Michael Scherer (TIME):The objections.....are based on the idea that Obama is behaving like a hypocrite. "Obama also said [Thursday] that he is a 'fierce advocate for equality' for gays, which is — given his opposition to equal marriage rights — simply a lie," writes Cloud. But there is a consistency at the heart of Obama's position. He campaigned on the promise that he would not demonize, reject or even contest those Americans who believe that gay couples should not have the same rights to marriage as straight couples. He promised not to make the big moral argument, but rather to score the incremental victories. Rather than hypocrisy, Obama is demonstrating the radical pragmatism that has marked his entire career. If there is now buyer's remorse, this is its true source. If there is now shock, it is because Obama's campaign papered over just how radically pragmatic its candidate planned to be.
Howie P.S.: One could say that this is Obama's "theory of change." One objection I have heard concerns the timing: couldn't this outreach have waited a little while, rather than being on "the big day," especially since the wounds of Prop. 8 are still very fresh? Or is there a "fierce urgency of now" to gather as much political steam as possible from this and
"move on" to other items on the agenda?
Barack Obama
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