GayPatriot takes aim at Tim Gill and the Gill Foundation for using their money and strategic capabilities to effect change for GLBT persons by targeting anti-gay politicians and supporting their opponents. He is worried about:
“…what the Gill-sponsored candidates have promised in return for their debit card at the Gill ATM machine.”
I am sure the Gill-sponsored candidates are no more beholden to their benefactor than those sponsored by Big Tobacco, Big Oil, Big Pharmaceuticals, etc., etc.
Conservatives have long argued that:
“The right to spend money on politics, including the right to contribute to campaigns, is protected by the First Amendment.”
Money is the name of the game in politics. I am glad that someone has finally figured out how to make GLBT political dollars actually advance GLBT rights.
Blowhard 
justevolvin
April 17, 2007
Hope that I am misreading this, but as a proud member of the GLBT community I find it offensive that someone would support a political candidate based solely on their stance on GLBT rights. I think that we should be concerned about anyone who throws money around based on a single issue. Just because some make political decisions on anti-gay political leanings doesn’t mean that the GLBT community has to counter with the same ignorance – there is a lot more going on in the world than just GLBT rights.
blowhard
April 17, 2007
It isn’t exactly about single issues, more about the fact that someone has the right to support single issues if that is what they choose to do. Tim Gill has chosen to use his resources to help defeat candidates that are not supportive of the issue he cares about. He is not unlike any number of other organizations/individuals.
Also, for many years a lot of GLBT people have given lots of $$$ to candidates and/or organizations that purport to advance GLBT rights/causes. These people who have given for that reason haven’t gotten a lot of bang for their buck, so to speak, over the years. Tim Gill has seemed to figure out a way to use financial resources to actually effect change. He didn’t invent the methodology, it was largely perfected by conservatives, but he certainly has put it to good use.
justevolvin
April 17, 2007
Sure, it’s no question that many people support candidates or don’t support them based just on single issues – but that’s the problem for me. If I’m going to sink my money into a candidate, I want to know where they stand on more than just GLBT issues. In fact, that may have been the mistake of others who have given lots of $$$ not realizing that the candidates had conflicting interests.
After I wrote my comment this morning, however, my thinking has evolved a bit. I do find some comfort in knowing that “someone” is out there fighting for our equal rights. I don’t have the time and resources to effect much change at this point in my life, so at least people like Tim Gill will, if anything, keep GLBT issues in the national conversation. I also thought about how little most politicians actually do accomplish and then reasoned that Tim Gill’s reach, although influential, isn’t enough to usher in the demise of democracy. I do, however, hope that he gives some consideration to the other issues that, although not his own, may benefit from his generous funding.