“I’ve given it a huge amount of thought,” he said. “I went to New Hampshire and met with gay groups and moderate Republicans, and met with a representative of the Jewish Coalition in Washington, D.C.” When he visited the gay-straight alliance at Dartmouth, he said, “I met with 40 kids, and they were enthralled. I want to make it easier for kids. That was the definitive moment when I decided to run.”
In New Orleans, he was gratified by the attention he got from the media, but it was not without a struggle.
He had to fight to get a spot at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, after he was denied a place alongside the front-runners such as Palin. Instead, he went through the back door, rented a room in the conference hotel, and invited the media to his own news conference. Many showed up.
