Andrew Tobias, the Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), explains why supporting the DNC is critical to advance equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, and queers.
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By Andrew Tobias | Contact
Andrew Tobias Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee and founder of its LGBT Leadership Council.
His twelve books include The Only Investment Guide you'll Ever Need and his coming out story: The Best Little Boy in the World.
His anti-smoking commercials have run throughout the former Soviet Union. His work on auto insurance reform led to the placement of three initiatives on the March 1996 California ballot.
He has received GLSEN's inaugural Valedictorian Award and Fenway Community Health Center's Visibility Award.
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Here's my reasoning:
1. DEMOCRATS ARE OVERWHELMINGLY MORE SUPPORTIVE OF OUR ISSUES THAN REPUBLICANS
> Can you think of a single election -- for anything -- anywhere -- ever -- when the Republican was better on our issues than the Democrat? Even one? (After months of asking everyone, we've come up with two -- out of thousands.)
> On the HRC scorecard for the 109th Congress (the 110th is not yet scored), 224 Republicans scored ZERO -- there was NOTHING they were with us on.
> Meanwhile, Just five Republicans -- compared with 154 Dems -- scored above 80%. (And two of those five, Jim Kolbe and Lincoln Chafee, are now gone.)
2. JUDGES APPOINTED BY DEMOCRATS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE FAIR-MINDED THAN THOSE APPOINTED BY REPUBLICANS
> Compare, for example, Scalia and Sotomayor.
3. IT'S THUS FUNDAMENTAL TO OUR CONTINUED PROGRESS THAT DEMOCRATS DO WELL EACH CYCLE
> We need a massive turnout of progressive voters each November to WIDEN our lead in Congress ... WIN back the White House ... and FLIP more state legislatures from Red to Blue.
4. THERE ARE MANY GOOD WAYS TO DO THAT, BUT THE "FEDERAL MONEY" WE'RE ALLOWED TO GIVE -- LIMITED BY LAW -- IS THE MOST PRECIOUS ... PRECISELY BECAUSE IT IS LIMITED BY LAW
> It's like the BLANK in Scrabble (or the Queen in chess or the Ace in cards). Yes, dollars are dollars (and tiles are tiles, pieces are pieces, cards are cards). But just as with the BLANK or the Queen or the Ace, federal dollars trump the rest because, they are the most most flexible. Under the law, many political activities can be underwritten ONLY with federal dollars.
> Consider: If a worthy 527 or c4 comes up with a brilliant way to help, it can go to a single billionaire and -- legally -- get $25 million wired in overnight. That same billionaire can give the DNC just $30,400. So with nonfederal committees, it's less important that "everybody pitch in." A few wealthy donors (bless their hearts) can ride to the rescue. With federal committees, like the DNC, the only way to raise millions IS for everyone to pitch in.
5. AN EXCELLENT WAY FOR MAJOR DONORS TO GIVE FEDERAL MONEY IS THROUGH THE DNC'S LGBT LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
> Money thus given is visibly LGBT. It is noticed. It gets people like the chair of the Democratic Party sitting next to transgender heroes like Renee Richards at fundraising dinners. (Both Yalies -- that was fun.) Inch by inch, we press forward.
> Federal money to the DNC is not just warehoused to be used for an ocean of October TV ads.
> Instead, the DNC invests in the nuts and bolts infrastructure of turning out voters on Election Day -- and making sure their votes count.
> The DNC's central project, ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA, aims to energize thousands upon thousands of neighborhood activists in every state to help move the President's agenda, which includes our own.
> Funded by you, these efforts help not only to win the White House, but to elect Senators, House Members, state legislators, and all the rest. They tilt the whole playing field our way.
> Unlike hundreds of millions of dollars in TV ads that simply fade away, our "human capital" investments should endure. On top of that, we are finally set up so that the voter files we maintain for the state parties are bidirectional. That is, we clean the files for changes of address, phone numbers and so on ... but each time they are used locally, more information comes back to us from the field (this household really cares about the environment; this one lost a son in Iraq; this one is LGBT) to enrich future voter contact.
6. GIVING DIRECTLY TO CANDIDATES IS GREAT, BUT...
> If we only fund TV ads for candidates, but not the Party infrastructure, we forfeit our most leveraged way of turning out voters for those candidates. It's not either/or. We need to do both!
7. WE NEED TO BE STRATEGIC:
> Some are concerned that the money we give doesn't go right back into turning out the gay vote. But we need to be strategic about this. New York and California provide a huge proportion of our funds -- but would it be smart to invest those funds in New York and California? To win those states by even wider margins? Or should we invest that money mostly in swing states? Well, it's the same thing with LGBT money. We should want it invested wherever it will work most powerfully to elect fair-minded Democrats so we can get the rights we deserve.
> Some feel we should direct the LGBT money we raise to defeating the hateful state anti-marriage amendments. But we need to be strategic about this, too. It makes no sense to take precious federal dollars and put them to work doing nonfederal work.
> However you think we should invest to win, know that the DNC is committed to our equality:
--> We had 142 openly LGBT delegates and alternates at the 1996 Democratic National Convention ... 212 in 2000 ... 255 in 2004. (The Republicans, needless to say, had none. When Jim Kolbe spoke in 2000, the Texas delegation fell to its knees in prayer.) We were even better represented in 2008 in Denver.
--> In 2004 only 16 of the 56 states and territories had numerical goals for LGBT delegate inclusion -- compared with 50 of the 56 in 2008.
--> Four of the 25 voting members appointed to the 2008 Platform Committee were LGBT -- 16%. One of them is "T" for the first time in history. We play a meaningful role in writing the Party platform.
--> The DNC's National Lawyers Council set up a working group to educate political and electoral staff at every level on the special concerns for Transgender voters.
--> The DNC's Director of Compliance, Alan Reed, is openly gay.
--> So, too, the Director of Party Affairs & Delegate Selection, Phil McNamara.
--> So, too, the National Finance Director, Rufus Gifford.
--> So, too, two of the nine DNC officers.
We're making progress ... the DNC is engaged in our struggle ... it is worthy of your support.
A SPECIAL NOTE TO REPUBLICANS
Help us help you get your party back. Once your party supports equal rights, we'll bid you a reluctant farewell. But in the meantime, you are a most welcome guest.
A SPECIAL NOTE TO LARGE DONORS
If you give so much politically you have to be concerned with the federal limits (thank you!), you will find them, and a brief strategy memo here.
A SPECIAL NOTE TO EVERYONE ELSE
I can't stress enough how important it is that everyone do something. Prior to 2003, people could be found to write $5 million checks. One gave $12 million. Today, by law, those same heroes can do "only" $30,400. So we need to spread the load over vastly more shoulders. To win, and advance our equality, we need everybody to chip in.
