Remember when I said Dean is a quantum leap for the gay movement? [View All]

[Brian_Expat]

Well, well, well. . . The Washington Post agrees!

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean's record-setting fundraising first took off in large part because of an outpouring of support from the gay community.

With just one exception, every fundraiser Dean attended outside Vermont in 2002 was organized by gay men and lesbians, as were more than half the events in the first quarter of 2003, according to Dean advisers.

"The early foundation of Governor Dean's presidential campaign -- both in fundraising and organization -- was built by the support of the LGBT community around the country," said Dean finance director Stephanie Schriock.

. . . snip. . .

In 2001 and early 2002, well before he announced his candidacy, Dean capitalized on his signing of the civil unions law and his hero status in the gay community, speaking to branches of the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations across the county.

In other words, as I said earlier, Dean's campaign took off because of us. The GLBT community had an instrumental role to play in helping the likely Democratic nominee for President attain that status! That's a HUGE quantum leap for gay people in this country.