Obama and Gay Marriage

[Anonymous]

VP Biden and Arne Duncan voice support and then NC passes an outright ban. The convention is taking place in NC. What's a president to do?

[Anonymous]

Continue to lie about his views for political reasons. Truthfully, while I am no fan of Mr. Obama and hope he is crushed in the upcoming election, it is hard to blame him on that one. It is the smart play.

[Anonymous]

im a dem and a cynic so lets just say obama is waiting to be re-elected before deciding to speak on his "evolving" views on gay marriage.

he'll come out guns blazing in support if he gets re-elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:im a dem and a cynic so lets just say obama is waiting to be re-elected before deciding to speak on his "evolving" views on gay marriage.

he'll come out guns blazing in support if he gets re-elected.

Just to play along with this game, how will he explain his "sudden" 180 on this topic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VP Biden and Arne Duncan voice support and then NC passes an outright ban. The convention is taking place in NC. What's a president to do?

This is an interesting point. Do you think there will be calls to move it?

[Anonymous]

Why? Not all democrats support gay marriage or consider it a defining issue. Now is not the time for Obama to fight that fight. Biden needs to reign it in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why? Not all democrats support gay marriage or consider it a defining issue. Now is not the time for Obama to fight that fight. Biden needs to reign it in.

Many Democrats would like to see a pro-gay marriage plank added to the party platform. You may underestimate the proportion of influential Democrats to whom this matters.

I don't know the timing of the decision to hold the convention in Charlotte; was it made before this amendment was on the ballot? This does present the Democrats with a conundrum. Obama chose NC because he really wants to win it, but it might have been better to a different real swing state and one that didn't have an amendment like this on the ballot this spring. There will certainly be Democrats who will be very upset about holding the convention there after this vote.

I have no doubt that Obama personally supports gay marriage and that he's doing the politically expedient thing. It's a safe bet for him; gay Democrats aren't going to vote for Mitt Romney, and Obama can't afford to alienate African American voters who strongly oppose gay marriage. They have to turn out in large numbers if he's going to win certain states.

And Biden rarely reins himself in, so I'm not holding my breath on that one. Some writers have suggested that Obama is using Duncan, Donovan, and Biden to telegraph his support of gay marriage to the gay community but Obama's people did do a quick walk-back of Biden's comments, so who knows? I was surprised to read in the NYT this week that he and his staff aren't included in Obama's weekly re-election strategy meetings. That's interesting.

[Anonymous]

Although I support gay marriage, I can see a reasonable position in support of full rights under civil union, reserving marriage as a religious institution. It may be harder to ensure that all rights are actually included, and it may be a "separate but equal" approach, but this position recognizes the sensibilities of the more traditional religions.

Since over half the states ban same sex marriage, and many Democrats oppose it, I don't think it is practical to try to move the convention.

Incidentally, NC not only made same sex marriage unconstitutional, it also place restrictions on the rights of unmarried couples of all gender combinations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:im a dem and a cynic so lets just say obama is waiting to be re-elected before deciding to speak on his "evolving" views on gay marriage.

he'll come out guns blazing in support if he gets re-elected.

sure he will

[Anonymous]

Gay marriage should be left to the states. And for something that so fundamentally changes centuries of social and legal arrangements, the people themselves should decide, rather than slim majorities of legislators or judges. I read that a bare majority in polls now seem to favor it. I live in DC. Had gay marriage been properly put to referendum I would have voted in favor of it. But I don't think that a handful of DC council members should have shoved gay marriage down the throats (no pun intended) of DC residents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:im a dem and a cynic so lets just say obama is waiting to be re-elected before deciding to speak on his "evolving" views on gay marriage.

he'll come out guns blazing in support if he gets re-elected.

Just to play along with this game, how will he explain his "sudden" 180 on this topic?

It doesn't matter. Everyone on earth knows what he thinks. Was it some huge earth-shattering revelation that Dick Cheney supported gay marriage but kept his mouth shut for political reasons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:too late. the Democrat war on Christianity has been exposed and will be bashed to death before the election. Obama hates Christians and eats Dogs,....Oh....and the economy sucks and is unraveling into something that resembles the pile of excrement and vomit left behind by a OWS protest.

I see someone is pocketing his pills at Crazy Acres again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:im a dem and a cynic so lets just say obama is waiting to be re-elected before deciding to speak on his "evolving" views on gay marriage.

he'll come out guns blazing in support if he gets re-elected.

Just to play along with this game, how will he explain his "sudden" 180 on this topic?

does it matter? seriously?

im not blind to not realize obama has folks who worship him to death so im sure any change in position will be praised and looked upon and some new progressive thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gay marriage should be left to the states. And for something that so fundamentally changes centuries of social and legal arrangements, the people themselves should decide, rather than slim majorities of legislators or judges. I read that a bare majority in polls now seem to favor it. I live in DC. Had gay marriage been properly put to referendum I would have voted in favor of it. But I don't think that a handful of DC council members should have shoved gay marriage down the throats (no pun intended) of DC residents.

as a maryland resident where its going to come up for us in november, you think its going to pass there?

i have a feeling it will lose by a slim margin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:im a dem and a cynic so lets just say obama is waiting to be re-elected before deciding to speak on his "evolving" views on gay marriage.

he'll come out guns blazing in support if he gets re-elected.

Just to play along with this game, how will he explain his "sudden" 180 on this topic?

11:03 here. He will say his position is now fully evolved, since it's been evolving for quite some time. He'll probably equate marriage equality to the African American struggle for civil rights. As another poster said, it's widely assumed that he supports gay marriage now.

12:24, the difference between the effects of this amendment on gay couples and straight couples is that straight couples have the option of marrying. Gay couples don't. Straight couples who choose to cohabit willingly forgo some of the benefits of marriage; gay couples don't. They forgo those benefits because they are categorically denied to them.