RNC’s “Hope Isn’t Hiring” Isn’t Here Any More
After being online for a week and a half, the Republican National Committee site, “Hope Isn’t Hiring,” has disappeared — and with it several strong statements from the RNC opposing President Barack Obama’s claimed advancements on LGBT equality.
The site, criticized by the Log Cabin Republicans and other LGBT groups, specifically took aim at President Barack Obama’s efforts to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and expand hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples, among other actions and positions. Entering the website’s address into a browser now redirects the user to the RNC’s main web page.
LCR executive director Clarke Cooper would not say whether he believed his group’s complaints led to the site being taken down, but he did tell Metro Weekly in an email, “Log Cabin Republicans reached out to the Chairman and contacts at the RNC to make the case that some of the content on the Hope Isn’t Hiring website ran counter to popular public opinion, was not helpful to the mission of increasing the party ranks and was a distraction from the 2010 voter mandate to focus on building the economy, creating jobs and reducing government spending.”
The Human Rights Campaign, which also criticized the website noted the site’s erasure in a news release earlier today.
HRC president Joe Solmonese said, “Hopefully the Republican Party leadership has come to their senses and realized that attacking LGBT families offends the great majority of Americans. Polling overwhelmingly shows that Americans support LGBT equality and the Republican Party would be foolish to campaign on a platform based on discrimination and ignorance.”
Among the topics addressed on the site were “Despite It Being The Law Of The Land, Obama Refused To Continue To Defend The Defense Of Marriage Act In Court”; “Obama Repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell While U.S. Troops Are Still On The Battlefield”; and “Obama Opposed California’s Prop 8 And Has Expanded Government Recognition Of Same-Sex Couples.”
The RNC press office did not provide any immediate explanation regarding why the site was taken down.
[Image: A screen capture from the “social issues” section of the now-defunct RNC website.]
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