Posted on 01/31/2008 12:02:13 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Jeremy Bernard thinks he has been sucked into a time warp. Only five months ago, he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with U.S. Senator Barack Obama in the back of a black SUV, speeding through West Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard, talking about the fine points of gay and lesbian federal legislation. An hour later, the Democratic presidential candidate was hitting every detail they had discussed in the car, but this time on network television. For Bernard, it was mind-blowing. The key fund-raiser for the Obama campaign was seeing his issues dramatically migrate from a personal chat to the national stage.
Ted Soqui
The money men: Jeremy Bernard (left) and Rufus Gifford are lovers and business partners. They are also the fund-raisers who keep the Barack Obama presidential campaign alive and competitive.
(Click to enlarge)
Ted Soqui
Niche marketers: Obama's gay-outreach coordinator, Steve Smith (left), discusses gay-voter-turnout strategies with Rufus Gifford.
(Click to enlarge)
But now, two days before the Nevada Democratic caucus on January 19, Bernard is stuck inside the Caramel Lounge at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, attending a gay social mixer disguised as a political event. Jean Smart, the blond actress from the 1980s TV show Designing Women, begs the three dozen or so gays in the room to vote for U.S. Senator John Edwards.
(Excerpt) Read more at laweekly.com ...
Long article but thanks for posting. Didn’t realize how big gay money was. Explains part of the success of the gay rights agenda. No kids dontcha know and no tithing to church. Plenty of free time and money for politics.
Must have been a bit of a change of pace from the usual for Bernard.
"It was truly phenomenal," says Gifford. "He equated all social injustices with the injustices gays and lesbians have to face."
BARF!!
LOL!
Gay money isn’t always big, but it’s usually hard.
No soft contributions from these guys?
Obama represents the biggest coalition of leaders of special interest groups that has ever existed. Gay-Americans, Black Americans, Film-makers, Food Workers - but does he represent plain “Americans?”
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