Gay community gave Dean campaign early boost in fund-raising
Candidate's backing of civil unions in Vt. attracted supporters
By Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post, 1/2/2004
WASHINGTON -- Former Vermont governor Howard Dean's record-setting fund-raising first took off in large part because of an outpouring of support from the gay community.
With just one exception, every fund-raiser 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 fund-raising and organization -- was built by the support of the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] community around the country," said Dean finance director Stephanie Schriock. The gay community "was the first to recognize Dean's strength of character after his leadership on Vermont's civil union legislation, and because of that, they were the first to open up their homes for events and ask their friends and colleagues to give money to this endeavor," she added.
This backing provided a foundation for Dean to expand his core support to include voters opposed to the Iraq war, angry at President Bush, embittered by the outcome of the 2000 election, and discontented with what they saw as a Democratic Party establishment without backbone.
All nine Democratic presidential candidates support most issues of importance to gay organizations, but Dean has one major advantage: On April 26, 2000, he signed the nation's first law granting same-sex couples the right to enter legally sanctioned civil unions that provide many of the protections of traditional marriage.
The gay community has become a powerful force in the Democratic Party, reflecting the growing importance of socially and culturally liberal groups in providing both votes and money.
Key Democratic fund-raisers estimate that the gay community provides at least 10 percent of the money flowing to the party and its nominees.
The Democratic National Committee's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, which requires a contribution of $10,000, has more than 300 members, said its executive director, Lila G. Gracey. Of the DNC's constituency groups, the top three sources of cash are the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, the Business Council, and the Women's Leadership Forum.
In 2001 and early 2002, well before he announced his candidacy, Dean capitalized on his signing of the civil union law and his hero status in the gay community, speaking to branches of the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations across the country.
Some of the largest contributions to the Fund for a Healthy America, the political action committee Dean set up in 2001 to finance the exploration of a presidential campaign, were from prominent leaders in the gay community.
In November 2001, David Bohnett, chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, which according to its website supports "the positive portrayal of lesbians and gay men in the media," gave the Dean PAC $5,000, and Charles C. Nolan, the partner of the DNC's treasurer, Andrew Tobias, gave $2,500.
One of the first major donors to Dean after he formally announced his candidacy was Craig Hoffman, professor of law at Georgetown University. He first heard Dean speak at a California meeting of gay philanthropists sponsored by the Gill Foundation and in May 2002 contributed $1,000.
Even though the view then was that "he didn't have a chance," Hoffman said, "I didn't care, because at least there was someone saying things that I believed in without being afraid." In November 2002, Hoffman hosted a Dean fund-raiser in Washington that 40 people attended. The gay community's support has paid off not only in cash -- helping Dean set an all-time Democratic record of at least $40 million raised through the end of last year -- but also in a decisive lead among gay voters. |
