We've known this for some time. We noted National Review's report on the disaster in Colorado in the 2006 election. We've been warning of the money already pouring into Massachusetts from such sources as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC, under the leadership of a Massachusetts boy, Joe Solmonese) and the Gill Foundation (led by another Massachusetts boy, Patrick Guerriero). HRC's website describes itself as "America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality." [Emphasis added; no definition for "civil rights" or "GLBT equality" is given.]
Today's Boston Globe covers this story in some detail. Of course, from the Globe's viewpoint, it's a wonderful development -- it's a "special interest" they approve of, one they believe should be exempt from any critical chatter. From "Gay rights group hailed for election role; Democrats say work key to party gains" (1-13-07):
WASHINGTON -- The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's leading gay political organizations, played a quiet but pivotal role electing Democrats at the federal and local level in November, a startling turnaround for a group whose demands for gay marriage helped defeat Democratic candidates in 2004, according to party leaders and lawmakers.
Playing down its support for gay marriage, the HRC mobilized its 650,000 members to staff phone banks, raise money, and participate in get-out-the-vote campaigns to elect candidates sympathetic to gay issues, even if they didn't support gay marriage. The group was the single biggest donor to Democratic state Senate races in New Hampshire, helping the party take control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since 1874.
The group also helped congressional candidates from Arizona to Florida and Ohio, and party activists believe the organization can play an even larger role in the 2008 elections....
"What makes you politically powerful is money and membership. We have both, and we have the power to deliver both. We need to do it in a way that makes people stand up and take notice," said Joe Solmonese, HRC president....
Eighty-four staff members were sent to help 30 targeted races in 18 states. More than 90 percent of the 232 candidates the HRC endorsed -- mostly Democrats, but some pro-gay rights Republicans -- won their elections in November.
