Republicans' new litmus test for 2010 candidates: only conservatives need apply

In an attempt to reclaim the Grand Old Party for conservatives, a group of Republican National Committee members is circulating a 10-point platform for the 2010 elections. The platform opposes gun control, abortion, gay marriage and President Obama's healthcare reform, among other issues. The catch: Only candidates who agree with at least eight of the principles would get funding from the Republican Party.

"The goal of the resolution is to take a position ... towards reclaiming the Republican Party’s conservative bona fides,” said Committeeman James Bopp, who authored the resolution. “We are open to diverse views. But you have to agree with us most of the time.”

Conservatives like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin clashed with party officials last month by backing a conservative over the party's nominee in 23rd Congressional District in New York. The effort to further purify the party ideologically could pose new problems for Chairman Michael Steele as he tries to recruit centrist Republicans to run in congressional districts that lean Democratic.

But conservatives within the party are adamant. They want candidates to abide by a litmus test they are calling Reagan’s Unity Principle. Here's the full list.

(1) Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;
(2) Market-based healthcare reform and oppose Obama-style government-run healthcare;
(3) Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap-and-trade legislation;
(4) Workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing "card check";
(5) Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
(8) Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing healthcare rationing and denial of healthcare and government funding of abortion; and
(10) The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Click here to get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot. And we're also over here on Facebook.

Gay rights advocates get good news from unusual sources: Salt Lake City and the AMA

 
Gay rights advocates were disappointed last week when Maine voters voted to repeal a state law allowing same-sex marriage. But they got a boost on Tuesday from two unlikely sources: the American Medical Assn. and the Salt Lake City Council. 

At its semiannual meeting in Houston, the nation's largest doctors' group voted to oppose the military's "don't ask, don't tell' policy because it sometimes restricts the "honesty and openness . . . that is the basis of the patient-physician relationship."

The AMA also reported that same-sex couples excluded from civil marriage often do not have access to the same healthcare benefits that married couples do.  

Same-sex households are less likely to have health insurance than their married counterparts and are therefore at a higher risk of "living sicker and dying younger," said Dr. Peter Carmel, an AMA board member. The AMA said the disparity is also linked to a basic fact: Same-sex families aren't eligible to receive other benefits afforded to married couples, including tax breaks and Social Security survivor benefits.

The group resolved to "work to reduce the health disparities suffered because of unequal treatment . . . by supporting equality in laws affecting healthcare of members in same-sex partner households and their dependent children."

In Utah, the Salt Lake City Council passed two ordinances making it illegal to discriminate against gays in housing and employment. As the Ticket reported last week, voters in Kalamazoo approved a similar ordinance that grants anti-discrimination protections to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals.

Significantly, the ordinances in Salt Lake City were endorsed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is the same Mormon Church that strongly urged members to contribute money to the campaign in support of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California.

Mormons were credited with playing a strong role in the measure's victory in Salt Lake City.

Have the Mormon's had a change of heart?

No, said Michael Otterson, a church spokesman. He told the City Council that the church "remains unequivocally committed" to opposing gay marriage.

-- Kate Linthicum

Follow us on Twitter @latimestot.

Photo: A car flies the gay pride flag in protest past the Mormon Conference Center during the 179th Semi-Annual General Conference of the Mormon Church on Oct. 3 in Salt Lake City. Credit: Getty Images

Carrie Prejean confirms 'sex tape,' but ...

Carrie Prejean, some might remember, is the California beauty queen who gained instant ignominy in some circles by agreeing with President Obama's ridiculous notion that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.

This was said to make Prejean outrageously conservative although Obama, who is a male and said the same thing throughout the endless presidential campaign, was ranked as the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate a year ago now. That must be what passes for progress nowadays.

Both liberals and conservatives have been bickering and chuckling and pointing fingers of hypocrisy ever since. Also, Prejean had breast augmentation, some keen-eyed critics noted, which is certainly unimaginable for any American female let alone ones successfully participating in the beauty business.

Anyway, Prejean lost her Miss California USA sash when she allegedly failed to fulfill ...

Californians say no more gay marriage votes: Times/USC poll

A majority of California voters opposes putting the issue of gay marriage back on the ballot for another referendum.

According to a just-released survey by the new polling team of The Times and the University of Southern California, a small majority of Californians favors the right of gay couples to marry.

But a far larger proportion of the 1,500 registered voters in the new poll opposes putting the issue back on another statewide ballot next year. This week Maine became the 31st state where voters, in effect, defeated the idea of gay marriage in a statewide vote.

Not surprisingly, same-sex-marriage views were sharply polarized by political party; 66% of Democrats thought it should be legal and 71% of Republicans opposed it. Nonpartisan voters were less enthusiastic than Democrats but still backed it, 59% to 34%.

Overall, the smallest majority of 51% of California voters favored marriage rights for same-sex couples and 43% opposed them, according to the survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

However, a surprisingly large number of Californians -- almost 60% -- were certain that they did not want the issue revisited in 2010, just one election cycle after it last hit the ballot.

-- Andrew Malcolm

No margin of error here. One-hundred percent of those clicking here get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us  @latimestot  And we're also available over on Facebook regardless of gender.

Photo: Associated Press

Gay rights slip in Maine, advance in Kalamazoo

Gay rights advocates may be saddened about the election results in Maine, where voters overturned a law allowing same-sex marriage. But they are cheered by the action of voters in Michigan, specifically Kalamazoo.

An ordinance that grants anti-discrimination protections to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals was overwhelmingly approved Tuesday. As the Kalamazoo Gazette reports, “The ordinance passed 7,671 to 4,731, making Kalamazoo the 16th city in Michigan to adopt such a gay-rights ordinance that grants the protections in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations.”

This all prompted a comment by Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “In Kalamazoo, Mich., fairness prevailed,” Barrios said in a statement. “Voters sent a message that all hardworking people should be treated fairly and have the chance to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families without fear of being fired for reasons that have nothing to do with their job performance.” (Barrios also noted that, in early results, a majority of voters in Washington state were supporting a law that expands the state's domestic partnership law.)

For those of a certain age, Kalamazoo is associated with the song “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo,” which gave us the immortal phrase “a real pipperoo.” Perhaps a younger generation will associate the city with gay rights instead.

-- Steve Padilla

If you click here, you'll get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot. And we're also over here on Facebook.

Photo: Two supporters of gay marriage watch election results come in Tuesday night in Maine. Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times

Social conservatives sense a change in the political weather, say shift bodes ill for Obama

Tuesday was a good day for social and religious conservatives, who haven’t had many of those in the year since Barack Obama was elected president.

But with Republican victories in the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, and the passing of Maine’s ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage, they are feeling -- to paraphrase President George W. Bush after his 2004 reelection -- the wind of the American people at their back.

“We are a nation moving in a conservative direction,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which supports anti-abortion candidates.

“Last November when Barack Obama won, there was a sense that there had been a dramatic shift to the left,” said Gary Bauer, the Christian conservative who is president of the political action committee Campaign for Working Families. “I think we saw yesterday, it’s not 2008 anymore. There wasn’t a big ideological shift; this is still a center-right country.”

Bauer and Dannenfelser were joined on a conference call by Brian Brown, director of the National Organization for Marriage, who was celebrating in Portland, Maine, after an effort to legalize same-sex marriage there went down to an unexpectedly lopsided defeat.

After California voters outlawed gay marriage last year, Maine was viewed as an important, and potentially game-changing, battleground for the same-sex marriage movement. After all, Mainers are considered independent, tolerant of differences and eager to keep government out of their bedrooms. A win there would have gone far to support the contention by gay rights advocates that it’s just a matter of time before the country accepts the notion that gays should be allowed to marry.

But voters have now defeated gay marriage in 31 states -- gay activists' only victories have been in the courts and legislatures -- and social conservatives believe they can snuff out what had started to become conventional wisdom about the inevitability of same-sex marriage.

“It’s a crushing blow to those who think same-sex marriage is inevitable,” Brown said. “They were 100% wrong…In a deep blue state, when voters had the chance, they voted to protect marriage for a man and a woman.”

The conservative leaders said from this point on, they are expecting the Republican Party establishment to shape up and get with their program.

They will not tolerate any more races like the closely watched contest in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, where Republican Party officials chose a pro-gay-marriage, pro-abortion-rights candidate, Dede Scozzafava, to run against Democrat Bill Owens, who opposes gay marriage. When it became clear that grass-roots Republicans who were turned off by their own candidate would support a third-party candidate -- Doug Hoffman of the Conservative Party -- Scozzafava dropped out and endorsed the Democrat, who won. (If Tuesday’s contests were a harbinger of bad things to come for Democrats in 2010, then perhaps the New York race could be interpreted as a slap at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who campaigned for Hoffman with the not-so-catchy slogan, “Hoffman, baby, Hoffman.")

“If we had had a candidate who was principled in terms of embracing Republican platform, we would see a Republican being sworn in,” Dannenfelser said. “The real power of the Republican Party is in a burgeoning, grass-roots movement that is very conservative, and the more out of touch they are with their natural base, the more they will lose. If we have to have that conversation in a high-profile way, so be it.”

Though the White House has downplayed the notions that Tuesday’s races were any sort of referendum on the president’s policies, Bauer is convinced that trouble looms:

“I think the results yesterday are going to make it harder for all the initiatives that are unpassed -- whether healthcare or cap-and-trade and soon-to-come tax increases. Those will be more dicey for the White House and congressional leadership. If you are a red state senator or congressman, there is a lot of second-guessing going on about whether they want to go further out on the limb of voting for these incredible bills. …That’s why people who voted for Barack Obama last year voted Republican yesterday.”

-- Robin Abcarian

If you click here, you'll get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot. And we're also over here on Facebook.

Maine voters repeal law allowing gay marriage (Updated)

  

(UPDATE: 12:52 a.m. Pacific Wednesday: Opponents of Maine’s law allowing same-sex marriage succeeded Tuesday night in their repeal effort, following a heated campaign that polarized the state and drew national attention.

With 87% of the 605 precincts reporting, the Associated Press said, opponents of same sex marriage led with 53% of the vote to 47% seeking to uphold the law. If the law is repealed, Maine will join more than 30 other states that have rejected gay and lesbian marriage at the ballot box.)

It looks like it’s going to be a long night in Maine, where results are just beginning to trickle in on the state referendum that would repeal a state law permitting same-sex marriage. So far, with about 28% of 605 precincts reporting, the results show a virtual dead heat. That's not surprising -- both sides have long predicted a close contest.

This evening our colleague Bob Drogin went to a celebration party for those against same-sex marriage, reporting that “about two dozen people looking very dejected sat quietly at mostly empty tables.”

Then, says Drogin, it was off to a gay rights party which “has several thousand people packed into a ballroom and cheering one another.”

"It's early yet, but I'm very encouraged by the results we're seeing so far," Gov. John Baldacci, who staunchly backed the gay marriage law, told the ebullient pro-gay-marriage party. Everyone cheered.

The mood was far less optimistic in the other ballroom. "Regardless of the outcome tonight, we fought the good fight," Marc Mutty, chairman of the pro-repeal coalition, told the small gathering. "We have nothing to be ashamed of." That comment, however, came after earlier returns showed the repeal effort behind.

The night, clearly, is young, so stay tuned to latimes.com for further reports on the battle over gay rights in Maine.

-- Steve Padilla

If you click here, you'll get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot. And we're also over here on Facebook.

Top photo: Supporter of measure to overturn a law allowing gay marriage. Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times. Bottom photo: Pro-gay-marriage supporters. Credit: Associated Press.

It's conservatives vs. Republicans in New York congressional race. Could infighting help Democrats?

NY-23 has everything a political junkie could want in an election -- drama, fireworks, an uncertain outcome.

It all started when President Obama tapped Republican John McHugh to be secretary of the Army. McHugh was one of only three Republicans in the New York congressional delegation, from the 23rd Congressional District, a district so far north it abuts Canada, a traditionally Republican stronghold that went for Obama in 2008. The White House no doubt hoped this could be a Democratic pickup in the House.

Early on, the GOP establishment tapped a moderate Republican who might appeal across party lines -- state legislator Dede Scozzafava, who supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage. In the early polling, she was leading. And she is still the choice of the party, winning recent support from Chairman Michael Steele and 2012 aspirant Newt Gingrich.

Like Republicans, Democrats thought the race would be decided in the middle. Their choice: Bill Owens, a Plattsburgh attorney and a registered Independent.

But when the Conservative Party tapped Doug Hoffman, a certified public accountant and a conservative, he attracted support from the Washington-based Club for Growth. Ever since, with money and message, Hoffman has been gaining ground and winning support from a bevy of conservatives, most prominently former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Here's Dick Armey's two cents.

With the election a few days away, the latest polling, ala RealClearPolitics.com, shows Hoffman gaining ground. Scozzafava led in late September, with 35% to 28% for Owens and 16% for Hoffman. As Hoffman took support away from Scozzafava, Owens took the lead over her by four to five points in mid-October. Now, with star endorsements from Palin et al, one poll has Hoffman leading with 31%, Owens at 27% and Scozzafava at 20%.

There's no runoff here so Tuesday's election will tell the tale.

- Johanna Neuman

Click here to get Twitter alerts of each Ticket item. Or follow us  @latimestot  Also on Facebook over here.

Citing thousands of hate crimes against gays, Obama signs, celebrates new law

Eleven years after a pair of notorious hate crimes -- one against an African American in Texas, the other against a gay man in Wyoming -- President Obama signed legislation today that included expanded federal protections.

The measure was actually part of a defense appropriations bill, but it was the hate crimes part that prompted a celebratory reception in the East Room of the White House this evening.

"After more than a decade of opposition and delay," Obama said, "we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are."

The opposition to the new measure came from those who said new federal coverage was unnecessary, that sufficient protections at both state and federal levels already exist. They pointed out that the perpetrators in the two fatal 1998 crimes were convicted under current state laws.

First Lady Michelle Obama was absent from tonight's reception, attending the first game of the Phillies-Yankees World Series in New York.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Click here to get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us  @latimestot  Also on Facebook over here.

President Obama's remarks at White House reception to mark signing of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, as provided by his office:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you so much, and welcome to the White House. 

There are several people here that I want to just make mention of because they helped to make today possible.  We've got Attorney General Eric Holder.  (Applause.)  A champion of this legislation, and....

What if Obama really wants a fight over gay pajamas?

A little something to think about:

Have you too noticed that very few accidents seem to happen around Barack Obama?

Sure, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright association blew up in his face; that was just a matter of time and came not from Republicans but from fellow Democrats. One day the Harvard-educated, freshman senator from Illinois thought there were 57 states. He didn't know Canada had a prime minister, not a president. And it took some doing for the man to grudgingly give in to that stupid lapel flag pin thing.

The Geithner-Daschle-Solis back-tax deals were also messy.

But those gaffes happened early in the presidential campaign or the administration. He and his team have been touching every conceivable base at every opportunity, from tonight's Latin music fiesta at the White House to marking Leif Erikson Day to earn the Viking vote.

In fact, Obama's devoted so much time cultivating and nurturing these political niches that critics credibly suggest he might profitably invest less effort in the perpetual campaign mode -- flying off to Copenhagen to take an embarrassingly blunt public hit for the Chicago machine and chatting up that serial philanderer on the CBS late show -- and put in a lot more shirt-sleeve time in the Oval Office being the new president at the old desk.

On Saturday night before he was asked about "don't ask-don't tell" Obama told the banqueting but impatient Human Rights Campaign crowd (full text right here) all the Democratically correct things it wanted to hear before the big march for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) equality the next day.

So it was very surprising -- even jarring -- when on Sunday CNBC's John Harwood, long a respected political journalist, reported a conversation with an anonymous White....