to specifics and be held to promises he cannot keep later.
Posted by: Mike | Apr 4, 2008 5:56:45 PM
Is Michael Bedwell one of the Others from Lost?
Posted by: homer | Apr 4, 2008 5:58:17 PM
This is one of the most childish things of which I have ever heard. There must be some sort of plantation mentality at the PGN. I can just imagine the dialogue at the PGN: "How dare Obama not give us an interview?! Who's that uppity man think he is?"
You've GOT to be kidding me that this sort of nonsense has become part of the political discourse.
Given this response, I would not be surprised if the Obama folks expected a hatchet job or a spin job and wanted to pass.
I mean isn't this awfully convenient spin for Hillary?
Kudos to the Clinton camp for this one.
Posted by: Brandon | Apr 4, 2008 6:12:25 PM
Did anyone read that part about it being 1,522 days since an interview in a local LGBT paper? That seems to be more important. How does Obama explain that one?
I don't have a problem with Obama really. In the words of Wanda Wisdom, "Obama, save me from your people."
Posted by: Parker's Back | Apr 4, 2008 6:37:23 PM
Hillary cant win. Get over it guys! She needs to back out yesterday. I can't wait to see Obama and McCain on the same stage debating. That shits gonna be a landslide.
Posted by: ZWBush | Apr 4, 2008 6:48:50 PM
Segal gave $1000 to Hillary Clinton last year. he's hardly unbiased.
Posted by: Shane | Apr 4, 2008 6:48:57 PM
This whole myth that Obama is going to free the gay community from discrimination is laughable.
Once again, this man is lining up with anti-gay preachers and all anyone can talk about is that he said the word gay in front of a bunch of straight people.
http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=66&id=18614
I trust someone that talks to me, not about me. Talk to my face dude. Tell ME what you are going to do for the gay community. Let me see your face when you tell me you are for separate but equal status for LGBT people.
Posted by: The Realist | Apr 4, 2008 6:50:02 PM
Congrats to towleroad for posting this...the fact is Obama hasn't done an interview with the gay press for 1,522 days and counting... guess he doesn't want to be seen pandering to queers... shameful! Say what you will about HRC, but at least she talks to us - and isn't embarrassed to let everyone know it!
Posted by: Clarence | Apr 4, 2008 6:52:45 PM
Never underestimate the twisted thinking in HRC's political machine. It strikes me as unusual timing that this article comes out the same afternoon that HRC releases her tax returns. It is a smart move. We're talking about this rather than her $109 million dollars in income since leaving the White House. I can imagine HRC would love this story to gain traction to deflect from people questioning her new Rocky fight for the underdog persona when her returns prove she is a top dog. She had the audacity/genius of proposing a Cabinet-level "Poverty Czar" on the same day she releases the returns. It's all about the deflect from the truth for HRC. Like I said, it's the twisted logic of Clinton Camp!
Posted by: nick | Apr 4, 2008 6:54:45 PM
The only thing twisted is your mind.This isn't going to trump her returns being reported in the MSM.
Try again.
Posted by: The Realist | Apr 4, 2008 7:03:52 PM
Clinton's a fucking bold face liar. Obama is waiting to fuck the right up with his support for gay people. Vote for Obama and we will have equal rights vote for clinton and we'll have bill and that bitch liying to us again.
Posted by: david | Apr 4, 2008 7:10:01 PM
I love watching the homo sapiens in the circus that is politics, and see how utterly predictable they are. Ah yes...Politics, a complex social process that seeps into every human institution, and it's made only possible by the intellect of our frontal lobes--yet it appears to ultimately be run by more primitive structures where emotions govern. Like perfect little examples of classical conditioning, the Obama bell rings and the slobbering begins. The same applies to the Clinton supporters.
Obama, Clinton; the people posting; y'all are interchangeable.
I'm certain that if Clinton had been the one who declined the interviews there wouldn't be a shortage of "bitch" aimed at her for it.
So hopelessly biased some of you are.
Do you not see?
--MK
Posted by: Michael Kingsford | Apr 4, 2008 7:23:48 PM
I've said it before -- it's really easy to be pro-gay when you're in a gay ghetto and talking to gay press which is what the Senator from New York does. It's hard to be pro-gay when you're dealing with the rest of America, which is what Obama has done and continues to do. He's consistent on his message of tolerance of gays, whether or not he's talking to us or to a black Church on MLK's birthday.
And frankly, I'd rather have that kind of real support than the Senator from New York's shameless pandering.
Posted by: Cameron Johnson | Apr 4, 2008 7:41:14 PM
It's all about a five-letter word: M-O-N-E-Y.
Hilary Clinton has the backing of the monied gay establishment in Philadelphia. Segal's convenient non-disclosure of his donation to the Clinton campaign totally undermines his credibility and the credibility of his report.
While Hilary Clinton has stood by in silence, Obama has spoken up again and again in this campaign against homophobia, including to audiences (e.g., Beaumont, TX) that he knew would not receive that message. He has courage and conviction.
Hilary will continue the politics of triangulation and throw the LGBT community under the bus as fast as her husband did, once elected.
Posted by: Bill | Apr 4, 2008 7:44:52 PM
It's all about a five-letter word: M-O-N-E-Y.
Hilary Clinton has the backing of the monied gay establishment in Philadelphia. Segal's convenient non-disclosure of his donation to the Clinton campaign totally undermines his credibility and the credibility of his report.
While Hilary Clinton has stood by in silence, Obama has spoken up again and again in this campaign against homophobia, including to audiences (e.g., Beaumont, TX) that he knew would not receive that message. He has courage and conviction.
Hilary will continue the politics of triangulation and throw the LGBT community under the bus as fast as her husband did, once elected.
Posted by: Bill | Apr 4, 2008 7:45:31 PM
So the folks who gave us The Defense of Marriage Act (& are still defending it!) And "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" have the "courage" to sit down with a marginal gay newspaper in a state who's primary is do or die for them; but the opposition (Obama) doesn't & we're supposed to see this as some kind of betrayal by Obama? Hell, Clinton sat down with that nut job Richard Mellon Scaife last week, she will do anything, anywhere , with anyone to get this nomination & she's hurting the party in the process. As Bill Mahr said last week, with Hillary, it's "get elected or lie trying!" I think Clinton is going to win big in PA but it's too little too late, the nominee is Obama. Somebody ask DAVID MIXNER what he thinks about the Clintons!
Posted by: thegaygardener | Apr 4, 2008 7:58:54 PM
Obama is not homophobic. I do not see how granting an interview is required for vetting a candidate. He is in the lead nationally and will probably get the nod. It is time for us to pull together and defeat the real enemies of glbt civil liberties --the republicans!
Both candidates would be fairer on our issues than McCain.
He has often spoken to the mainstream press about how destructive it is to use us as a wedge issue. He has make several speeches and comments that he supports our liberties and dignity.
I will support whoever gets the nomination as both are better on the issues. I believe that he brings a lot of new people to the table and cares about all Americans. He has a great voting record both in the state of Illinois and the senate and deserves respect and consideration for that. Again, he is not a homophobe.
Posted by: Bill in PDX | Apr 4, 2008 8:11:13 PM
Even if he's not a homophobe, he wants to ignore us just like everyone else trying to stay away from gay issues.
Obama said he does not support gay marriage.
Obama said it's basically a waste of time to even discuss it because of other more important problems.
Apparently, he thinks civil rights only matter if you're black.
Let's face it. Many black churchgoers don't have a reputation for being friends of gay people.
There is no reason for any gay person to support this man. The GOP has not even got started yet ripping him apart. By November he will be unelectable.
Posted by: rrgg | Apr 4, 2008 8:27:00 PM
This reminds me of an old joke ... sHillary is now doing small town papers because "she never made it to the big room" in Vegas.
Oh well, now that I see her tax records, let her spend more money.
The election for her is OVAH!
Posted by: FunMe | Apr 4, 2008 8:30:34 PM
The attributions are reversed I said the pro Obama stuff not the reverse. I believe the gaygardener responded to my post please correct. Thanks.
Posted by: Bill in PDX | Apr 4, 2008 9:05:52 PM
The fact remains he hasn't spoken to the local gay press for over 1522 days. There is something wrong there... and bashing the paper for pointing it out isn't a rebuke - it's a cop out. I don't like it, and unless I can get a reasonable explanation it is completely unacceptable, PERIOD! There is no fricking way his schedule has been full for 1522 days....
Posted by: Darrell | Apr 4, 2008 9:50:37 PM
The NEXT place Hillary will be hiding her pro gay views from the straight public will be on the Ellen show Monday. Of course, with her Evil Witch powers none of the MILLIONS of straight viewers will be able to see or hear her say that,
"she would defend gay rights as president and eliminate disparities for same-sex couples in federal law, including immigration and tax policy." - Associated Press.
Instead they will see a rerun of Bruce Willis promoting his last movie.
PS: Anyone out there know a special dry cleaner? I'm still trying to get those huge tracks off the back of my favorite shirt from last October when the bus paid for by Obama and driven by Donnie "Gays are trying to kill our children" McClurkin ran over us. In any case, I hope your dicks are longer than your memories.
Posted by: Michael Bedwell | Apr 4, 2008 9:58:40 PM
I am Bill from PDX and my post was pro Obama saying that he was not a homophobe etc and the attribtutions were reversed w gaygardener I posted a correction and it was attributed to fumme.
There are errors with this site. Please correct the problem. I like this website and the discussion has been lively but.....
Posted by: Bill in PDX | Apr 4, 2008 10:19:20 PM