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10/04/2011
They think he's evolved already. So evolve already.
Carrie Gordon Earll, Senior Director of Issue Analysis for Focus on the Family's Citizenlink, highlights the reason why it's so ridiculous for President Obama, if he truly does support marriage equality, to stop short of saying so. That obvious reason: Because the people who'd vocally fault him for doing so are already faulting him based on what he does publicly support/oppose:
“The Obama Administration has a long record of promoting homosexuality at the expense of marriage,” she said. “From pushing same-sex adoption to authorizing Medicaid benefits for same-sex couples to pushing for a repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, the president is dismantling marriage at every turn. So to say that he doesn’t support same-sex marriage is only rhetoric. His actions speak louder than words.”
Obama Headlines HRC Awards Event [Focus on the Family, Citizenlink]
It's a near-certainty that the people who'd campaign against the President on the basis of marriage (in)equality are already planning to do so based on his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act and state marriage amendments. Carrie Gordon Earll, whose 50-state-networked organization will surely be a monied player in the 2012 election, more than highlights this reality. As far as the "protect marriage" crowd is concerned, President Obama is already officiating Fire Island weddings on the weekends. So what the heck is stopping him from coming out and motivating the pro-equality crowd who will be crucial to his re-elect?
I should say that several prominent LGBT activists disagree with me on this, some of them passionately so. But I don't know -- personally, I just can't see a future where the President's vocal support would be a detriment, when one considers who already opposes him no matter what, who he needs to hyper-motivate in order to win, and who among the electorate actually considers same-sex marriage to be a determining detriment when it comes to this crucial decision about the country, its future, and who gets to steer the ship. I could be wrong, but to me, someone who watches this stuff about as closely as one can, all of the factors don't provide me with an answer to the "Why won't he evolve already?" question. And in fact: Even through objective and/or politically pragmatic lenses, I truly see the President's reluctance on this as a potential blunder, one that could hand the White House to a fully "evolved" Federal Marriage Amendment supporter.
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