Just because I so like to stir up the hornet's nest that is our political landscape (and to mix metaphors), I give y'all this link which is the Log Cabin Republicans' web article about their upcoming convention.
I noticed two things that bother me.
The rather prominent mention of AG Ashcroft, and LCR's firm support of his nomination and tenure. Considering Ashcroft's record, purported beliefs and general devisiveness, I would have thought it not only prudent, but preferable to sit on the sidelines for that one.
I was also bothered by the press for the convention talking about LCR support for the Bush Administration and lauding it for "appoint[ing] several qualified gay Americans to a range of positions within the Administration, many of whom came out of LCR leadership." Yet, of those gay Americans, only Scott Everetz, an AIDS appointee, is even mentioned by name.
Not only that, but no high level Rebublican official is mentioned in any of the publicity as a speaker, attendee or host.
These kind of political gatherings live and die on the profile of ally they attract. Not a single Congressmember, Senator or high level administration member is mentioned in any way meaningfully connected to the conference.
One of the ongoing debates over political affiliation is whether there is anything within the Republican party worth saving. Opponents say the party has given in to its reactionary wing and made the hard core homophobic biases of that wing a foundational plank in the party platform.
The response to that has been that the ideals of the Republican party remain strong and true and that it is instead incumbent upon gay people who believe in those ideals to work from within the inside of the party to dilute and eventually remove the influence of the worst of its fold.
This working from the inside has been a large part of LCR propaganda for as long as it has existed.
This sort of convention is the only chance LCR gets to prove its point. Press releases should be dripping with names of Republicans come a courtin'. The speakers should be a who's who of moderate Republicans, who have already publicly formed a gay friendly organization of their own. So one can't say that the political atmosphere won't tolerate that sort of public display.
That leaves two options, both tend to make me believe LCR is falling into irrelevancy.
First, someone at LCR is so blindingly stupid that he/she decided not to put the names of their speakers on the internet for some unknown reason. The speakers and attendees are there, but we don't know about it.
Or, LCR is being ignored by the Republican moderates because it no longer has the political oomph to make waves in Washington.