christian grantham
Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
	latest posts   All Politics is Local

May 03, 2005

Wthin a couple of days, the focus of the blog will change from national politics to our local campaign's experiences with one of Virginia's most exciting House of Delegates races in the commonwealth's largest district of registered voters: 13th District.

As many of you know, over the years I've been really fortunate to be involved on a national level with some pretty exciting projects, from domestic policy forums in the Clinton Administration to helping mobilize the vote and advancing civil rights. For years, I hadn't paid much attention to local politics. That all changed with a single phone conversation with VA's 13th District Delegate, Bob Marshall.

Last year, Delegate Marshall returned a phone call I had made to him and then proceeded to call me a "Sodomite" for wanting to talk with him about H.B. 751, a bill he wrote that nullifies any contracts between same-sex partners in the commonwealth of Virginia that confers any rights of marriage. Following the conversation, he then refused to meet with over 40 of his own constituents to discuss the legislation.

That's when I knew religious belief wasn't guiding his agenda. Strong moral beliefs bring people together. What Marshall shared with me was vitriolic and hateful. As he's slowly become alienated by his own party, Marshall's legislative agenda has become one of divisiveness and noted ineffectiveness.

How could I, as a citizen, have allowed this to happen? Where was my voice over the years in defense of commonsense in my own community?

This time, Marshall has an opponent. This year, unlike any other race in his life, Marshall will have to defend his divisive agenda and a record of failure in representing the real priorities of the 13th District. This year, Marshall has a challenger unlike any he has faced before. In the first quarter, we out-raised our opponent, and with your help, we'll do it again this quarter.

The story you'll read will follow us though the November elections as we seek to elect Bruce Roemmelt and defeat one of Virginia's most extreme and ineffective delegates in the commonwealth. As I and others on the campaign share the campaign's story, I invite you to comment, but more importantly I invite you to join us.

There are three ways you can do that listed at Bruce2005.org. 1) Sign up to receive our email updates. 2) Contribute, and 3) tell your friends what we are doing and that we need their help. Wherever you are, your contribution sends a message loud and clear throughout the commonwealth that people demand leadership that represents all the people.

I hope you enjoy the view into the daily ups and downs on the road to a November victory here in our commonwealth. Most importantly, I hope you join me in taking a stand for America's deep-rooted principles of fairness by electing Bruce Roemmelt to the VA House of Delegates for the 13th District and defeating divisive forces in Virginia politics.