Steve Schmidt and John McCain
Photo: AP
7/23/08 at 10:30 AM
Holly Bailey
Steve Schmidt, who was John McCain’s chief political strategist during the campaign, has largely stayed out of sight since the election. He went back to California, where he lives with his wife and kids, and went back to work as a consultant, though he no longer formally advises political candidates. During the campaign, Schmidt made no secret of the fact that his personal views often ran far to the left of his party. In an interview this week with the Washington Blade, Schmidt, whose only sister is gay, came out in favor of marriage rights for same-sex couples and called for the Republican Party to be more inclusive of gays and lesbians. “I am personally supportive of (marriage) equality for gay couples, and I believe it will happen over time,” Schmidt said. “I think that more and more Americans are insistent that, at a minimum, gay couples should be treated with respect and when they see a political party trying to stigmatize a group of people who are hardworking, who play by the rules, who raise decent families, they’re troubled by it.” The former McCain strategist told the paper that he voted against Proposition 8, which ended same-sex marriage in California....
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Last updated 2:52 p.m. PT
House committee approves expanded rights for domestic partners (click here)
State Senate had previously OK'd same-sex domestic parnership rights
By CHRIS GRYGIEL
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
A state House committee on Thursday approved a measure that would give same-sex domestic partners all of the rights married people in the state get.
Senate Bill 5688 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee by a seven to four vote. Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, said he expects the bill will now be referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. Pedersen, a long-time supporter of expanded rights for gay couples, said he's confident the measure will ultimately pass.
Earlier this month SB 5688 passed out of the state Senate by a 30-18 vote.
The bill adds domestic partners to all remaining areas of state law where now only married couples are addressed, statutes ranging from employment to pensions....
Same-sex marriage wins by 7 votes (click here)
After hours of debate, bill sent on to Senate
By DANIEL BARRICK
Monitor staff
KEN WILLIAMS / Monitor staff University of New Hampshire students (from left) Morgan O’Neil, Erin Thesing, Rebecca Romanoski and Jenelle DeVits react to a first vote shooting down same-sex marriage. The House then refused to table or kill the bill, and it passed on a second try.
It took a while to make up its mind, but the New Hampshire House voted yesterday to allow same-sex couples to marry.
The bill, which will now head to the Senate, passed by a seven-vote margin. Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, has said he opposes same-sex marriage, but he has not said whether he would veto a bill allowing it. He supported legislation two years ago that legalized civil unions for same-sex couples, and a spokesman for Lynch indicated yesterday that the governor was satisfied with the status quo.
"The civil unions bill he signed into law prevents discrimination and provides the same legal protections to all New Hampshire families to the extent that is possible under federal law," said Colin Manning, Lynch's press secretary.
Yesterday's House vote of 186-179 was cheered by gay-rights activists and others who watched from the House gallery. But the result came after hours of debate and several roll call votes that failed to achieve a majority for any course of action....
