Tag: 2020 election

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Beto O’Rourke Reveals 30+ Point Plan For LGBTQ Equality

Beto O’Rourke and supporters (image via Instagram)

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has announced a wide-ranging plan for LGBTQ equality on Wednesday.

Listing an agenda of more than 30 actions he would take and/or support, the plan is divided in three parts: Executive Action to Protect LGBTQ+ People, Legislative Action to Ensure Full Equality and Protect the LGBTQ+ Community Across the Globe.

On his Instagram, O’Rourke said the proposal “would leverage executive power and call for congressional action that ensures that LGBTQ+ people have full equality and opportunity.”

First, O’Rourke would reverse many of Donald Trump’s disastrous executive actions and policies including:

• The discriminatory transgender military ban

• Overturning the ‘Deploy or Get Out’ policy that is currently discharging HIV+ service members

• Reversing the Trump policy that allows healthcare providers to deny treatment to LGBTQ+ people

• Directing the Department of Justice to investigate crimes against transgender people, especially trans women of color

• Reviewing the outdated blood donation requirements including the current 1-year ban for sexually active gay and bisexual men

• Ensure LGBTQ+ people are included in federal data collection efforts

• Appoint judges who have a proven record of supporting full civil rights for everyone

On a legislative front, O’Rourke promises to:

• Push for the passage of The Equality Act

• Ensure LGBTQ+ people have equal access to healthcare

• Enact the Every Child Deserves a Family Act which bars adoption and foster care programs that receive taxpayer dollars from discriminating against prospective LGBTQ parents

And the foreign policy aspect of his efforts would be:

• To promote foreign policy efforts to protect LGBTQ people abroad fleeing from persecution and violence

• Working with the United Nations on global protections for LGBTQ folks

• Investment in the Global Equality Fund which provides assistance to human rights groups working on behalf of LGBTQ people.

Click over to O’Rourke’s campaign site for more the details.

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Poll: Presidential Voters Say Age More Disqualifying Than Being Gay

A new a Reuters/Ipsos poll may be good news for Mayor Pete Buttigieg as the survey shows age may be a more disqualifying factor for presidential candidates than sexual orientation.

Via Reuters:

Overall, the poll found that 48% of adults in the United States said they were “much” or “somewhat” less likely to support someone for the White House if the person was older than 70, while 34% were less likely to vote for someone who is gay.

And 12% said they were more likely to vote for a gay candidate, compared with 11% who said they were more likely to support a candidate who is over 70.

The current Democratic field of candidates running for the 2020 presidential nomination includes two septuagenarians – former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The poll also showed that minorities were more likely to be supportive of a gay candidate than whites, and millennials were more supportive than Baby Boomers. Additionally, urban dwellers were more supportive than those living in rural areas.

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Joe Biden: Passing The Equality Act Will Be Top Priority As President

Speaking at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Columbus, Ohio, former Vice President Joe Biden promised to make LGBTQ equality a priority.

Speaking at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Columbus, Ohio, former Vice President Joe Biden promised to make LGBTQ equality a priority.

In a wide-ranging speech, the 2020 presidential candidate called out the Trump administration as a “disaster for human rights,” pointing out many of its ongoing attacks on the rights and protections of LGBTQ Americans.

Biden also denounced current vice current Vice President Mike Pence for using religious freedom as a license to discriminate against LGBTQ folks.

“Just like with racial justice and women’s rights, we are seeing pushback against all the progress we’ve made toward equality,” said Biden as he discussed protections for transgender Americans. “It’s wrong and it is immoral what they’re doing.”

Biden announced during the half hour speech that signing the Equality Act would be his top legislative priority. “It will be the first thing I ask to be done,” Biden said.

In a lighthearted moment, Biden recalled announcing his support for marriage equality in 2012 before President Obama had done so.

Biden remembered many political pundits thinking, “I had just committed this gigantic blunder.” He also shared that he’d told the president if asked about same-sex marriage, “I was not going to be quiet.”

It’s a great speech – well worth the watching.

In advance of his HRC speech, Biden tweeted out his support for Pride Month:

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Poll: Joe Biden Leads Dem Hopefuls By 19+

Sen. Bernie Sanders (L), former VP Joe Biden (C) and Sen. Kamala Harris (R)
A new national survey by Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden has an impressive 19 point lead over his nearest competitor for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Hill reports that Biden pulled 36 percent support in the new poll while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders garnered 17 percent.
California Sen. Kamala Harris came in third with 8 percent, and tying for fourth place were Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 5 percent.
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13 Democrats Have ‘Double Qualified’ To Participate In First Presidential Debates

The list of Democratic contenders for the 2020 presidential nomination keeps growing as we approach the first debates of the primary season on June 26 and June 27 in Miami.

Qualifying candidates will be split into two fields of 10 appearing on back-to-back nights.

The Democratic National Committee set rules this year that only 20 candidates will be allowed to participate in the first debates. In order to qualify, a candidate must either have more than 65,000 individual donors to their campaign OR garner at least 1% in three or more designated polls.

According to Politico, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee secured a spot on the Democratic presidential debate stage after collecting the 65,000th individual donor of his campaign this week.

Candidates who reach both thresholds will get priority over those who only meet one. It’s highly unlikely that more than 20 Democrats will meet both the polling and the fundraising criteria.

Inslee is the thirteenth person to “double qualify,” joining Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang.

Nineteen candidates have met at least one threshold.

No word yet on whether the Republicans will hold any primary debates between Donald Trump and any challengers.

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Confident Pete Buttigieg Makes Strong Showing During Fox News Town Hall

Openly gay Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg had an impressive showing Sunday night as he answered questions at a Fox News town hall event hosted by anchor Chris Wallace.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Openly gay Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg had an impressive showing Sunday night as he answered questions at a Fox News town hall event hosted by anchor Chris Wallace.

While most Democratic candidates aren’t heading over to the conservative cable news outlet for coverage, Buttigieg defended the appearance. “If we don’t show up, the conservative media will tell our side of the story for us,” he told Wallace.

The 37-year-old mayor is the third Democratic contender to show up to a Fox News event. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) participated in a Q&A for the conservative cable news outlet in April, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) appeared at a network town hall earlier in May.

Last week, however, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) declined an invitation from Fox News to appear at a similar event.

“A lot of folks in my party were critical of me even doing this with Fox News,” Buttigieg told Wallace. “And I get where that’s coming from, especially when you see what goes on with some of the opinion hosts on this network.”

“I mean, when you got Tucker Carlson saying that immigrants make American dirty; when you got Laura Ingraham comparing detention centers with children in cages to summer camps—summer camps—then, there is a reason why anyone has to swallow hard and think twice before participating in this media ecosystem,” he continued.

“But, I also believe that even though some of those hosts are not always there in good faith, I think a lot of people tune into this network who do it in good faith,” he concluded.

Across a wide variety of topics, Buttigieg answered questions without pause or having to qualify his responses.

In the aftermath of Alabama’s newly-passed ban on abortion, Wallace asked Buttigieg his thoughts on the legislation. Buttigieg answered that he trusts “women to draw the line.”

“I trust women to draw the line when it is their own body,” he said. “I believe that the right of a woman to make her own decisions about her own reproductive health and her own body is a national right, I believe it is an American freedom.”

The decision to have an abortion “is not going to be made any better, medically or morally, because the government is dictating how that decision should be made,” he added.

Asked how he felt he would handle attacks and tweets from Donald Trump in a general election, Buttigieg replied, “The tweets are…I don’t care.”

The answer spurred a big round of applause from the audience attending the event in Claremont, New Hampshire.

Buttigieg did note that it was “hard for anyone to look away” when the Trumpster tweets, but qualified that saying “it is the nature of grotesque things that you can’t look away.”

At the end of the hour-long town hall, Buttigieg was given a chance to address the audience directly. His appeal was met with a standing ovation, surprising Wallace.

The Hill reports the town hall event drew 1.1 million viewers.

The appearance clearly got under the president’s skin as Trump criticized his favorite network via Twitter.

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Candidates Offer Rainbow+ Campaign Gear For Pride

With Pride Month just weeks away, some Democratic presidential candidates are serving up LGBTQ-themed Pride campaign swag adorned with rainbow stripes.
(via PeteForAmerica.com)

With Pride Month just weeks away, some Democratic presidential candidates are serving up LGBTQ-themed Pride campaign swag adorned with rainbow stripes.

For the record: yes, I know Donald Trump has a lone rainbow t-shirt on his campaign site. He also openly opposes The Equality Act, so, there you go…

It’s probably not surprising that Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the only openly gay White House contender, is offering the most variety in campaign Pride merchandise – t-shirts, stickers, backpacks, pins – so you can show your support and Pride all at the same time.

The gear comes in not only rainbow stripes, but the familiar pink/white/blue colors of the transgender flag as well.

Interestingly, Buttigieg’s rainbow utilizes the new version of the Pride flag that includes black and brown stripes meant to embrace LGBTQ people of color.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) is getting into the Pride mood as well offering a “Persist” t-shirt with rainbow colors.

Warren’s camp got a little creative with the colors as well since her buzz word “persist” has seven letters, so they added an extra touch of light purple to their rainbow.

On a ‘Pride for the People’ page of her campaign website, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) utilizes the traditional Pride rainbow stripes with her first name (which just happens to have six letters), but adds the newer black/brown stripes to her buzzword t-shirt, “Fearless.”

In the past, I’ll admit I’ve purchased Hillary and Obama t’s during campaign seasons, so I’ll probably snag something from the list here.

But even if you don’t want to get political, you can still get your Pride on in style with merchandise from Target (a whole treasure trove of rainbow items there) or sneakers from Adidas or Converse, who put out their own annual Pride kicks.

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Buttigieg Claps Back At Trump’s ‘Alfred E. Neuman’ Nickname: “I Guess It’s A Generational Thing”

Donald Trump (L) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (R)

Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg clapped back at Donald Trump after the president attempted a new nickname for the mayor.

In an interview with Politico, Trump dismissed the 37-year-old White House hopeful by referencing the freckled, gap-toothed Alfred E. Neuman character of Mad Magazine fame.

“Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” said the Trumpster.

When asked about the verbal slap, Buttigieg responded without a pause.

“I’ll be honest, I had to Google that, I guess it’s a generational thing,” said the mayor. “I didn’t get the reference. It’s kind of funny I guess, but he’s also the president of the United States and I’m surprised he’s not spending more time trying to salvage this deal with China.”

Meow!

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Military Records Offer Insight Into Mayor Pete’s Service In Afghanistan

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (images via social media)

Political news site The Hill has obtained military documents that offer some insight into Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s time spent in Afghanistan as a Navy intelligence officer.

Buttigieg has mentioned on the campaign trail he took a seven month leave during his first term as mayor to serve in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom launched by President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

According to The Hill, the documents show the then-32-year-old served in the Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell (ATFC) in Kabul from March to September of 2014. The files indicate that assignment put him in “an imminent danger pay area.”

The focus of the ATFC was to identify and disrupt “insurgent financial support networks in Afghanistan” related to the Taliban and Al-Qaida.

The Hillreports his duties included representing ATFC at “high level briefings, and he also “coordinated intelligence sharing and targeting deconfliction” methods with several organizations.

As Buttigieg mentioned in his book Shortest Way Home, he imagined he would spend most of his time in Afghanistan “behind a sophisticated computer terminal in a secure area.” But it turned out he had to venture some 119 times “outside the wire,” which meant leaving his fairly secure base. During those trips into Kabul, he served as vehicle commander on convoy security detail.

While he’s never claimed to have engaged in direct combat, Buttigieg did describe in his book the dangers unpredictable Kabul neighborhoods could present.

“In a ritual to be repeated dozens of times, I would heave my armored torso into the driver’s seat of a Land Cruiser, chamber a round in my M4, lock the doors and wave a gloved goodbye to the Macedonian gate guard,” wrote Buttigieg.

“My vehicle would cross outside the wire and into the boisterous Afghan city, entering a world infinitely more interesting and ordinary and dangerous than our zone behind the blast walls at ISAF headquarters,” he added.

Even in an armored vehicle, he was trained to be on the lookout for possible explosive devices hidden along the roads, or a number of telltale signs of a surprise ambush around any corner. “A suddenly empty neighborhood. A nervous-looking lone driver of a vehicle with a heavy trunk load. An obviously male hand coming out from underneath a woman’s blue burqa.”

Mayor Pete is one of the few Democratic presidential candidates whose resume includes active duty military experience.

Donald Trump did not serve in the military due to reported ‘bone spurs’in his feet.

(Source: The Hill)

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New Poll: Biden Leads Democratic Contenders By 30 Points

Former Vice President Joe Biden


The Hill is reporting that former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 30-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Democratic presidential field, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll.

• 44% Joe Biden
• 14% Sen. Bernie Sanders
• 9% Sen. Kamala Harris

All other candidates garnered 5 percent or less.

Biden also has the confidence of voters who were asked who would be the best choice to beat Donald Trump. Forty percent named Biden, while Sanders came in a distant 13 percent.