Nadine Smith appointed to Obama re-election campaign

Equality Florida executive director Nadine Smith has nurtured ties to President Barack Obama, bringing a clear LGBTâ┚¬â€and Floridaâ┚¬â€voice to the White House. In recognition of this work, Smith was recently appointed to a committee working on the President's 2012 re-election campaign.

On Aug. 8, Smith and 30 other community and civic leaders from across the country were invited to Washington to attend a dinner and question-and-answer session with the President.

â┚¬Å”Actually, I’ve been fortunate to chat with the President twice,â┚¬Â said Smith. â┚¬Å”Once during the first Pride event ever held at the White House in 2008, and last month at the small dinner in Washington.â┚¬Â

Smith noted that time with the president is precious, and so her communication was focused.

â┚¬Å”The told him, â┚¬ËœThank you for the tremendous work that has been accomplished and there is much more to do,' Smith said. â┚¬Å”I want the President not only to win re-election, but to win decisively. I want him to be in the strongest position possible to deliver on the federal level.â┚¬Â

Smith was also able to personalize her message, sharing that she and her wife, Andrea, recently welcomed a new baby boy to their St. Petersburg household.

â┚¬Å”I was able to talk about the challenges my wife and our son face at a time when our family is not protected in the state we're in, and when rights and protections vary by state,â┚¬Â she said.

Smith was named a member of the National Finance Committee for the President's re-election efforts.   

â┚¬Å”The committee is made up of volunteers who believe that re-electing the President is vital to our country,â┚¬Â Smith said. â┚¬Å”It's an honor. We build grassroots support and raise funds to help mobilize voters for the 2012 election.â┚¬Â

Smith said the committee, which will meet quarterly through the Nov. 2012 election, is still being put together, but that LGBT interests will be well represented. She reported that she was recommended by other committee members.   

Smith is the respected co-founder of Equality Florida, the state's largest and most well-funded LGBT lobbying and outreach organization. But she will serve on the committee as an individual, and not as the representative of any organization.

Smith said the committee, which will meet quarterly through the Nov. 2012 election, is still being put together, but that LGBT interests will be well represented. She reported that she was recommended by other committee members, but she also believes Florida's pivotal role in the upcoming election was at least partially responsible for her selection.

President Obama's poll numbers have dropped in recent months, largely attributable to stubborn unemployment numbers. But Smith is quick to defend his record, including avoidance of an economic meltdown in 2008, and passage of the Affordable Care Act health care reforms.

â┚¬Å”What the President has accomplished in dire circumstances, and in the face of unprecedented partisan obstruction, has improved the daily lives of the LGBT community and is well worth celebrating even as we push for more,â┚¬Â she said. â┚¬Å”His list of pro-equality accomplishments is impressive, and I believe we will accomplish much more with an ally in the White House for four more years.â┚¬Â

Among President Obama's accomplishments for the LGBT community, Smith listed:

• Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Actâ┚¬â€ the first positive federal LGBT legislation in the nation’s history.
• Repealed â┚¬ËœDon’t Ask, Don’t Tell', allowing gay and lesbian military personnel to serve openly.
• Instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, leading to “dramatic changes in the way that lawyers and judges see legal challenges brought by LGBT people.”
• Extended certain benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees in 2009, and further in 2010.
• Banned job discrimination based on gender identity throughout the Federal government, the nation’s largest employer.
• Instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to require any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid fundsâ┚¬â€virtually all hospitalsâ┚¬â€to allow LGBT visitation rights.
• Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act.
• Extended the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover employees taking unpaid leave to care for the children of same-sex partners.
• Endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA.
• Reduced the deportation threat faced by bi-national LGBT couples.
• Hired more openly LGBT officials in his first two yearsâ┚¬â€more than 150, including more than 20 that required Senate confirmationâ┚¬â€than any previous president in his entire term.

Smith also contrasted President Obama with his Republican challengers, noting that election of any of them would be an â┚¬Å”utter disaster.â┚¬Â

â┚¬Å”The Supreme Court alone is reason enough to work to return the President for a second term,â┚¬Â said Smith. â┚¬Å”Contrast the president's Supreme Court appointees, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, with the anti-LGBT ideologues his opponents favor. Many of the lawsuits our community is counting on to undo the harm of ballot measures will rely on a fair and balanced Supreme Court, not one stacked by a President Bachmann or Perry.â┚¬Â

Smith encouraged LGBT voters to get involved. â┚¬Å”This election is ours, not just the President's, to win or lose. The stakes have never been higher. Hold a house party. Reach out to friends,â┚¬Â she said.

Anyone wishing to be actively involved in President Obama's re-election campaign can contact Smith at smithnadine@me.com.