So, some of us really want to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It's true. In fact, we'd do almost anything the White House asked us to do to rally activists to get the votes necessary to move forward with repeal. A huge problem we're running into is the fact that this process is so tight and controlled by the White House (assuming they are doing anything at all) that we are given no direction. Worse than that, we're criticized for taking any actions whatsoever. And then we hear news that the White House may not care that much about repeal, we freak out, we act, and we get criticized, again. Repeat.
The idea is that someone, somewhere, (I presume it's the president) has "got this" and we all need to chill out and watch. And, no. It's nonsensical to keep gay activists out of the loop for this entire process and never ask us to do anything, and criticize us when we do something, or when we don't do something, or when we ask questions. The White House does not "got this" and it looks more and more like they're going to fail massively at this and lay failure at the feet of gay groups.
The leader of the Log Cabin Republicans said Wednesday that the White House is "MIA" – or Missing In Action – on Capitol Hill after he had met with nine Senate Republican offices about the effort to pass "don’t ask, don’t tell" repeal during the lame duck session.
"I’ve been on the Hill yesterday, today, and the end of last week – no one has reached out to Republicans. White House legislative affairs is AWOL," said Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans. "One office said, ‘It’s quieter than crickets chirping.’ They’d love to get a call."
If you recall, the White House had vowed to be actively involved in getting DADT repeal passed in the lame duck session. After months of no direct answers about repeal, it was an accomplishment to have Gibbs say that the president will be involved. Then came the president's meeting with bloggers in which he asked gay bloggers to get him 2-5 Republican votes. Yes, I'm serious. Gay bloggers, it turns out, don't actually associate with the Log Cabin Republicans, or GOProud, just because we share a biological trait. We have no hold over Republicans, even gay ones, and there's absolutely no way that we can use our homosexual powers to win them over.
We thought that, along with asking us to get Republicans, they'd be getting involved in the lame duck session. It appears that they've made no attempts to contact Republican senators, even those who might be willing to vote for repeal. Now that the survey results are being leaked, especially, some of the (very few) moderates left in the GOP might have a difficult time holding out against repeal, but it looks as if this isn't even being used as leverage by the White House, who's not even bothering to talk to senators at all.
I certainly hope that the Log Cabin Republicans are successful in their lobbying. And I hope they're using the leaked survey results to their advantage. Otherwise, we know how this will go. It will fail, and its failure will be used as a political game against Republicans. Nobody will buy it, and the White House will be all, "why can't you see it's the Republicans?!" And gays will be unhappy. And Democrats will be unhappy. And the White House. And progressives. Nobody will win except John McCain.
This could all be avoided if the president would just say, "ya know, I don't really know what the fuck to do. I'm gonna let the LCR handle this one and get the credit for it. I'm just not too familiar with LGBT groups and lobbying efforts. I'll let them and progressive gay groups plan and strategize to get this shit done. And I won't pretend that "I got this" or that it's some great accomplishment of mine. I simply don't have the knowledge required to wage this particular battle effectively, but thankfully, groups like the LCR who have done this for decades are capable, and thus I won't demonize their efforts."
Can they hurry up and do that soon?