Dean Calls For More Gays To Seek Office
by 365Gay Newscenter Staff
11.20.2006 10:12 AM EST

(Houston, Texas) Howard Dean says it isn't enough for the Democratic Party to go after gay voters. The Democratic National Committee chair told an international LGBT conference in Houston on Saturday that the party must enlist gay candidates to run for office.

Dean, the keynote speaker at the International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference, an annual meeting of LGBT elected officials, said Democrats had worked hard at getting gays and other minorities to the table but that was no longer enough.

"We've got to take the attitude: Everyone's our boss," Dean said.

The DNC chair spent little time on LGBT issues likely to come before Congress in the new session - such as adding gays to the categories covered in hate crime legislation and an attempt to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

But he warned not to expect too much too soon.

"My advice to not just this community, but every community that plays an important role in the Democratic Party - and this one certainly does- is to try not to do everything at once," he said.

"We need a careful, narrow, targeted agenda to make it clear what the difference between the Democratic Party and Republican Party is before we go into the next election."

Much of the speech was devoted to gays to seek office, locally as well as nationally.

He also defended his "50 state" strategy which saw the party contribute to campaigns in all 50 states, dismissing critics as members of the "old Democratic Party."

The policy has been criticized by former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville who believed that money should have been targeted to tight races to ensure an even greater victory.

A record number of LGBT candidates ran for office this month according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory fund which helps finance gay campaigns. Almost all were Democrats. But apart from Rep. Barney Frank (D-M) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc) who won re-election no other out gays were elected to Congress.

Nevertheless about 70 LGBT candidates won election at the state and local level.

The conference brings together LGBT officeholders from around the world. This year's conference is being held in Houston, with about 200 people attending.

Over the four-day conference politicians, and prospective candidates, took part in a series of seminars ranging from how to advance up the political ladder to fundraising.

Original article here.