Someone has drudged up an old questionnaire that seems to contradict the President's current position on Gay marriage in personal opposition to it.
Huffington
Huffington
Obama flip - flops on gay marriage could be awkard moment
- Thread starter DarthTom
- Start date
Oh wow, 15 years ago Obama said something different than he says now, a flip-flop for the ages. How could he?
I do agree he should just come out and say what he obviously (imo) believes in, that he supports legal equality for gay marriage, and I don't know why he doesn't, but I think it's ridiculous to attack him for something you and he agree on when there are so many other things that he deserves being attacked on.
I do agree he should just come out and say what he obviously (imo) believes in, that he supports legal equality for gay marriage, and I don't know why he doesn't, but I think it's ridiculous to attack him for something you and he agree on when there are so many other things that he deserves being attacked on.
Mitt Romney is in hot water for doing the same. Then Gov MA for universal health care + abortion + gay rights now Presidential candidate in opposition to all three.
I think it's obvious too. Time for the President to come out of the closet on this issue.
It is not a flip-flop. It is clear he personally supports gay marriage and equal rights for homosexuals in general but has stated that gay marriage is a matter best left to the states. How he chooses to use his power as executive is not necessarily indicative of his personal beliefs. I don't know why this is hard for some people to grasp.
Were I to become President, I would not issue Executive Orders forcing everyone to become atheist, polyamorous Minecraft players. That's because I can separate my personal beliefs from policy decisions. What you personally believe may not make for good public policy or may not have the political will behind it to be achieved. I suspect the latter is largely the case here.
Even announcing your support for a position, as President, can make you look weak if the broad support isn't there. It's all about optics. Obama knows Congress is not going to try to legalize gay marriage so there isn't much point in him pressing the issue. It will cost him politically and gain him very little.
Were I to become President, I would not issue Executive Orders forcing everyone to become atheist, polyamorous Minecraft players. That's because I can separate my personal beliefs from policy decisions. What you personally believe may not make for good public policy or may not have the political will behind it to be achieved. I suspect the latter is largely the case here.
Even announcing your support for a position, as President, can make you look weak if the broad support isn't there. It's all about optics. Obama knows Congress is not going to try to legalize gay marriage so there isn't much point in him pressing the issue. It will cost him politically and gain him very little.
But he did end "Don't Ask Don't Tell", and he's stopped the federal defense of DOMA.
These are not insignificant steps. Everyone understands the position he's in.
I think going after him publicly over what's really an agreement between to LGBT Community and the President would be foolish and counterproductive.
JMHO
These are not insignificant steps. Everyone understands the position he's in.
I think going after him publicly over what's really an agreement between to LGBT Community and the President would be foolish and counterproductive.
JMHO
Exactly. He knows he can't push through gay marriage in and of itself, so he's been taking baby steps in that direction while officially maintaining his opposition to federal involvement in the matter. In fact, nothing he's done has been inconsistent with his official position. The federal government should have no dog in the fight over whether homosexuality and gay marriage are okay, so getting rid of DADT and DOMA actually supports his official position.
That those actions also benefit his "secret" support of gay marriage, well, we can just keep that to ourselves.
The President's views IMHO are irrelevant to gay marriage as it's not in his job description to dictate what state laws say on the matter.
As a gay man - and as an observer of his Presidency - I'm more curious about what he says and when he says it an how he pivots on the issues related to the polls.
If Mitt Romney ends up as Obama's competitor for the WH in 2012 I believe they are substantively not very different on the issues if you got them in a room with true serum.
They are both experts at pandering to their voting bases and what the polls tell them to say when needed
They ALL are experts at that.
On this specific issue: ...so a black man runs for President of the United States in 2008 on a platform including legalizing gay marriage.....??
Hello, President McCain.
And that would be the end of that.
I'm not sure that's true. Don't forget that Romney is a hardcore Mormon, and few groups hate homosexuals more than the Mormons.
Well, I think it says something about a man if he claims I was for gay marriage secretly before I was against as a Presidential candidate but now I'm for it again since the polls seem to indicate that the general public is at a tipping point in favor of it.
Don't you?
I think maybe you should just get over it.
In 1994 Mitt Romney was ahead of his Repubicans in being in favor of repealing don't ask don't tell. But then again he was governor of MA then:
AS Gov of MA Mitt Romney was in favor of protecting gay people against employer discrimination:
In 2002 Romney banned the Boy Scouts from participating in Utah because of their discriminatory practices:
I had such high hopes in you.
I don't disagree with you. I think Obama had very little to gain at the time, but I believe he has always favored equality in marriage. If that makes him a coward or a genius, I guess depends on your point of view.
In my own state, I have been an outspoken advocate of legalizing same sex marriage. I strongly favor the change in law.
I guess I think that attacking Obama publicly for not being more forthcoming about his true thoughts will ultimately backfire. It will give aid and comfort to his (political) enemies, and if one of the right wingers gets into the White House, you can kiss all of this goodbye.
I think he's counting on us to understand his situation and be patient. He can't actually say that, but I think anyone who supports him knows this already.
Again, JHMO.
Perhaps all of this is true. But it's still disappointing when the "hope and change" guy is no different than all the rest. That has been and continues to resonate throughout his Presidency.
I understand. I never bought into the Hope and Change thing in the first place (I voted for Hillary Clinton!).
Note that I said President. If you appoint me your Benevolent Dictator For Life, I would be more than happy to implement those policies.
I understand. I never bought into the Hope and Change thing in the first place (I voted for Hillary Clinton!).
Let me ask you this then. By your logic a MA resident knowing that Mitt Romney is likely for abortion, for gay rights and for Universal health care might make a 'leap of faith' over Obama as a candidate because as I say up thread they are substantively no different if you believe he's pandering to the right of the party as Obama panders on certain issues as well.
Why not just cast a vote for Mitt hoping he's better at job creation than Obama has been as POTUS and hope the social issues fall into place like when Mitt was governor of MA?