Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 12:46:16 -0400 From: Kevin Ivers Subject: Bush and Log Cabin (abcnews.com) Bush and the Log Cabin Governor to Meet With Gay Backers Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush waves to supporters after speaking at a rally in Columbia, Mo. Bush's presidential campaign is once again engaged in a "dialogue" with the Log Cabin Republicans' national leadership. (Eric Gay/AP Photo) By Gayle Tzemach Special to ABCNEWS.com W A S H I N G T O N, April 12 - After publicly breaking with his party's leading gay organization, Texas Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign is once again engaged in a "dialogue" with the Log Cabin Republicans national leadership. Log Cabin sources say the Bush camp reached out to the organization's national leadership through an intermediary over the weekend. Currently,talks are taking place between high-level officials on both sides. These recent overtures come as Bush prepares to meet Thursday with a group of gay Republican supporters, some of whom happen to be Log Cabin members. The planned meeting follows an initially promising but eventually bitter back-and-forth between Bush and the national Log Cabin Republicans, a group with roughly 10,000 members nationwide. While the LCR initially praised the GOP presidential nominee, the relationship turned rancorous during the primaries. McCain Support a Factor in Feud? The bad blood began during the primaries when Bush told NBC News' Meet the Press, he would "probably not" meet with the LCR because it would end up producing a "political Š nightmare." It continued through Super Tuesday when the group ran radio ads mentioning Bush's controversial visit to Bob Jones University and urging the candidate to bring more openness to the party. In the meantime, many leaders of the LCR backed Bush rival John McCain and raised money for the Arizona senator's insurgent campaign. This support for McCain is what some in the LCR leadership argue drove Bush's opposition to meet with them. In the end, Bush will be speaking with gay backers Thursday. Charles Francis, a longtime friend of the governor whose brother James is a major Bush fund-raiser, is said to be one of the meeting's key organizers. Initially, the national LCR leadership disavowed the meeting as a ploy. Yet in their renewed spirit of cooperation, the national Log Cabin Republicans say they are now more satisfied with the Thursday roster. They say the inclusion of several prominent gay elected officials, including Mayor Dan Stewart of Plattsburgh, N.Y., former Wisconsin Republican Rep. Steve Gunderson, and District of Columbia Councilman David Catania bode well for the planned summit. "The meeting that is being put together filled out, particularly with elected officials, people who have solid policy records, and they will be bringing some substance to the meeting," says a spokesman for the national Log Cabin Republicans. But the governor may not be bringing an entirely open mind to the meeting, at least according to one leading conservative activist. "The Bush campaign called me in advance of the meeting and assured me that his positions would remain intact," Michael Farris, a home schooling advocate, told The Associated Press. As for the talks between the Washington-based Log Cabin leadership and the Bush camp, a source close to the discussions says, "It's a good start, and we'll see how things progress." -- Log Cabin Republicans Kevin Ivers (202) 347-5306 phone Director of Public Affairs (202) 347-5224 fax http://www.lcr.org