Saturday, November 01, 2008

Patrick Mara for Dc City Council At-Large

I'll be voting for Patrick Mara for the DC City Council At Large seat.

The primary reason is that he will be an unabashed supporter of marriage equality in the District. His opponent, Carol Schwartz, a long time Council member and otherwise supportive of the gay community here, has until recently opposed it. I remember the HRC marriage rights rally where she proclaimed her support for civil unions but said marriage is between a man and a woman; so I wonder now how solid her support for the issue really is. When she states her support for gay marriage now it's with much hemming and hawing. I doubt we'd get much bold action from her should the DC Council take it up, which it is expected to in 09.

No such wishy-washyness from Republican Patrick Mara. He unequivocally states his support for gay marriage in the District. Further, he has stated his support for the Mayor's education plan. Although I don't have any children in the DC public school system, my tax dollars pay for it and any adult in the District should be ashamed of it. We're letting the kids down. Mayor Fenty's Administration has made progress in turning it around. Mara is behind the Mayor. I'm not sure Shwartz is.

In fact, after perusing her Web site, I'm not sure about anything about her. Yes, she posts past legislation she has supported. But in a change election year running on your record isn't the best tactic. I want to know what you want to do. I want to know your vision for DC.

It's not clear Schwartz has one. I believe Mara does. For those reasons I'll be voting for him this Tuesday.

(yes, I know there are other candidates running for this seat, but in my mind the only real choice was between Mara and Schwartz).

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