Villaraigosa Wants Democratic Presidential Platform to Embrace Same Sex Marriage
You can almost hear the sound of regret coming from the White House.
Our hero.
Only a few weeks after President Obama's party leaders named Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as the high profile chair of the Democratic National Convention, the L.A. leader said something that Obama and the party faithful might not have wanted to hear:
During an interview today with the website Politico he said he wants the Democrats' platform going into the November presidential election to include support for same-sex marriage.
I do, I think it's basic to who we are. I believe in family values and I believe that we all ought to be able to have a family and marry if you want to. I don't think the government should be in that business of denying people the fundamental right to marry.
Oh no he didn't.
Obama, apparently, is not so gung-ho when it comes to man-on-man union, having said, "I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman."
Of course, that's bullshit. Not just that it is bullshit, but the idea that Obama actually believes it is also b.s.
It's a position that makes the president seem more centered and less lefty. (And Republican presidential candidates, who have been racing to the extreme right while leaving the rest of America behind, should take note).
Still, Villaraigosa is right. Democrats should embrace their social liberalism. If not, what does the party stand for? Social justice is a cornerstone of progressive politics.
It's just that, in the fight for the middle, many strategy minded Dems won't want to go there in November.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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