{"id":5656,"date":"2012-03-08T15:06:41","date_gmt":"2012-03-08T20:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=5656"},"modified":"2012-03-09T12:25:04","modified_gmt":"2012-03-09T17:25:04","slug":"republicans-lose-teresa-sayward-to-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2012\/03\/08\/republicans-lose-teresa-sayward-to-obama\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans “lose” Teresa Sayward to Obama"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A couple of days ago, the In Box asked whether socially conservative Republican rhetoric could go far enough in 2012 that it would cost them the women’s vote.<\/p>\n

Here’s a big new data point:\u00a0 The GOP has already lost Republican Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward.<\/p>\n

I don’t just mean that Sayward has chosen not to seek another term.\u00a0 I mean that in an interview with YNN’s Liz Benjamin<\/a> this week (video below) Sayward blasted the GOP’s conservative social agenda and tentatively endorsed President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

“If I had to vote today, I\u2019d vote for Obama,” Sayward said, adding, “I really, truly think that the candidates that are out there today for the Republican side would take women back decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sayward — long an advocate for gay rights and same-sex marriage — also excoriated national Republicans for swerving into culture war battles that pit personal freedom and privacy against religious concerns.<\/p>\n

“It’s disheartening to me to see our party move away from what it’s always been about and that is to stay out of people’s lives.\u00a0 Let them live their lives, don’t impose their religion on anybody else.\u00a0 Don’t impose their feelings, let them live and uphold the Constitution.\u00a0 Sadly to say Federally I don’t think that’s happening [with the GOP].”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sayward has been a popular lawmaker in her district, and in Willsboro, where she also served as town supervisor.\u00a0 Last weekend, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise lauded her as “a tough act to follow.<\/a><\/p>\n