Our faux "fierce advocate" in the White House seems to be more and more painted into a corner in terms of his position on gay marriage. He can seek to blame his problems on us nasty gay bloggers, but the reality is that just as is the case with the Republicans who oppose full LGBT equality, the younger voters are on the side of marriage equality. Obama can acted peevish and posture, but sooner or later he needs to bite the bullet, grow a spine, and set aside his personal RELIGIOUS views and back civil marriage equality. True, the economy is the predominant concern for most voters, but allowing marriage equality to erode support among progressives and LGBT voters is just plain stupid. In my view, Obama's "separate and unequal" approach is doing a great deal to dampen LGBT support for both the President and the leadership of Congressional Democrats. Richard Socarides, a former advisor to the Clinton White House, has an op-ed at Politico that looks at Obama's losing position and why/how he needs to get on board. Here are some highlights:*
The recent sweeping federal court ruling striking down California’s gay marriage ban as unconstitutional provides President Barack Obama, a constitutional law scholar, with an important opportunity to shift his views on same-sex marriage. He can do so by reminding people that respect for the constitution, the rule of law and the courts are the principles upon which this country was founded.
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When he ran for president, Obama took the position that while he was for equal rights for gays, he favored civil unions over marriage. . . . But that position is now untenable for several reasons.
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First, where you stand on the issue of marriage has become a kind of political litmus test for gay voters on whether you support full or partial equality. It is now seen as a proxy for whether you believe gays and lesbians are entitled to full dignity, respect and inclusion in every aspect of American society. And whether, in essence, our struggle for equality is worthy as a civil rights movement. Just saying you are for equal rights will no longer cut it.
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Moreover, as the Perry case and its high-profile legal dream team of Ted Olson and David Boies continue to focus attention on the issue, Obama’s position becomes increasingly important to the liberal (and younger) voters that helped elect him — voters who are already less enthusiastic, according to recent polling.
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Obama can no longer continue to allow his Justice Department to vigorously defend the constitutionality of anti-gay laws in court — laws he then says should be repealed. . . . Continuing on this course will lose him and his fellow Democrats the support and enthusiasm of a large block of his base voters.
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But can President Obama, who once supported gay marriage, only to oppose it now, change his position again? The answer is yes — and he in fact has no choice.
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People understand that most public officials who now support gay marriage once opposed it. It wasn’t until after they left office that Bill Clinton and Al Gore (and, most recently, Laura Bush) said that they favored marriage equality.
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The sooner Obama changes his answer on this most important equal-rights issue of the day, the better off he will be. The Perry ruling provides the right opportunity to shift his emphasis and provide real leadership, reminding people that in this country, we look to the courts for direction on what our Constitution requires.
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It might also help the president’s popularity with those that elected him, and it puts him and his party on the right side of the equality question, where he, of course, belongs and presumably wants to be.
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