He also has a major typo on his front page ...

I think it "our kids' schools," not "our kid's schools."

Oy with the "prayers".

i dont think you are allowed to be totally indignant about a typo, but then not have 100% confidence in it...

Isn't there also a Democratic woman running for this seat?

Maybe unions are strong in Jacob's district, I don't know, but if not then I fail to see how having a union logo means you "know how the system works". What system are we talking about?

I think it's great that one of our Democratic candidates is mentioning prayer in one of their campaign items. It's encouraging and refreshing to know that some Democrats are not afraid to at least hint at the idea that they are religious. We might actually win a few more races if we embrace more of the values of our great state.

Rural, union printing (supporting labor) and the prayer thing are both considered "good form" for Democratic candidates.

Unions back Democrats. By not having the bug you are showing that you are willing to throw a loyal constituency under the bus by using a non union and maybe republican printer--a la Aubrey Osteen.

Those of us who practice are fine with the "prayers".

BTW: Funny story about Aubrey Osteen. Dude is running for Sheriff and even though says he is a Democrat, I find it convenient that he switched parties just a month before running for Fulton County office...anyways...dude has non union made cards which didn't bother me too much until the point where he said "I didn't even think about that" and proceeds to show me his union card in--SAG. Look I got no problems with him being in SAG but then to act like it is relevant to being sheriff is dumb. But mainly it suggests that he doesn't even *think* about fucking over people who would help him, he just does it, and these people are supposed to be his brothers and sisters.

Whatever dude, you lost my vote and hopefully others after reading this.

IRE,

Oh I'm not questioning unions and Democratic support, it's just, I became curious after reading ataru's post and quite a few of the yard signs I have from 2006 have NO union logos on them.

For example, I don't think Bishop's yard signs had union logos on them. As far as I know, unions are not a major factor in the district.

I guess it's because this is a "right to work state" and I'm not sure just how much impact unions have here in GA.

There are some signs and stickers that get printed that are NOT authorized by the campaign with out a bug.

With Bishop I can only assume that it was without a bug because well, he's a pretty safe seat...

Unions do have a fairly big impact on Georgia though.

Again, how much or how little support labor is able to provide in a given district is irrelevant. It's how we roll.

Mel,

I was simply wondering why some candidates do have union logos and some don't since supporting labor is considered a "must". That's all.

Oh, and thanks IRE. I need to talk labor with you sometime. A friend of mine told me a lot about Alabama and labor awhile back. I'm interested in seeing how GA compares.

I refer you to the aforementioned "clue".

from the clue the answer is colonel mustard in the study with the rope. boomshackalacka!

I don't think his mail house ever uses any printers other than union ones.

No surprise here. This website has been up at least 9 months. I'm just wondering whether Mr. Gross plans on running as an openly gay candidate or not.

I do wonder based on his promises to fight for "our values," whatever those are, his references to "prayer," and the picture he has put on his "on the issues" page of him with that female. Are we supposed to believe that is his wife?
http://www.keithgross.com/On%20The%20Issues.html

actually i'd rather see people embrace their own values than the state. Genuine-ness seems to earn more respect long-term.

Sweet merciful Jesus! Is he old enough to run for office?

God I hate getting old.

Damn DG. As long as he doesn't advocate hypocritical positions that harm gay families or the LGBT community, shouldn't it be his decision how to present his personal life to voters?

There are a number of Democratic candidates and/or elected officials who are rumored to be gay, but aren't what you would consider "open". I don't think any of them live double lives or act in ways harmful to the community. Would you favor outing them all?

"actually i'd rather see people embrace their own values than the state. Genuine-ness seems to earn more respect long-term."

Nothing wrong with that. However, if one has views that are consistent with a majority of the voters in the state, is that wrong?

My point was that our party is looked at as one that tends to shy away from any mention of religion since there is a secular wing within the party. As minor as it may sound, a candidate even mentioning prayer shows some willingness to reach out to a community that too often feels ignored by our party.

As long as he doesn't advocate hypocritical positions that harm gay families or the LGBT community, shouldn't it be his decision how to present his personal life to voters?

First, I fundamentally disagree with the idea that someone can be "in the closet," but simply because they don't "advocate hypocritical positions that harm gay families or the LGBT community," we should let them try to get away with ridiculously portraying themselves as straight, particularly when running in a district where it probably wouldn't matter.

We trust these elected officials to make lots of important decisions for us. We give them a lot of discretion to do so. Frankly, I don't trust someone to make those decisions for me when they are trying to hide from me who they really are, particularly when there is no reason for doing so.

I'm not saying that Keith Gross is doing so, and know nothing of how he plans on dealing with this issue in the campaign. Just making an observation.

once you enter the public arena in biz or politics or religion, you can forget being in the closet, the ticker is already tocking.

Rural, I think the state voters respond more to genuine-ness when people are honest about WHY they believe something.

In the 4th no one seemed to care that Hank was a buddhist even though his district is not.

I think people should ONLY mention their religion or religious beliefs if it plays a real and major role in their lives, otherwise...no.

People's BS meters on this, at least those who are not fundamentalists in their sects, is getting pretty high.

He didn't say he was a "prayer buddy". He said he wanted to earn his voters' "prayers" - whatever that means. That's just some bad political wording to play on the voters' religious beliefs and for them to make the assumption that he is really religious without ever stating what side of the fence he is on.

As DG says, the bigger question mark is how he uses the term "our values". Whose values?

As a Board Member of Atlanta Stonewall Democrats, I don't believe Gross has ever made a formal request to meet with us and ask for our support. I guess he's just waiting until the time is right...but as fellow Board Member Tim says "the ticker is already tocking".

my word she is smmmmmmmmmmmmooooooooking.

If she isn't her wife/girlfriend/SO/otherwise taken call me.

She looks kind of like his sister.

Would just like to say he need to learn how to tie a tie (you need a dimple buddy) and not to button both buttons on a 2B suit.

Tim,

Good point!

Smitty,

He wants people to pray for him. I would hope that if someone asks for prayers then they are somewhat religious.

I understand many in our party want a complete separation of church and state, and unfortunately some within our party disavow Christianity as a whole, I guess that's why I found it refreshing to see some type of religious reference on the site. Obviously he could be of another religion, and that's fine as well.

Are y'all wanting him to come out and say that he is gay? Sorry, but I do not see the big deal as long as he votes correctly on the issues. Am I missing something?!?!

While not a member of the community, I can certainly understand someone being or doing something, and then voting the complete opposite when it comes to those issues. I see it all the time in local politics.

i don't care if he's gay or not. I don't care if he is in the closet or not. Same way i don't care if someone is straight or not. Or bi, or T, or Q or whatever.

"I would hope that if someone asks for prayers then they are somewhat religious." - shall we use former politician Rev. Ron Sailor as an example. Might have a Masters degree in divinity but he has strayed so far from his religious teachings. and now he's looking for some prayers while he's going to the Feds' playground.

what really defines "somewhat religious" when it comes to politics?

"but I do not see the big deal as long as he votes correctly on the issues." How many times have our so called Pro-Choice Democratic legislators not voted for choice issues and then are praised or honored by Choice groups? I guess a lot of activists are tired of getting screwed by those that pretend they are on our side but cower to save their political asses. Then again, that could just be my experience.

But you can replace "choice" or "gay" with "transportation" or "environment" and find that too many elected folks say one thing when they are courting your vote and money and then vote differently.

I don't think he's trying to misrepresent himself in that picture at all. It's a very standard "talking to a voter" shot - because its a woman it has to be his wife or girlfriend? What?

For reference, generally politicians are embracing their spouses or significant others in a spouse shot.

http://www.stephaniestuckeybenfield.org/mainpages/about.php

http://davidadelman.info/meet_caroline

http://dougstoner.com/about/

Just a few examples.

DecaturGuy,

Don't ever disconnect prayer, faith, and values from someone that is gay.

I am a gay man, and my faith and values are very important to me. I am a devout Christian, but Faith and Values are loosely interpreted and can mean several things, not just the assumed Judeo-Christian definition of Faith and Values.

Maybe the girl is his best friend? Maybe a relative?

His sexual orientation will have nothing to do with his ability to serve his constituents, whether he chooses to be open about it or not, I believe is his decision. Should he let us know his position on our issues? Absolutely!

Sounds to me like you're stereotyping the GLBT Community, and that is not something that I can take lightly.

I'm pretty sure that PO Box is in Robin Shipp's district