Despite the spin being put on John McCain's anti-gay record by Log Cabin Republicans, there is ample evidence that McCain is no "maverick" on LGBT equality. As an example check out this ad from 2006 promoting an anti-gay constitutional amendment in in Arizona:


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Recognize the "wrinkly white-haired dude?" Yeah, that's John McCain, the same man about whom Log Cabin Republicans says:

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...is an inclusive Republican who is focusing the GOP on unifying core principles that appeal to independent voters.

Apparently that "unifying core principle" is using LGBT people and our families as political wedge issues to appeal to right-wing voters.

McCain is on record as supporting the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendments in Arizona and Florida as well as the amendment that would strip marriage rights away from same-sex couples living in California.

Chris Crain, the blogger and former editor of the Washington Blade who has a more favorable things to say about LCR than some bloggers, eviscerated LCR in a post titled Log Cabin's Big McCain Mistake.

It's as if our gay Republican friends forgot the basic politics of the carrot and the stick. Now that McCain and Palin are happily chomping away on the endorsement carrot that Log Cabin could have kept dangling in front of them, all they're left with is the stick. With apologies to my friends among their number, including my beloved co-blogger Kevin, gay Republicans aren't exactly known for carrying a big stick.

With the Log Cabin endorsement in hand, the pressure is off Palin to commit either publicly or privately to what some accounts suggest is her "openness to anti-discrimination legislation." If McCain is elected, inside support from Palin might be the best shot at avoiding a veto of workplace protection, since the "inclusive" senator from Arizona has voted against such legislation multiple times.

McCain has opposed every piece of pro-LGBT legislation that has come his way.

There is nothing "maverick" about that. It is just a lot of "straight talk" that leaves LGBT Americans out in the cold.

Cross-posted at LGBT for Obama

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