Petrelis Files

Fox Pollster = Gay Democratic Donor to Clinton, Kerry & HRC

I experienced tremendous schadenfreude last week when reading about the latest poll, this one from Fox News, showing a new low in approval ratings for President Bush. Not only did the poll reveal a continuing slide for Bush, the pollster for Fox News, John Gorman of Opinion Dynamics, believes GOP candidates are uncomfortable with the president's policies and how they may hurt them when voters turn out in the fall.

"It seems clear that many Republicans, while they may still like and support George Bush, are growing uneasy with what may happen to their candidates — and the policies they support — in the November elections," comments Opinion Dynamics Chairman John Gorman.

Since I know Fox News does not bar its journalists or executives from donating to politicians, I thought to look at Gorman's Federal Election Commission records and see how much he's given to Bush, other GOP politicians and Republican PACs.

Boy, was I wrong with that assumption. Gorman has been a longtime donor to Democratic contenders, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, he has also supported the Democratic National Committee, and, to top it off, he's written many checks to a handful of gay politicians and to the Human Rights Campaign, the gay wing of the Democratic Party.

After much searching for at least one donation from Gorman to a GOP politician, I found it. Gorman contributed $250 in 2002 to a gay Republican in Massachusetts in a bid for state office.

If there's a FEC listing showing a single donation from Gorman to any national GOP office-seeker, I couldn't locate it.

Never in my wildest thoughts would I have entertained a notion that Fox News' pollster would be a big backer of Democratic candidates and PACS, not to mention openly gay politicians, because this news outlet is so closely aligned with Bush and the conservative agenda.

Well, I try to learn something new every day and what I learned here is that a Democratic donor is in bed, politically speaking, with Fox News, showing that Murdoch's media empire is not totally riddled with GOP conservatives doing everything they can to undermine the Democrats and demonize the gay community. Gorman working for Fox News clearly demonstrates the channel employs gays and Democrats.

Before posting this, I called Gorman at his office in Cambridge and he confirmed he is openly gay and a veteran supporter of Democrats. Gorman's acknowledgements about his gayness and Democratic Party donations precludes any claim that I'm outing him, because you can't out someone who's already out of the closet.

I'm simply bringing some attention to how the Fox News' pollster is a Democratic donor and a gay man.

Here are Gorman's FEC-listed donations and his contributions made in Massachusetts.

FEC Donations

Democratic Candidates Who Received Gorman Donations:

10/11/1990
$250.00
KERRY COMMITTEE

6/26/1992
$250.00
CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT COMMITTEE

3/4/1994
$250.00
MCGOVERN COMMITTEE

3/7/1993
$250.00
BARRETT COMMITTEE

11/13/1995
$1,000.00
CLINTON/GORE '96 PRIMARY COMMITTEE INC

12/6/1995
$200.00
KERRY COMMITTEE

3/28/1996
$250.00
FORD FOR CONGRESS

3/29/1996
$600.00
KERRY COMMITTEE

11/17/1997
$500.00
FRIENDS OF BARBARA BOXER

11/30/1998
$1,000.00
KERRY COMMITTEE

5/20/1999
$1,000.00
GORE 2000 INC

11/15/1999
$1,000.00
KENNEDY FOR SENATE 2000

3/17/2000
$1,000.00
ROBB FOR THE SENATE

6/19/2000
$1,000.00
KERRY COMMITTEE

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Gorman's Donations to the Democratic National Committee

10/12/1992
$1,000.00
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

3/15/1994
$1,000.00
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

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Gay Democratic Groups or Candidates Gorman Gave To:

1/5/1989
$300.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND

6/29/1990
$300.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

9/24/1990
$300.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

12/21/1990
$300.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

4/24/1991
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

6/25/1991
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

9/30/1991
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

12/31/1991
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

6/19/1992
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

9/28/1992
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

10/30/1992
$200.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

12/21/1992
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

3/24/1993
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

10/14/1993
$1,200.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

10/27/1993
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

1/21/1994
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

4/24/1994
$450.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

10/18/1994
$1,400.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

6/4/1996
$250.00
A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE FOR DALE MCCORMICK

8/16/2001
$500.00
CHERYL JACQUES FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE

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Gorman's Massachusetts' Donations

Gay Democratic Candidates Gorman Donated To:

04/19/2002
$500.00
Barrios, Jarrett T.

11/17/2003
$250.00
Barrios, Jarrett T.

05/24/2004
$500.00
Barrios, Jarrett T.

05/23/2005
$250.00
Barrios, Jarrett T.

11/22/2005
$250.00
Barrios, Jarrett T.

12/23/2005
$250.00
Barrios, Jarrett T.

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GOP MA Gay Candidate Who Received A Donation From Gorman

02/20/2002
$250.00
Guerriero, Patrick

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MA Democrats Gorman Donated To:

12/13/2001
$100.00
Musiol, Jr, Rick

08/16/2002
$250.00
Decker, Marjorie C.

10/19/2002
$250.00
O'Brien, Shannon P.

12/27/2002
$250.00
Reilly, Thomas F.

11/25/2003
$200.00
Klocke, James F.

06/17/2004
$100.00
Green, Avi

05/03/2005
$250.00
Menino, Thomas M.

05/20/2005
$250.00
Murphy, Brian P.

08/04/2005
$100.00
Jehlen, Patricia D.

09/01/2005
$100.00
Murphy, Brian P.

10/17/2005
$150.00
Havern III, Robert A.