i was involved in campaigning against senator jesse helms when i was in college. when i came out here i was not initially involved politically. i was involved in community work, helping to build the lgbt community center, doing neighborhood work, and i eventually started doing campaigns and gradually got more involved in democratic party politics. ultimately, in 2004, i ran for the democratic county central committee and ended up chairing the committee. it was a gradual process for me. by the time i started thinking about running for supervisor, it made sense because of my involvement in the community and the politics. i knock on about $15,000 -- i knocked on about 15,000 doors and a huge amount of people. the best way to learn about the city and what people want and what people's concerns are. i feel like i know so much more than before i started campaigning. i am a good liberal democrat. in the san francisco, miniature spectrum, i am considered pretty middle of the road. one thing about me is i am very independent when it comes to the issues, and i do not vote o

jesse helms said he better watch out if he comes to north carolina. we had another democratic president who had more serious question of his legitimacy of his office. >> the first black president. >> maybe? >> why do you think that stuck? >> it's -- look, i think the american politics has been racialized forever. even if you have a white democrat. it didn't start with obama. >> but you are not absolving people and say it's not a contributing factor. >> of course it is. but it precedes obama. >> is there racism in america today? yes. one of the things i like about what oprah did is talk about the progress that has been made in america. she acknowledged that there is still a problem. but i think that it is a manifestation of where we are as a country in general. the attacks, the personal attacks, the virulent attacks that are going on in our political spheres against each other, against partisans, within our own party are more disrespectful than they have been in the past. >> is that true? >> politics has been ugly in 24 country for a long time. maybe i

i expected it be like, i don't know, louie gohmert or michelle bachman, the ghost of jesse helms, but the actual speaker of the house, john boehner stepped up personally to make sure that that anti-gay group was well taken care of today at the united states capitol. your tax dollars at work. he's third in line to the presidency. fred phelps from the westboro baptist church didn't need to use the room at that time? john boehner also made news this week by repeating his insistence that he won't allow the employment discrimination act come up for a vote in the house. right now, legally, you can't discriminate in employment in the country on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, national origin, disability, or genetic formation. the bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of basises on which you cannot discriminate. right now in the majority of american states, if your boss hears that you're gay or decides that he or she thinks that you're gay, your boss can fire you on the spot for that reason and that reason alone. and you have norecourse, in a majorit

ronald reagan, judge jesse helms. lieberman became independent in 2001 and 2006.ear republican senator from pennsylvania became a democrat in 2009. which brings us to charlie crist, who this morning announced he will run for florida governor as a democrat. he was not only been governor of florida before. back in twist, he was a life-long and considered a conservative republican. john mccain considered him for running mate in 2008. as governor crist signed a ban on gay adoption and considered a social and fiscal conservative but now charlie crist's former party has moved so far to the right he was essentially pushed out. his sins? in 2008, christ held the polls open so the long lines of voters could cast their ballots, which helped barack obama win the state and the white house. as governor, he vetoed a bill that would have required women to pay for an ultrasound before getting an abortion. he restored voting rights for former felons and vetoed a union-busting merit pay bill for teachers. so can charlie crist reinvent himself as a centrist democrat ask get back int

it started with jesse helms. >> interesting. >> i rest my case. >> and strom thurmond. >> after the civil rights act of 1964 was passed, they were very irate that the democratic party was becoming inclusive in all kinds of ways, especially racial. they started to -- 8000 fundamentalist baptist churches took over the republican party levers of power gradually and now, you cannot get through the primaries to get into the general election as a smart, centrist, conservative, whatever. a perfectly sensible person. it is so dangerous to have one of our two parties controlled by extremists. of course we get mad at the democrats. i am mad at the democrats. you find yourself voting for this other party. here's my plan. my plan is that we do what the right-wing democrats did and we go to the local caucuses and so on. even i am willing to look republican. i will take off this belt. > do you like my jacket? >> yes. we will infiltrate the caucuses. that is what they did. we will take them over. in four years, you have a chaotic and terrible republican convention. and in eight years, you will have a go

it started with jesse helms. rest my case. >> and strom thurmond. >> because after the civil rights act of 1964 was passed, they were very irate that the democratic party was becoming inclusive in all kinds of ways, especially racial. they started to -- 8000 fundamentalist baptist churches took over the republican party levers of power gradually, so now you cannot get through the primaries to get into the general election as a smart, centrist conservative whatever, a perfectly sensible person. it is so dangerous to have one of our two parties controlled by extremists. of course, we get mad at the democrats. i am mad at the democrats every minute. you find yourself voting for this other party. here's my plan. my plan is that we do what the right-wing democrats did and we go to the local caucuses and so on. even i am willing to look republican. i will take off his belt. [laughter] [applause] >> do you like my jacket? >> yes. we will infiltrate the caucuses. that is what they did. we will take them over. in four yea

with the late chairman hyde, chairman lantos as well as senator kerry, former the late senator jesse helms, senator bill frist, congressman jim leach, congressman mcdermott, so many and i share this because i think it's important that this body recognize that the history of thises that been bipartisan -- of this has been bipartisan because we kept our eye on the prize. we knew that we wanted to save lives and we wanted to see an aids-free generation and so many people, so many members of this body, so many outside organizations and our staff have worked so hard to get us to this point. and so now, a decade later, i'm especially proud once again to be a co-author of the bill before us today. as i said, this is a bipartisan compromise. and in the end i think we have a very good bill. we agreed on the need to protect funding for h.i.v. treatment and programs for orphans and vulnerable children. we agreed on the need to preserve support and extend the expired 33% cap on united states contributions to the global fund. this cap is a proven tool for leveraging donor funding and is especially impo