Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Obama Is Both For And Against Gay Marriage

At the same time. Give John Kerry credit. There was at least a little time separating his for and against stances.
President Barack Obama is staying in the gay marriage closet because he doesn’t want to alienate black voters or gay donors.

He’s refusing to confirm or deny that he would use a second term to champion new marriage rules that would allow same-sex couples to get marriage licenses.

“We respect the right of all people to have a personal opinion,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said on May 7 — a day after Vice President Joe Biden endorsed marriage for gays and lesbians.

“The president is the right person to describe his personal views. He said his views on this were evolving, and I don’t have an update on that,” Carney added.

Marriage is a tough dilemma for Obama because his base is deeply split: Strong majorities of black Americans oppose changing marriage rules to endorse same-sex couples. Like many other social conservatives, that community sees marriage as an institution to bind parents together and to their children.
That’s a popular position. Voters in more than 30 states — including liberal California — have used state-wide votes to solidify state support for the traditional view of marriage.

But many gays want to see White House endorsement of same-sex marriage because it would provide additional social validation of their relationships.

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