I spent much of this afternoon at the Steel City Stonewall Democrats Endorsement meeting, and boy, was it an event! I want to share some overall comments, and talk about the primary race for Governor in this blog post. I taped most of the speakers and will be uploading them to Youtube as I can get to it.

I have specifically stayed away from posting overtly “political/candidate” stuff here on my blog, especially surrounding two important races- that for PA Governor and for PA Senator. My goal as a blogger, has been to remain focused on issue advocacy. A  few things have made it on the blog, but generally speaking I have held to this. Not so true on Facebook however. There I have commented far more openly about comments made by others.  But even there, I have tried to remain uncommitted to siding with any one candidate. Today, I’d like to break from that a bit. I want to talk about the meeting in general, what some of the candidates had to say, and then my take on the two candidates for Governor who were at the meeting: Joe Hoeffel and Dan Onorato.

The notion that Democrats get together, listen to the various candidates and vote for whom the organization (Steel City Stonewall Dems) is an awesome idea. Democrats, are by nature, all over the field when it comes to a wide variety of issues, which is one of the things I love most about identifying as a Democrat.In my book it is a sad, sad day for Democracy, when there are political parties where everyone is a cookie cutter replica of everyone else. Diverse viewpoints and perspectives are the key to making things better. This type of approach leads to the need for coalition building and working together. Jim Burn, head of the Allegheny County Democratic Party said something to that affect, at the beginning of the meeting. He closed his remarks reminding everyone, that while we may have some deep debate and disagreement, in the end we come together and support each other.

I found the meet and greet portion of the event a little overwhelming. Some candidates were great at coming up and talking about their positions. There were others, who were sitting at tables, and I didn’t even realize they were candidates. But through it all, I got to speak to a number of folks and learn some things I didn’t know.

There was only one moment of the evening that I just cringe to think about. Made me embarrassed when it happened, and I continue to feel that way. It happened towards the end of Dan Onorato’s time in front of the crowd. I’ll talk more about exactly what he said later in this blog post, but it was something that someone else said that was so embarrassing. Someone yelled out “Get Out” at Dan when he was talking about why he supports Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions. It was not only uncalled for and totally out of line, but it demonstrated the worst of what the GLBT community has to offer to elected officials who have been working hard for them. This was Tea Party behavior plain and simple, and that is what I feel so embarrassed about. I’d like to believe that Democrats rise above that type of crap, but I guess not. As I tried to find out who was the offending rude person, a tall blond woman named Jesse was pointed out to me. We are all entitled to our opinions, and we have ways of expressing them. At the end of the meeting, we each had the opportunity to cast a ballot as to whom we wanted to see endorsed by the SCSD. I can’t understand why for some civility seems so foreign.

I spoke to both, one of Hoeffel’s staff, and to Joe directly, and both gave me the impression, that Joe thinks he has the gay vote sewn up tight. To the staffer, I asked him to talk about specific actions that Hoeffel was responsible for, in terms of LGBT’s, and I didn’t get any at all. He suggested that I talk specifically with the candidate himself. I didn’t really get what I asked for from either of them. From Hoeffel himself, I got more of his general gay talking points. This seems reasonable to me. He has to talk to a ton of people, keeping his remarks brief enough, but expansive enough to get his message across. But I expected the staff to be able to dig down deeper and provide far more details. Didn’t get that at all.

I left these interactions as well as listening to him speak with a sense that he has been a progressive, very out there for LGBT issues for a long time, but when I pressed him on what had he himself, actually done for LGBT’s in the past 4 or 5 years, he got quite defensive with me. In other words, he can’t point to anything he has done recently. I also pressed him on the Montgomery County Domestic Partnership policy when he brought up. If I understood him correctly, He was a commissioner before the policy existed and he was in favor of it/advocated for it. Then after he was no longer commissioner, it was adopted as policy. I got the impression that he wasn’t trying to actually take credit for it, but was happy to have the implication that it was one of his accomplishments. At the very least, he sees himself associated with it, even if it was a policy enacted when he was not a part of county government.

It was brought out during the evening however, that Montgomery County doesn’t have protections from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. This is what Dan Onorato was truly instrumental at bringing into being in Allegheny County. Some, like Pittsburgh blogger Sue “Swiftboat” Kerr, had dismissed this as no big deal, and instead have chosen to attack Dan for not having passed a domestic partnership policy for County workers (more on that a bit later.) This prompted me to feel even more confused about Hoeffel’s credentials as a proponent for the LGBT community. Is he in favor for partnership benefits for the select few who work for the county, but doesn’t believe the rest of the residents of the county deserve protection in housing, employment or public accommodations? Why does Montgomery County still allow discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression? If you can shed any light on this question, please leave a comment and educate me.

Onorato’s comments to the gathering were utterly different! He spoke to issues that many here would deem as LGBT issues, but he went much much farther, and demonstrated why he is the right candidate to be the next Governor of Pennsylvania. While giving credit where credit is due others, he rightly pointed out the role he played in getting the county Human Relations Commission and Non-discrimination ordinance passed. Without him, it would not have happened. But the next few terms of PA politics really isn’t going to be about gay issues! It is going to be about solving budget problems, and getting people back to work, and solving problems that keep the State from thriving. Dan pointed out his accomplishments in these areas.

I was reminded again by something that another person had pointed out to me some time ago. What are the types of skills a Governor needs as opposed to a Senator (or Congressperson)?  The Governor, like a County executive is an administrator who must build coalitions and make all the pieces fit together for the most number of people. A legislator at any level is a policy creator, who passes laws that address issues.

In summary:

Joe Hoeffel: Outstanding progressive who holds all the “right” positions to make any LGBT voter feel good. Has a long voting history for progressive issues.

Dan Onorato: Outstanding County Executive with a proven track record of running a county such it it, and the people within the county thrive. A proven leader who, when push comes to shove, gets the job done so that the LGBT community benefits.

Who do I want running my state? The one who has a track record of improving the county and the lives of its residents. This is exactly what we need at the State level.

I want to make a note about  note about Same-sex marriage, but this blog post is already way too long, so I’ll leave it for tomorrow.