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If Obama wins the election, will his public position be in favor of gay marriage?

If Obama wins the election, will his public position be in favor of gay marriage?

  • Yes

    Votes: 28 49.1%

  • No

    Votes: 16 28.1%

  • On Planet X, gay marriage is the only possible form of marriage

    Votes: 13 22.8%
  • Total voters
    57
Dragoonster said:
No. I don't think Obama is withholding support for it because of reelection concerns. I think he simply doesn't support it, or at least not strongly enough to do anything real about it. Also think very little progressive issues some think he's been holding back on will get any play after he's elected.

And finally, I don't think conservative Congressional strife has much if anything to do with this. This guy has actively pushed for plenty of neoconservative things, going above and beyond Bush in many of them, and many of these he's done without any involvement with Congress at all. 90% of (the crappy neocon things) Obama's done this term is HIS agenda.

That said, the DADT repeal could well mean he actually does care about the gay marriage issue. But I'm pessimistic.
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What about his instruction to the justice department not to fight the judicial repeal of DOMA?

He has addressed gay marriage in what might well be the most effective fashion.
 
Tsukasa Buddha said:
If the current rumours are accurate, then it means he is a spineless stooge who puts his and his party's political success above fighting for the rights of others.
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That would be one possibility. Here's another: he's a savvy, professional politician strategically working the system in the way that he feels will give him the best possible odds of success at ensuring the rights of others.

I don't claim to know which is most likely to be the case. I just don't see how anyone else does either.
 
Tsukasa Buddha said:
Ah, hope springs eternal. Will he also come out as an atheist :p ?

I would hope he did it sooner rather than later, so Santorum et al. wouldn't be able to say, "My position is the same as the President's." He's been "evolving" on the issue for a long time now.

If the current rumours are accurate, then it means he is a spineless stooge who puts his and his party's political success above fighting for the rights of others.
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And the democratic party failing at the polls would be good for gay people? He seems broadly supportive but unwilling to expend limited political capital on it.
 
Gay marriage is a tiny and insignificant issue so why would he waste time and effort on that?
 
Quinn said:
That would be one possibility. Here's another: he's a savvy, professional politician strategically working the system in the way that he feels will give him the best possible odds of success at ensuring the rights of others.
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I don't know how you can be all things to all people. I accept that politics is an imperfect process. I don't expect my leaders to be entirely without guile. I expect them to pick and choose their fights carefully to affect the best outcome possible.
 
ravdin said:
Not in the first two years. He'll still have to work with Congress.
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I agree. Remember, it took him more than a year in office even to mention DADT when he could have forced the issue by executive order.
 
Howie Felterbush said:
Boy, are you gonna be disappointed.

Forever.
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Not sure why. I'm 50 and I've seen a lot. I'm fairly political and have been since long before I could vote. I lived through Watergate, Contragate and even Whitewater gate. I've seen many politicians indicted and convicted at county, state and federal levels.

I honestly don't think I have any unrealistic expectations of my political leaders. There is an ideal and there is the degree to which a leader can live up to that ideal. Which is why I provided the caveat for guile.

I think I'll be okay.
 
RandFan said:
Not sure why. I'm 50 and I've seen a lot. I'm fairly political and have been since long before I could vote. I lived through Watergate, Contragate and even Whitewater gate. I've seen many politicians indicted and convicted at county, state and federal levels.

I honestly don't think I have any unrealistic expectations of my political leaders. There is an ideal and there is the degree to which a leader can live up to that ideal. Which is why I provided the caveat for guile.

I think I'll be okay.
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Yeah, you probably will, now that I think about it.

You seem like a "glass half full" kind of cat. You had the stones to bail on the right when they let you down, here's hoping you can see fit to bail on the left when they do the same. Just don't get all angry and bitter like some folks around here.
 
SezMe said:
I'm also a pessimist regarding Obama on this. I don't think he supports gay marriage at all. Equal rights? Sure. Gay marriage? I doubt it.
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Obama's problem is that he doesn't support gay marriage, but he is smart enough to realize that he is wrong to oppose it. Not "wrong" in a political sense, but in an absolute sense.

His heart says no, but his head says that there is no rational opposition to it. If he really supports equal rights, he must support it. But he doesn't like it.
 
ponderingturtle said:
And the democratic party failing at the polls would be good for gay people? He seems broadly supportive but unwilling to expend limited political capital on it.
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I remember early on, the LGBT community was "grading" Obama's performance on LGBT issues. There was a lot of criticism that he wasn't moving fast enough (this was like a year in), and they were all giving him an "F". All I could think is, if HE is getting an F, what would someone like John McCain get?

Isn't the fact that he isn't openly hostile to gay rights an improvement? Still, people want to throw him out and replace him with...? Oh sure, it would be nice if it were Hillary Clinton, but since that isn't going to happen, it seems that he is a hell of a lot better option than any alternative.

Of course, now after 3 years, there is indeed significant progress. Does anyone think it would go faster with a republican in the White House?
 
Arcade22 said:
Gay marriage is a tiny and insignificant issue so why would he waste time and effort on that?
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It's not tiny or insignificant if you are in a legal marriage that is not recognized by the federal government. My spouse won't be able to get my Social Security if I die first. The cost of her health insurance is considered a taxable fringe benefit on my taxes, my straight married colleagues don't have this additional tax burden.
 
Obama coming out in favor of gay marriage before the election would be huge gift to Republicans, ensure a better turn out of their base and could be enough to swing the election in their favor.
 
Howie Felterbush said:
Yeah, you probably will, now that I think about it.

You seem like a "glass half full" kind of cat. You had the stones to bail on the right when they let you down, here's hoping you can see fit to bail on the left when they do the same. Just don't get all angry and bitter like some folks around here.
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Counter to appearances I'm not with the left. There is much I don't like about the left. I don't at all think it is a paragon of virtue or that it has all of the answers. There is still very much about conservative thought I still very much agree with.

I think abandoning ideology all together was as liberating as giving up religion. I really don't have a side. I simply see the GOP as a party that has given up most if not all of their principles.

I'm not likely to be disappointed because I don't have unrealistic expectations. I know politicians lie. I know that Obama accepts money from Wall Street and has made many of the very same errors as George Bush.

I know that a glass that is half empty isn't what I want but it's better than being forcibly sodomized.
 
TragicMonkey said:
I predict he'll simply avoid the issue entirely. I think marriage equality is inevitable, but not imminent. Perhaps by 2020.
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Agree. In fact, there are quite a few hot-button social issues Obama managed to avoid entirely. Like legalization of marijuana.
 
Humes fork said:
If Obama wins the election later this year (which I think he will), do you think that sometime in the following four years his public position will be in favor of gay marriage?

I personally think so, considering his past flip-flopping on the issue. I think he personally sees nothing wrong with, but doesn't go for it right now due to political reasons (no reason to reinforce his image as a "secular socialist"). He will probably claim his position "evolved", or whatever the fancy term is these days.
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Considering he has stated that he support civil unions, I suppose that will continue.

I don't think he has flip-flopped on that, I recall that has been his position for a very long time. he supports civil unions between same sex individuals and that 'marriage' is something else.
 
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