Guest Post From Washington State Senator Steve Hobbs

Not infrequently Democratic candidates get in touch with Blue America and tell one of us exactly what they think we want to hear-- i.e., how progressive they are. I've had candidates flat out lie to me, Chris Carney being the worst example of all. He lied about specific issues and, we later found out, was laughing on the other end of the phone while he was doing so. After we helped elect him, he joined the Blue Dog caucus and voted like a conservative Republican until being defeated in the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010. Washington Senator Steve Hobbs isn't trying to mislead anyone. He described himself to me as "extremely" conservative. And he did so over and over while we talked on the phone. He knew Blue America is strongly backing Darcy Burner, one of his opponents, for the WA-1 congressional seat. But Steve served in uniform for over 20 years and was elected to the state Senate in 2006 and reelected in 2010; no need for him to mislead anyone.

There was something about Steve's unabashed conservatism that was appealing though-- no, not the conservatism itself-- Steve's attitude about it. For one thing, his fiscal conservatism doesn't bleed over into the social issues. He's a pro-Choice, pro-LGBT Democrat, with a voting record to back up those claims. It's in contrast to the Blue Dogs in DC who swear they're just fiscally conservative and then vote straight-up reactionary when it comes to matters of Choice, corporate corruption and equality. Many of the DC Blue Dogs vote more frequently with Boehner and Cantor than with Nancy Pelosi, at least on the crucial roll calls where they are most needed. This session, according to Progressive Punch, the worst of the Blue Dogs, Dan Boren (OK) scored a dismal 16.03 and the second worst, Mike Ross (AR), scored 19.21. So each voted against progressive roll calls over 80% of the time. That's worse than some Republicans! Ross has a lifetime score of ZERO on issues impacting the lives of LGBT Americans and Boren has a 20%. That's not the kind of conservative Steve Hobbs is. When I heard his thinking on how a proud conservative wound up championing LGBT issues, I asked him to write a guest post for DWT:

Why I Voted for Marriage Equality in Washington State

By State Senator Steve Hobbs

Andrew Wilfahrt had a love of music, numbers and his country.

He joined the army as a 29 year-old and was deployed to Afghanistan in July of 2010. He was a well-liked, valiant, intelligent soldier who recorded a perfect score on his military aptitude test.

On February 27 of last year, Corporal Wilfahrt gave the ultimate sacrifice, what President Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion, when he was killed while on patrol in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb.

Cpl. Wilfahrt’s story is common among the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have fought and died in service of our country since its founding-- except that Andrew didn’t have all of the same rights and freedoms that he fought and died for.

Cpl. Wilfahrt didn’t have those rights because he was gay.

It is because of Andrew’s story and the stories of so many gay and lesbian soldiers serving and dying for a country that does not recognize their right to marry who they love that I proudly voted in favor of Marriage Equality in the Washington State Senate this year.

The bill I voted for will help start to right a wrong in our state and allow same-sex couples to marry.

I have served in the Army for more than 20 years and am currently a member of the Washington National Guard. During my service, which included deployment to combat zones in Kosovo and Iraq, I proudly served alongside many gay and lesbian soldiers.

Estimates are that approximately 66,000 gay and lesbian men and women are active duty members of our armed forces today. It is because of soldiers like Cpl. Wilfahrt and others I served with and continue to serve with today that I was a yes vote on this bill.

How could I look my gay and lesbian comrades in the eye if I voted no? How could I stand next to them, train with them, fight with them and potentially die with them if I voted to deny them the same rights that I have?

I represent a swing district in Snohomish County, Washington, where the majority of my constituents do not support marriage equality. That’s fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and, believe me-- they shared them with me before I took my vote*. I’m sure many of them will share their opinions by voting for someone else in my campaign for U.S. Congress.

This is what I believe. There is a line in the soldier’s creed that reads, “Never leave a fallen comrade behind.” It’s a line that we believe and live by. When you join the military you enter a family and take a sacred oath to protect the members of your family.

My vote for Marriage Equality was an extension of that creed.

*As their Senator I do respect their opinions and beliefs even though I disagree with them on this issue.