President Obama and Marriage Equality

I haven't written a main post in a good long while, but I think today calls for one. Just got home from teaching and heard from the news that President Obama has endorsed marriage equality. Good for him! I think many people had long since become a bit tired of the president's "I'm evolving" rationale for not making this decision, but that annoyance should be put aside now.

The fact is, making a decision of this sort before an election took courage. It takes honor to announce a sound decision that could cost you some votes, and that's what the president did today. Sure, a number of people may be put off by it, but at the same time, it's the sort of thing you'd never expect Mitt Romney to do. People like leaders who have some you-be-damnedness in them. This decision enhances the contrast between Romney and Obama, and in that respect, it's damn good politics. He'll probably gain at least as many votes as he loses on this issue, and after all, the trend is towards consigning this controversy to the ash-heap of history where it belongs. But more importantly, President Obama can look into a mirror and see a man who had the decency not to punt forever on an issue that ought to matter to us all.

As we move towards the election, I'd ask fence sitters, why not ask yourself this question? Does Barack Obama look or sound like a one-termer to you? I don't see or hear a loser when I watch this man – he's got confidence, guts, and integrity.