Opinion: Gary Bauer weighs in gay marriage, Barack Obama and California
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Our colleague Dan Morain chatted up American Values’ Gary Bauer Tuesday about gay marriage and Barack Obama‘s letter stating his opposition to a California ballot initiative (John McCain supports it). Morain points out that two other states will have similar measures on their fall ballot -- Arizona and Florida. While polls show California pretty safe for Obama and Arizona similarly so for McCain, a gay-marriage fight in Florida could have scale-tipping consequences.
Bauer, founder of the conservative Campaign for Working Families political action committee, said he hasn’t decided whether to donate to California’s ‘incredibly important’ measure. ‘If the pro-same-sex marriage forces cannot win in California and Florida, it means that the people of this country still are resistant to radical social change,’ Bauer said.
Bauer said he was ‘somewhat heartened when Barack Obama said … that it should be a state decision’ but that given Obama’s recent statements opposing the California measure, ‘the idea that he is agnostic about this question doesn’t hold up any more.’
‘It is a major difference between the two candidates,’ Bauer said. ‘Before it is all over, we’ll have a great debate on tax policy, on foreign policy and on this fundamental question of what is the status of marriage.’
Bauer said that John McCain and Barack Obama ‘did not seem far apart a few months ago’ on gay marriage. ‘Now they are quite at odds with each other. It is something that voters in other states are looking at. When you have a significant number of other states that have voted to preserve marriage, it is the sort of thing that could hurt Obama.’
Most significant: Obama ‘has very much been making a play for evangelical voters, suggesting that there would be no reason that an evangelical should vote against him. It becomes harder to make that case.’
-- Scott Martelle
Photo provided by American Values
