Former McCain Aide Steve Schmidt Tells Bill Maher GOP Can't Attract Cutting Edge Workers Because They're Anti-Gay: VIDEO

Former McCain aide Steve Schmidt told a apanel on Bill Maher which included California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom that the GOP lags in its tech and internet capability because it can't attract young, cutting edge workers. Why? They don't want to work for a bigoted party.

Said Schmidt.

"If you look at your first guest on talking about brilliant young people in computers who understand all this stuff [and] be at the cutting edge, it's difficult to make the case to work for a political party that wants to discriminate against their friend who happens to be gay. So we have an enormous problem because of some of our issues in the Republican party that are so out of step whether its with regard to women, gays, the anti-immigrant rhetoric, and it makes it difficult to attract the best and the brightest in this space."

The panel then moved on to CPAC and its rejection of Chris Christie, and Schmidt got thanks from Newsom for signing on to the GOP SCOTUS amicus brief.

Watch both clips, AFTER THE JUMP...

Rachel Maddow Rips the New Jeremiah Wright Race Nonsense: VIDEO

Rachel Maddow looks at the old Jeremiah Wright tape that was dragged out by Drudge and the right-wing last night in an attempt to spring somekind of  'October surprise' on Obama. Unfortunately, the tape had been well-covered before, back in 2007.

Maddow sees what they're trying to do, if it isn't obvious:

"See this is supposed to make you think that in this tape from before he was President Barack Obama he's revealing his secret plan to be way more Black than he seems to you now. This is how he snuck into the White House. People actually didn't know he was this Black and if they had known he was this Black they never would have elected him. That's the idea here, righ?. The efforts to make President Obama's race sound like new news and to make it seem shocking are now ramping up aggressively."

Later, Maddow was joined by Republican strategist Steve Schmidt to discuss this new strategy.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Former McCain Campaign Manager Schmidt Says Gay Marriage a Conservative Issue

Former John McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt, a co-host of Ken Mehlman's Perry v. Schwarzenegger fundraiser in September, talks to Sam Stein at the Huffington Post about growing conservative support for marriage equality:

"There is a strong conservative case to be made in favor of gay marriage. Marriage is an institution that strengthens and stabilizes society. It is an institution that has the capacity to bring profound joy and happiness to people and it is a matter of equality and keeping faith of one of the charters of the nation, the right to live your life. More and more conservatives are saying that opposition to gay marriage would not be a litmus test for membership in the GOP. And more conservatives are making the case that no more do you want big government conservatives in the bedroom than big government liberals telling you how to live your life."

You may recall that Schmidt made headlines in September 2008 for a speech to the Log Cabin Republicans thanking them for their support of McCain (despite McCain's slate of anti-gay positions . This was followed up by Schmidt's full-on endorsement, in April 2009, of marriage equality at a speech to the same group.

But here's something I wish someone would ask Schmidt about — this bit from a 2005 GQ profile of blogger Mike Rogers by Jake Tapper:

"'Ken Mehlman is not gay,' insists Steve Schmidt, a senior official of the Bush campaign and a friend of Mehlman's, who refers to Rogers as a 'bottom dweller.'"

One wonders what definitive (but wrong) knowledge Schmidt had to make such an assertion about Mehlman, who was working hard to destroy (with anti-gay marriage initiatives and hateful rhetoric) the cause that Schmidt now seems to be championing.

Meghan McCain's Marriage Equality Tweet to Iowa Gays and Lesbians

Meghan McCain pro-marriage equality tweet today. Over the weekend, McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt, who has also been speaking out for marriage equality, declared the GOP "extinct" in many areas of the country.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Steve Schmidt to Log Cabin: GOP Must Embrace Gay Marriage

CNN talked to campaign advisor Steve Schmidt, who spoke to the Log Cabin Republicans today and stated his support for marriage equality, saying the Republican party needs to embrace it.

Watch CNN's report and read the full text of Schmidt's speech, AFTER THE JUMP...

McCain Advisor Schmidt to Call on GOP to Support Gay Marriage

McCain advisor Steve Schmidt, who recently announced his support for same-sex marriage, will will reiterate those remarks to the Log Cabin Republicans today. Schmidt's speech will make "both policy and political arguments for a Republican embrace of same-sex marriage," CNN's Political Ticker reports.

Speech excerpt: "There is a sound conservative argument to be made for same-sex marriage. I believe conservatives, more than liberals, insist that rights come with responsibilities. No other exercise of one's liberty comes with greater responsibilities than marriage...It cannot be argued that marriage between people of the same sex is un American or threatens the rights of others. On the contrary, it seems to me that denying two consenting adults of the same sex the right to form a lawful union that is protected and respected by the state denies them two of the most basic natural rights affirmed in the preamble of our Declaration of Independence — liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, I believe, gives the argument of same sex marriage proponents its moral force."

Schmidt met with the group in September at the Republican National Convention, thanking them for their support. At the time, he spoke of his sister, who is a lesbian. Said Schmidt at the time: "I just wanted to take a second to come by and pay my respect and the campaign’s respect to your organization and to your group. At a personal level, my sister and her partner are an important part of my life and our children’s life. I admire your group and your organization and I encourage you to keep fighting for what you believe in because the day is going to come."

Ex-McCain aide to call for gay marriage support [the ticker]