Gephardt's Daughter: Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Richard Gephardt says his 30-year-old gay daughter, Chrissy, will play an active role in his campaign, including touting his candidacy to gay and lesbian groups across the country.

"She's going to be active in the campaign, and she'll go talk to gay and lesbian groups and all kinds of groups," Gephardt said Thursday on CNBC's Capital Report. "I'm very proud of what she's done with her life, and she'll be a great representative of this campaign."

Gephardt says Chrissy – a social worker who lives with her partner, Amy, in Washington – will focus on health care and welfare issues. She focuses on working with female victims of trauma and abuse. Her prominent role in Gephardt's campaign was first reported by Roll Call.

Gephardt says his daughter, who has made no secret of her sexual orientation, "is going to be a big and important part of the campaign, along with my other children and my wife, Jane."

Chrissy Gephardt won't be breaking new ground, however. Vice President Dick Cheney's gay daughter, Mary, advised her father in 2000, although she played more of a behind-the-scenes role than it appears Gephardt's daughter will.

Gephardt won't have a stranglehold on gay issues among the Democratic wannabes. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the state's civil union law, which granted gays and lesbians many of the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. Dean also has spoken to gay rights groups frequently during the campaign. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina speaks to the gay rights group, Human Rights Campaign, in Atlanta on Saturday.

Some Republicans – though perhaps not Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania – hope Democrats are not able to corner the gay vote in 2004, as they've done in previous presidential elections. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says exit polls in 2000 showed that about 4 million gays and lesbians voted for president. George W. Bush got just 30 percent of those votes.

With the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay GOP group, meeting this week in Washington, even ultraconservative House Majority Leader Tom Delay of Texas told a reporter this week that, "We are an open and inclusive party to anyone who believes in the same things we believe in," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.