"Sen. McCain showed courage by bucking his own party's leadership and the president-twice voting against the amendment. He gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, calling the amendment 'antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans.' He paid a political price for his vote. Our members also support him because he's a maverick; a trait most recently on display with his decision to select Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate."In its August 29th press release regarding Sarah Palin, Sammon said:
"Alaska Governor Sarah Palin can help Sen. McCain win this election by appealing to independent and young voters. She's a mainstream Republican who will unite the Party and serve John McCain well as Vice President. Gov. Palin is an inclusive Republican who will help Sen. McCain appeal to gay and lesbian voters."Despite the Orwellian rhetoric of "inclusivity," the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT organization, condemned LCR's endorsement:
"John McCain claims to be a maverick who breaks with his party, but on matters of LGBT equality, he's shown that he's anything but. He actively campaigned for a constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in his home state of Arizona. He went so far as to appear in television commercials for that campaign, is now supporting an amendment to strip marriage equality from California couples and has said that he would vote for a federal marriage amendment if laws already banning marriage equality were to be struck down by federal courts.In digging up a 2006 questionnaire posed by the conservative group, Alaska Eagle, the HRC reports:"Sarah Palin has also supported bans on marriage and even domestic partner benefits in Alaska. The Republican Party, McCain and Palin's party, has declared in its platform that they want to pass the federal marriage amendment. Their party's platform also calls gay and lesbian Americans unfit for military service, supports policies that would allow faith-based organizations to deny us jobs and services using federal dollars, and attacks judges who acknowledge our equality under the law.
"The Human Rights Campaign endorses mavericks on both sides of the aisle- neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin is among them."
One of the questions the conservative group asked her on the questionnaire was her views on expanding hate crimes laws. The question reads, "Will you support an effort to expand hate crimes laws?"In 1998, two-thirds of Alaska voters amended the state constitution to ban same sex marriages: "To be valid or recognized in this State, a marriage may exist only between one man and one woman." The Utah-based Church of the Latter Day Saints donated a half million dollars to the Alaskan campaign, sextupling the group's coffers.Palin answered, "No, as I believe all heinous crime is based on hate."
Another question from the same survey asked, "Do you support the Alaska Supreme Court's ruling that spousal benefits for state employees should be given to same-sex couples? Why or why not?"
Palin answered, "No, I believe spousal benefits are reserved for married citizens as defined in our constitution."
And last, but not least, Palin was asked what her top three priorities, as regards to families, would be while Governor.
Palin answered, "#2 - Preserving the definition of 'marriage' as defined in our constitution."
In October 2005, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the state couldn't deny spousal benefits to same-sex partners of public employees. Despite a non-binding voter advisory in April of 2007, Palin sided with constitutional authority in vetoing proposed legislation to deny domestic partner benefits. During her 2006 gubernatorial bid, the Alaska Daily News reported:
Palin said she's not out to judge anyone and has good friends who are gay, but that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment. Elected officials can't defy the court when it comes to how rights are applied, she said, but she would support a ballot question that would deny benefits to homosexual couples. "I believe that honoring the family structure is that important," Palin said.A recent rumor reported by the National Enquirer (Sept. 15) suggests that Palin's views on family structure include infidelity. Brad Hanson, a former snowmobile business associate of Palin's husband, Todd, allegedly had an extramarital affair with Palin around the time she became mayor of Wasilla in 1996. A family brawl over Troopergate – where Palin fired public safety commissioner Walter Monegan for not removing her sister's ex-husband from the state police – inspired family and friends to speak with NE:
Some bloggers report the relationship was merely flirtatious.One of the incredible charges that has emerged from the family feud is that the Alaska governor had an affair with her husband's business partner....
"Todd discovered the affair and quickly dissolved his friendship and his business associations with the guy," charges an enemy. "Many people in Alaska are talking about the rumor and say Todd swept it under the rug."
But when Alaskan Scott Richter recently moved to have his marital dissolution court records sealed, bloggers wondered if he was seeking to hide mention of an affair with Palin. This has been debunked by The Smoking Gun, which reports to have read all 98 pages of that file. Richter's emergency motion to seal his dissolution of marriage records is apparently not an attempt to hide his suspected affair with Sarah Palin. Instead, he sought to conceal contact information being used by journalists, since the Richters and Palins jointly own remote property.
Extramarital affairs (or lack thereof) aside, Sarah Palin and John McCain clearly oppose treating all US citizens equally. That Log Cabin Republicans would endorse either contributes to the notion that even the "Left" side of the Republican party is out of touch with humanity.
