Run Tammy Run

By Joshua Boschee
Staff Writer

I don’t think that anyone can dispute that the gay agenda is alive and well in the United States. Even if none of us have viewed the document in which many conservative politicians and activists fear. Each day we continue to hear about progress being made in every corner of the country, as well as the setbacks. A blip on the media radar that is sure to become a full blown story over the next 18 months is the momentum that Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is gaining in her expected campaign for Wisconsin’s open Senate seat.

Last week Baldwin’s campaign announced that she had raised more than half a million dollars in the second quarter of 2011, bringing her campaign chest to over $1.1 million. This speaks loudly of her ability to stay out of a potential Democratic primary fight for the seat vacated by Senator Herb Kohl, who plans to retire from the Senate. If she is able to stay out of a primary battle, Baldwin’s campaign can focus its energy and money on the November 2012 general election.
Representative Tammy Baldwin currently represents Wisconsin’s second district, which is comprised primarily of the state’s capital, Madison, and home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As an openly gay candidate, she unseated a four-term Republican and became Wisconsin’s first woman elected to the House of Representatives and the first openly gay, non-incumbent elected to Congress. With the support of the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and thousands of LGBT Americans, Baldwin would like to add first openly gay Senator to her growing list of accomplishments.

As a lesbian politician, Baldwin has not only been a powerful voice for LGBT Americans, but also for many more who are often quieted in the halls of Congress. She is considered to be one of the more progressive leaders in DC with an unwavering history of supporting women’s access to affordable and just healthcare, hate crimes protections, employment nondiscrimination, universal healthcare, environmental protection, government employees and access to quality education for all children and families. Her leadership on many of these issues, along with her authorship of several controversial pieces of legislation will undoubtedly make her a specific target of the conservative Republican establishment. In contrast, her support and leadership on these issues and her popularity amongst progressive and moderate Wisconsinites will ensure that she is a formidable candidate next November.

While the support of LGBT Americans and their families continues to grow in the Senate, Baldwin’s presence in the chamber and leadership will prove to be beneficial in continuing to change the hearts and minds of her potential colleagues. I believe that most of the Senators that have come out in support of LGBT equality are genuine in their support, but for some LGBT people are an active and engaged special interest group that shows their support through volunteering and donations, making it convenient to support our issues. With a more than qualified lesbian working within the Senate day to day, it will be hard for her colleagues and their staff that are on the fence to deny that there is more to being gay than our sexuality.
I am looking forward to Baldwin’s formal announcement to follow the Wisconsin recall elections and to watch history be made next November with her ascension to the Senate.

For more information about Representative Tammy Baldwin, go to her official webpage at http://tammybaldwin.house.gov.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)