Received this press release today from the Greg Pettis for CA 80th Assembly District campaign.  Pettis presently has the overwhelming support of labor and LGBT groups in his race to replace the termed-out, thank the deity, State Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-CA).  Pettis, much to the chagrin of his opponents, is also picking up key endorsements from the ethnic minority and multicultural communities.

Pettis has also significantly outraised and outspent his Democratic opponents each reporting period.  According to The Desert Sun, in the last reporting period, Pettis raised and spent more monies than all of these Democratic opponents combined.  Of interest, Pettis also outraised his presumptive Republican opponent, Gary Jeandron, by a significant margin!

Add to this the fact that the current voter registration favors the Democrats.  Thanks to the local Democratic clubs, activists have shifted the 80th AD voter registration from a majority Republican in 2000, to a more than 15,000 voter advantage at present.  And, this does not include the Decline to State voters which have been since 2004 trending Democratic.  Bodes well for a Pettis candidacy in November 2008.

Here is the text of the press release:

For Immediate Release

April 8, 2008

For More Information, contact Richard Oberhaus 760-413-7938

Cathedral City Councilmember Greg Pettis picked up four critical endorsements in the last week from labor and a Latino group, both keys to winning the 80th Assembly District.

More below the flip…

Earlier today, the California AFL-CIO Committee on Public Education endorsed Pettis for the 80th Assembly District. They join the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) who represent 179,000 workers in California and the California State Council of Laborers, who had previously endorsed one of Pettis’s primary election opponents.

Pettis also won the endorsement of HONOR PAC, a statewide Latino group representing Latino and Latina LGBT communities.

The four endorsements cemented Pettis’s position as frontrunner in the Democratic primary in the race to replace Bonnie Garcia, who is prohibited by term limits from serving another term in the 80th Assembly District.

Pettis has previously won endorsements from all the Central Labor Councils representing the 80th Assembly District as well as the California League of Conservation Voters, Cathedral City Professional Firefighters, Progressive Majority, Democracy for America and the Victory Fund.

He has also raised more money than any Democrat running for the 80th Assembly District and has more individual donors than any other candidate.

“We are building a broad-based grassroots coalition that will continue to build momentum through November. Residents of the 80th are coming together behind the need to bring experience to Sacramento to change the way Sacramento works and create a healthier California for all of us,” Pettis said.

Other unions endorsing Pettis include the Building Trades Union of California, Cathedral City Professional Firefighters, San Bernardino/Riverside Counties Central Labor Council, San Diego/Imperial Counties Central Labor Council, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 440.

LGBT community electeds, organizations and activists endorsing Pettis thus far include U.S. Congressman Barney Frank, U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, State Senator Carol Migden, State Assemblyman Mark Leno, Palm Springs City Councilwoman Ginny Foat, Palm Springs City Councilman Rick Hutcheson, Cathedral City City Councilman Paul Marchand, Desert Hot Springs City Councilman Karl Baker, the Desert Stonewall Democratic Club, the Inland Stonewall Democratic Club, the Victory Fund, and Bill and Brad Adams, Bill Cain-Gonzalez, Cynthia Davis, Desert Stonewall Democrats Public Relations Chair Donald W. Grimm, Ph.D., Bond Shands, Desert Stonewall Democrats Treasurer Robert Silverman, and Lynn Worley.

Latino and Latina community activists endorsing Pettis include Palm Springs Democratic Club co-founder Lisa Arbelaez, Christopher Arellano, Larry Baza, Bill Cain-Gonzalez, Tony & Sylvia Escobedo, Mayon Gonzalez, Rodolfo Martinez, Leticia Quezada, Nicole Ramirez, 41st Congressional District Candidate Rita Ramirez-Dean, Ph.D., Dan Ruiz, Ed Torres, and Joe Velasquez.

XPosted 2/14/2008 12:00 AM PST on MyDesert.com

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for President has little to say about the rights of the LGBT community or its issues on his campaign website at JohnMcCain.com.

Under the link “Human Dignity & the Sancitity of Life,” McCain lists (1) Overturning Roe V. Wade, (2) Promoting Adoption, (3) Protecting Marriage, (4) Addressing the Moral Concerns of Advanced Technology, (5) Protecting Children from Online Predators, and (6) the Greatest Concern is to Serve the Cause of Human Dignity.  As you might guess from the above headings, McCain and his campaign is pandering to the so-called Religious Right community.

More below the flip…

More specifically, according to About.com: Gay Life, McCain has a spotty record at best on the LGBT issues themselves.

(1)  McCain on Gay Marriage: McCain opposes Marriage Equality, but believes the issue should be left up to the states.  McCain voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, but according to McCain’s campaign website,

“[He] believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation.”

I am guessing that in the case of Marriage Equality, McCain does extend his greatest concern to serve the cause of LGBT dignity or, perhaps, does not include the LGBT community within the context of the Human community.

(2) McCain on Gays and Lesbians in the Military: McCain believes the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been effective and should be left untouched.  At the 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College on Jun 3, 2007, McCain said,

“We have the best-trained, most professional, best- equipped, most efficient, most wonderful military in the history of this country, and I’m proud of every one of them. There just aren’t enough of them. So I think it would be a terrific mistake to even reopen the issue. The policy is working. And I am convinced that that’s the way we can maintain this greatest military. Let’s not tamper with them.”

How is including LGBT community members in the Armed Forces “tampering” with the military?  McCain fails to explicate his position or clarify his terminology.

Allowing LGBT community members to serve openly in the U.S. military is a matter of Human Dignity, and McCain refuses to accord respect to the LGBT community in a fashion similar to that accorded to the heterosexual community in the military.  McCain also does not address the fact that the U.S. military loses millions of dollars of tax payer money each year in attempts to enforse the DADT policies.

McCain fails to address the fact that many Arabic-English and English-Arabic translators are discharged from the U.S. military each year due to DADT.  Finally, the United States is one of the few Western countries to disallow LGBT members from serving in the its Armed Forces, yet, the military leadership is coming around to a more progressive perspective.

McCain on Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA): McCain voted against ENDA and prohibiting job discrimination based upon sexual orientation.

McCain on Federal Hate Crimes Legislation: While in the Senate, McCain voted against extending the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation and opposed the so-called Matthew Shepard bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

McCain on HIV/AIDS: McCain’s stance on HIV/AIDS is ambiguous at best. When asked in the New York Times political blog McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention about the use of contraceptives or counseling to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, McCain said,

“You’ve stumped me. I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was.”

“You’ve stumped me?”  “I’m not informed enough on it?”  “I have to find out what my position was?”  The United States, California and the Coachella Valley have been ravaged by HIV/AIDS, and McCain is either uninformed or incompetent on the issue.

How can a World Leader be unaware of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the Nation?  Oh, I forgot, the Republican Party has a long history of neglect on the people affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS from former President Ronald Reagan who refused to utter the words “HIV” or “AIDS” throughout most of his Presidency, to President George H.W. Bush and so-called President George W. Bush who attempted to either reduce funding for HIV/AIDS, attempted to pit the HIV/AIDS community against other chronic illness communities, or attempted to gut HIV/AIDS programs in this country.

McCain is more of the same.  Ignorant, ill-informed, AIDS-phobic, and incompetent on the issue.