A personal account from the Log Cabin Republican National Convention April 16-18.

The scroll on the bottom of CNN read that the Log Cabin Republicans—the nation’s leading gay GOP group—were meeting in Palm Springs to discuss whether to endorse President Bush. The Los Angeles Times reported the same. Observers on the left tried to set up a non-endorsement of the President as a defeat.

But no endorsement was going to come out of the Log Cabin Convention in Palm Springs.

During the Saturday afternoon discussion of the endorsement process, LCR President Patrick Guerrero laid out clearly how it was going to work. Th 25-member national Board of Directors would meet sometime during or near the Republican National Convention to vote on one of two options—endorse the President or make no endorsement.

Delegates to the convention, however, were asked their opinions on the matter. Many felt that the Board should clearly articulate several things—what has George Bush done for the gay community and why, as Republicans, would the group support George Bush.

Many of the advancements for the gay community under Bush were achieved under the radar of public scrutiny, according the the Log Cabin staff. Following September 11, for example, LCR worked with the justice department to allow New York to include domestic partners in survivor benefits… The Office of National AIDS policy was elevated to a position just below Cabinet-level… Under previous Republican administrations, this may not have happened, but most of the public never hears of them.

The question of marriage equality weighed heavily. Should George Bush’s opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians on this issue be enough to outweigh all of the reasons the group would endorse him? John Kerry’s opposition to marriage equality did not keep the Stonewall Democrats from backing the Mass. Senator for President.

Officially, no straw poll was taken. Of the five breakout sessions for the discussion, however, the straw-poll-that-did-not-happen showed that, by a 2-1 margin members of the Log Cabin Republicans would have endorsed Bush on Saturday if they were given the choice.

I disagreed. I did not feel LCR had positioned itself to make the endorsement in a way that the group and its endorsement would be credible.

Between now and August, the Log Cabins will be engaging in a public and open debate among its members about how to approach its endorsement process. The group hopes to meet with the Campaign to try to further build the record of accomplishments for the gay community and to hold the President to the promises made when LCR endorsed him in 2000.

Log Cabin will also be looking at the tenor and the tone of the President and of the Convention. If New York 2004 is like Philadelphia in 2000—where the party casts a big tent—I expect LCR to come on board and endorse George Bush. If New York is more like Houston in 1992, where the religious right launches a new cultural war, expect no endorsement.

Unlike the religiouis right which threatens to walk away from the party or to stay home, the Log Cabin Republicans have built a reputation as being the most loyal to the party—sticking to Republican principles despite the pressure they get from their party and their community.

The one million gay votes George Bush received in 2000 (including 50,000 in Florida) could be at stake in this endorsement process. With the nation so closely divided, the President must realize that the gay vote could be the decisive factor in his re-election campaign.