Well, it got me to donate. I don’t think I’ve ever donated before.
One of my coworkers believes that Biden’s statement was either a trial balloon, or meant to soften the ground, so to speak.
One way or the other, I just sent a donation with a comment as to why.
That’s not a word that comes to mind. He said the right thing here, but only after several states have legalized gay marriage during his term, after SSM supporters continued to increase pressure on him at a time he needed their support, and after Biden apparently went off script and said he was in favor of it. It took all of that to get Obama to finally make the right move. I’m pleased, but not impressed.
Last week, an openly gay Romney spokesperson resigned after the campaign came under fire from social conservatives. This guy was a spokesman on foreign policy, so it’s not like his sexual orientation would’ve even been an issue, but still, that was a bridge too far. The Romney campaign put him in the background and he resigned. So what do you think Romney is going to say?
It seems deeply ironic that both presidential candidates are probably in favor of legalizing gay marriage but neither is comfortable saying so.
I was just thinking back to how he reacted to the killing of Bin Laden a week or two back, saying it was an easy call – in hopes of neutralizing it as an issue, since, hey, if there’s no difference between him and Obama on that one, then he figures people will move on to something else, right?
Obama wasn’t having any of it, but that seems to have been Romney’s plan on an issue where the polls would’ve been against him otherwise.
Obviously it’s a heck of a lot more likely that Romney will use this issue to draw a distinction between himself and his opponent, but I can’t guess exactly what note he goes for. “I’m in favor of civil unions, but not gay marriage” would maybe earn him some points with the middle that Obama maybe just lost; “I’m against even civil unions” would maybe fire up ultra-rightists more; and “I actually agree with the President on this one” seems incredibly unlikely – but, then again, I sure wasn’t expecting Obama to hit this one out of the park, so I thought I’d see what everyone else was figuring for Mitt’s next move.
Kudos to the President. This is clearly a choice which can only hurt him, and yet he did it anyway. He chose what was right over what was political. This is praiseworthy indeed.
As happy as that makes me feel, I know at least two people who probably wont vote for him now.
Wow, we have a president who has “evolving” morals. lol Can’t believe anyone would consider re-electing this man.
Better a position that evolves toward morality than one that remains steadfastly, paleolithically immoral.
Really? With all the silly nonsense you believe,* that’s* something that gives you trouble?
Maybe they’ve finally figured out that no matter how moderate and centrist his policies are, the Republican strategists are going to relentlessly demonize him as a Kenyan Muslim Communist terrorist and the Republican faithful are going to believe it.
So, might as well earn some real credit and respect from potential supporters and let the extreme right freak out all they want to.
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Wow, we have a president who has “evolving” morals. lol Can’t believe anyone would consider re-electing this man.
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I’d rather have someone who is flexible in their thinking than someone who is rigid and can’t change on an issue such as this one. It would be like someone who was on the fence in the 50’s or early 60’s wrt civil rights thinking about things carefully and finally realizing that not supporting civil rights is wrong and horribly unfair. As opposed to someone who never gets off the fence or stubbornly and stupidly keeps opposing civil rights long after public opinion (if not moral and ethical justification) has obviously swung against that stance.
-XT
There’s definitely an element of “OK, why the hell not?” here.
Color me cynical, but my opinion remains that the timing of this announcement is a carefully thought out political decision. He and his advisors may be wrong about the effect on the election, but for him to say this now means that they think that it will at worst have no effect, and may have some benefit to his re-election. (He probably also does believe what he is saying; I’m talking only about the timing of him making it public).
If they don’t think that, then they are political fools. The election is Obama’s to lose.
On a personal level, although there will be no immediate legal effect, I am happy to see a person of his prominence take this stand. It might cause more than a few people to re-think their own positions.
Roddy
Of course it is. This interview was only scheduled after Biden made his comments about SSM the other day. EDIT: Well, I guess that depends on how you define “careful.”
From what I’ve been reading today about this issue, Obama was facing some serious problems with gay rights supporting donors/PACs. Apparently his campaign really believed that they were going to lose money and run into some unpleasant questions if he didn’t take this stand. I think that in the face of losing potential big donors (including the “Hollywood elite”), he sent out the trial balloons of Biden and Duncan, and found that he would get a positive response from donors. So I think it was very much a political calculation, with an upside of big money for the campaign.
That said, I have been waiting for this moment for over 35 years, so I am thrilled to see it happen. I just hope that the benefits of the increased donations outweigh the negatives of losing some support in the middle.
Independent voters support same-sex marriage (as do Democrats, of course). It’s only Republicans that oppose it. Cite: http://www.gallup.com/poll/154529/Half-Americans-Support-Legal-Gay-Marriage.aspx
That’s hilarious considering that the opposition has changed his mind on abortion and previously said he was more gay-friendly than Ted Kennedy.
I have to assume that this will erase any hesitancy among social conservatives on the Republican right to embrace the Romney campaign. Presumably Obama must have decided that they would turn out for him eventually anyway, but it seems like this will amplify the election for them.
With the primaries essentially over, that hesitancy was always going to go away.
Thank you, Mr. President, for finally standing up for what’s right in this matter.
I’m sending my first donation of the year tonight. Honestly, I would have sent it sooner or later, but this makes it sooner.
Thanks for the suggestion. When I learned about this, I said “okay, he’s got my vote”. But it’d be really cool if tomorrow’s headlines read “Obama endorses same-sex marriage. One million voters donate on Wednesday to his re-election campaign.”