Clinton Pledges to Support Gays Can Obama Do the Same?

[donsu]

http://www.blackcommentator.com/220/220_uybf_clinton_obama_gays_cannick.html


Okay so it's really starting to heat up. Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton has upstaged her rival Senator Barack Obama, and I am not talking about her Selma appearance. Clinton told a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, in an unannounced speech, that she wants a partnership with gays, if elected president.

Clinton also said she opposes the "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays in the military that was instituted during her husband's presidency. "I am proud to stand by your side," Clinton said in a keynote speech Friday to the Human Rights Campaign. "I want you to know that this is exactly the kind of partnership we will have when I am president," Clinton told the group. "I want you to know that just as you always have an open door to my senate office, you will always have an open door to the White House and together we can continue this journey."

I could just here it now, "Bet you can't top that one Obama."

So what should her Illinois rival do?

I'll tell you.

He needs to make an unannounced appearance with the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation's leading Black gay civil rights group, and do the same thing.

-snip-

It's no secret that Black America is assumed to be homophobic from the church to the kitchen table, and NBA Player Tim Hardaway's statement of hating gays didn't help. Going after the gay vote may infuriate his Black supporters, but on the other end might give him the boost he needs to keep up with Senator Clinton.

Fact: gays do vote and in numbers.

If I were on Obama's political strategy team (and for the record I should be), I would advise him to go after the gay vote through African-American lesbians and gays. It's a win win in my book. He's catering to African-Americans and gays at the same time in a way that no other presidential candidate has done or shown a willingness to do. When it comes to gays, it's always the white gay vote which further feeds into the notion that all gays are white, which we are not.

-snip-

In his recent memoir "The Audacity of Hope," Obama said, "I was reminded that it is my obligation not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided."

Obama, you've got the ball, make your move and make it fast.
-------------------------

[TheBobo]

1. do you think

clinton's speech was all politics? i watched the video of it (it was on the hrc.org homepage) and she spoke of a longtime partnership with HRC, working to defeat things like the Fedearl Marriage Amendment or whatever that atrocious beast was called, maybe it was also politics but not only politics?

my money's on obama not responding in like fashion.

[donsu]

3. you don't want Obama to work with gays?

nt

[still_one]

2. tell me about Iraq? Remember when Hillary and McCain were bouncing around

saying stay the course

She had no problem with the IWR, and takes no PERSONAL responsibility for her vote, even though there was more than enough information that showed otherwise, let alone that it violated the War Powers Act

There is NOT just one issue. I resent you implication that because SOME "It's no secret that Black America is assumed to be homophobic" , by proxy Obama is.

What has Obama said that has been homophobic?

However, when Clinton was speaking before African Americans recently, she suddenly developed a Southern drawl, and made a patronizing Martin Luther King oratory

[donsu]

4. read the whole article - I didn't write it - the article did not assume

Obama was homophobic


read the article again.

[mtnsnake]

5. She takes responsibility for her vote. She just isn't going to be a hypocrite

and apologize for doing what she knew was wrong right from the start.

Just like Kerry, Biden, Edwards, etc, Hillary knew full well what was going on back then, and the entire lot of them voted for the IWR because it was the politically safe thing for them to do at the time. Now that it's politically safe for them to apologize, she's decided not to be a hypocrite about it. There's a certain sense of honesty about that.

[still_one]

15. and I won't be a hypocrite to myself either and support her

[dansolo]

16. "doing what she knew was wrong"

That, my friends, is a definition of a hypocrite. Thank you for stating it in such simple terms.

[ElizabethDC]

6. First of all, Hillary has repeatedly said that she takes responsibility for her vote

second, the Southern drawl has been discussed ad infinitum, but a) Hillary lived in Arkansas for nearly 20 years and has long had a Southern drawl that comes and goes and b) Obama, too adopted something of a Southern drawl that day (he even dropped a "y'all") despite never having lived in the South. There's been a double standard on the whole accent issue.

As for the original post, which was about support for gays, I suspect that both Hillary and Obama will be supportive of gay rights.

[bluehighways911]

8. Flip Flop Hillary

Actually, Hillary has flip-flopped about twenty different ways on her vote.

She has been Bush's best bud, at least till she announced to run. Then she started twisting like the wind.

So you think it is good she stands by her vote? Great. So that means she was too stupid to know Bush was lying. Or too much of a coward to do something about it.

Your call.

Was Hillary too stupid, or to afraid?

And judging her on her vote. When the Pentagon and CIA start their next lies to start a war. What makes you think Hillary would do anything but bow/

Bush is George Bush Lite. Nothing but a puppet with a name.

Tell me this Hillary lover. If Hillary's name were Obama, think she would be elected to run a YWCA.

[mtnsnake]

9. If anyone is NOT a flip flopper it's Hillary. Call her anything but she's not a flip flopper.

Nice try

[bluehighways911]

11. Want Hillary Flip Flops

You got em. And I heard the comercial that will be run by the RNC if she is the nominee. She changed her mind about a thousand times. She is the queen of the flip flops. BTW. MTN. What if Hillary's name were Smith, it would be the same as George Bush with a different name. What will it take for you to learn. Enjoy Flip Floppers.

The lead editorial in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal chronicles Sen. Hillary Clinton’s move from a "solid, even eloquent hawk” on the Iraq war to a presidential candidate calling for a quick withdrawal of American forces.

"Pressured by other candidates and by her party’s left wing, she is walking back her hawkish statements and is now all but part of the antiwar camp,” the editorial declares, citing Clinton’s statements over the past 4 1/2 years:


On October 10, 2002, Clinton spoke to the Senate in favor of a use-of-force resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq, saying: "The facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt.”

On December 15, 2003, when it was clear there were no large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Clinton’s support was unwavering. "I was one who supported giving President Bush the authority, if necessary, to use force,” she told the Council on Foreign Relations. "We have no option but to stay involved and committed.”


On April 20, 2004, Clinton told CNN’s Larry King that she did not "regret giving the president the authority,” noting that Saddam Hussein "had been a real problem for the international community for more than a decade.”



In October 2005, amid growing anti-war sentiment, Clinton still told the Village Voice: "I don’t believe it’s smart to set a date for withdrawal . . . I don’t think it’s the right time to withdraw.”

By November 2005, Hillary was softening her stance, saying in a letter to constituents: "If Congress had been asked , based on what we know now, we never would have agreed.”

On December 18, 2006, Clinton went even further, saying on the "Today” show: "I certainly wouldn’t have voted that way.”



On January 13 of this year, Clinton spoke from Baghdad about President Bush’s call for a troop surge: "I don’t know that the American people or the Congress at this point believe this mission can work.”

On January 17, Clinton called for a cap on the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, and suggested withholding funds for the Iraqi government.


Finally, on January 27, Clinton hit the campaign trail in Iowa and demanded that the president "extricate our country from this before he leaves office.”

[mtnsnake]

19. You call those flip flops?

Most of those are nothing but her talking about two different things at two different times. I thank you for at least backing up your statement, but no offense, those examples don't have a lot of meat to them.

[mtnsnake]

10. I see you also called Edwards a Flip Flopper in another thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3151339#3151677

Maybe you could come up with something original next time.

[ripple]

7. Based on his civil rights history

and his education and work in that area, I think Obama is more likely than not to support broader gay rights initiatives.

Face it, no serious candidate is going to come out and voice support for gay marriage- to do so would likely be the kiss of death for their campaign. The statement Obama made in his book is a very encouraging sign, especially given some of the comments he has made about the role of faith in the lives of public servants. He's pretty much said that while it's impossible to deny faith and that it often guides ideology, it's irresponsible and dangerous to make political decisions based on faith alone, because by definition, one's faith is not borne from factual analysis. Maybe I'm too much of an optimist, but I think he's definitely leaving the door open to support of gay marriage.

I have no doubt that Obama will speak to gay issues as the campaign moves forward (and hopefully, address the HRC directly), but I don't look for him to align himself with one particular demographic of the gay community, such as African-Americans. Instead, I think he'll speak to it in terms of equality for everyone.

I know that won't satisfy a lot of folks, but I do honestly believe that if elected, Obama will successfully re-frame the dialog in this nation to one that encourages us to focus on our collective humanity, the fundamentals of democracy, and our responsibility to each other. I think he'll do more to change the nation's attitude by taking a broader approach to civil rights issues, than he will by pushing a single issue, like gay marriage. We need to shift the momentum from ignorance and fear to equality and inclusion based on our common ideals and sense of national pride. Once that happens, I think it will open a hell of a lot of doors that have long been sealed shut.

And I'm a lesbian, BTW.

[stonebone]

12. fair question

[Laughing Mirror]

13. She kept saying partnership, partnership, partnership in that HRC meeting

But she supports DOMA so what kind of partnership with gays could she be talking about?

If that's her idea of support throwing around the words partner partnership, I sincerely hope Obama can come up with something better.

[mitchtv]

18. We'll see if he comes up with something better

I'm waiting, but won't hold my breath. I have no candidate yet.

[NDP]

14. Here we go again

[Hippo_Tron]

17. I certainly hope we can put an end to "Don't ask don't tell"

It was an absurd policy when it was implemented and it's even more absurd over a decade later.