NGLTF comments on Forbes' withdrawal for nytsxp@ursula; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 02:51:47 -0500 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Feb 10 2000 from Jason Riggs ********************************************************************** NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE PRESS RELEASE Contact: David Elliot, Communications Director 202-332-6483 ext. 3303 800-757-6476 pager delliot@ngltf.org http://www.ngltf.org 1700 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC ********************************************************************** THE LESSON OF STEVE FORBES: PANDERING TO THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT DOESN'T WORK Feb. 9, 2000 - Steve Forbes' planned withdrawal from the presidential race Thursday -- after finishing third in the Delaware primary, behind John McCain, who did not even actively campaign in the state -- shows that pandering to the religious right political movement is a sure- fire way to lose elections, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said Wednesday. Forbes, who shifted his position on choice and stepped up his appeal to far-right conservatives after losing the 1996 GOP nomination, was unable to win widespread appeal this year, finishing a distant third in New Hampshire, third in Delaware and polling in the single digits in the upcoming South Carolina primary. In the past two presidential elections, he has spent approximately $60 million of his estimated personal fortune of $440 million campaigning for president. "Steve Forbes' and Gary Bauer's presidential campaigns have illustrated the declining influence of the radical right on presidential politics," said Virginia M. Apuzzo, NGLTF spokeswoman and holder of the NGLTF Policy Institute Virginia Apuzzo Chair for Leadership in Public Policy. "Each candidate tried to campaign on divisive social issues and failed to gain any traction whatsoever. Real leadership demands ideas and proposals that find a way to lift us all up and bring us all closer to full and equal citizenship." During the current presidential campaign, Apuzzo noted, both Bauer and Forbes signed a pledge in Iowa promising to oppose same-sex marriage, domestic partner benefits, adoption and foster care by anyone except married heterosexuals, education to fight harassment and violence in the schools and anti-discrimination legislation. In addition, each candidate favored an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban a womans right to an abortion. ****ATTENTION REPORTERS, EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: Next week, the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will release a comprehensive report examining the gay, lesbian and bisexual electorate in the past six federal elections. The report will include a special section examining the California GLB electorate, in advance of the March 7 presidential primary and vote on Proposition 22, which would ban the state of California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. ______ Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force works to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society. ___________ This message was issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Communications Department. If you have a question regarding this post, please direct it to the contact at the top of this message. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytsxp-02.12.00-02:51:49-26606