2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Who we should or shouldn't have nominated NO LONGER MATTERS. [View all]dsc
(52,631 posts)The fact is his record on gay rights was one of nearly complete non action. He was mayor of the largest city and most liberal city in VT and had no pro gay measures (aside from a symbolic pride proclamation to show for it) while VT as a whole legally protected gays in employment and accommodations a few years after he left office. In terms of civil rights we was in the US Senate when the decision gutting the VRA was handed down. He didn't make any public pronouncements about that at all that I can find when it happened. Did sponsor a fix? That is what his problem was. It was made worse by the fact he also rarely talked about either issue in anything other than economic terms but his record was the problem. Conversely, the horrible Kaine literally made his career fighting segregation in housing as a lawyer. On gay rights, to be fair, he was a Johnny come lately but on civil rights he was rock solid with a record of accomplishments and rhetoric for decades.