If there’s one thing this community isn’t lacking, it’s passion. Take the week leading up to Election Day, for example. Somehow readers of the Gay & Lesbian Times mistook GLBT Vote 2006’s endorsements page, located on the inside back cover of last week’s edition, as the Gay & Lesbian Times’ endorsement guide. You should have heard some of the scathing messages left on the editorial department’s voicemail for allegedly endorsing politicians like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger over Democratic candidate Phil Angelides, Republican Congressmember Brian Bilbray instead of Democratic challenger Francine Busby and 78th District Assemblymember Shirley Horton versus Democrat Maxine Sherard.

The confusion is understandable. The inside back cover is easier to find than our endorsement page, which was sandwiched somewhere inside last week’s feature story. And since Publisher Michael Portantino donated a portion of the ad space to GLBT Vote 2006, noted at the bottom of the advertisement, some community members got the wrong idea.

So allow us to clear up any misunderstandings. The Gay & Lesbian Times donates ad space to many community organizations, such as The Center, Stepping Stone of San Diego, Knowcrystal.org, Mama’s Kitchen and even the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC), to name a few. In this case, a portion of the costs were donated to GLBT Vote 2006, but in no way does that mean we “endorse” their endorsements. In fact, we think their picks were pretty slimy. Instead of choosing candidates committed to equality and most aligned with our community’s principles, we believe GLBT Vote 2006 is attempting to curry favor from those candidates poised to win – the old “scratch your back, you scratch mine” mentality. That aside, GLBT Vote 2006, just like the Log Cabin Republicans and the SDDC, is a part of this community and has every right to express its political views within this paper. What kind of job would we be doing if we only expressed one point of view? Just don’t confuse their viewpoint with ours.

So before launching into your next tirade, give us a chance to respond. You may still hang up the phone and curse the day you ever picked up the “controversial” Gay & Lesbian Times, but we believe we’ll come to some sort of understanding.

Now that we’ve gotten that off our chests, let’s talk politics, shall we?

Democrats cleaned up nationwide, reclaiming the majority in the House and in the Senate. The Democratic takeover of Congress makes politics in Washington a whole new ballgame, and the GLBT community stands to benefit. With a Democratic majority in Congress, prospects have brightened dramatically for GLBT rights legislation, including legislation on hate crimes and a new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that includes protections based on gender identity.

Another victory took place in Arizona, where voters failed to support a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage. Seven states – Tennessee, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin – did, however, pass anti-same-sex marriage initiatives.

Locally, incumbents Susan Davis and Bob Filner nabbed easy victories in their respective congressional districts, as did 76th District Assemblymember Lori Saldaña over gay Republican challenger Ralph Denney. Rod Shelton also had a big win in his race for Superior Court Judge, Office 36.

There were a few expected defeats. Openly gay incumbent Steve Padilla for Chula Vista mayor and gay candidate John Rinaldi for the 52nd Congressional District both lost by wide margins. Statewide, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger licked Democratic challenger Phil Angelides by nearly 1 million votes. But Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi pulled off a close victory against conservative Tom McClintock, giving Democrats some solace at the executive level.

Did the Democrats really win? We say it was the Republicans who lost. Americans didn’t so much vote for Democrats as vote against corruption in the Republican Party. As we near 2008, Democrats need to take advantage of this opportunity and, more importantly, learn from their counterparts’ mistakes.