Democrats split with Obama on gay marriage

BLOOMBERG — Congressional Democrats who don’t agree with President Barack Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage now find they’re in an awkward spot.

U.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana are among Democrats facing questions about their stand on the issue and whether they are swayed by the president’s support, which he announced May 9.

McCaskill, Manchin and Tester are seeking re-election this year in Republican-leaning states. None back gay marriage.

“If they’re smart, they won’t change what they’ve been saying,” said John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.

Republicans have called attention to Obama’s announcement, which they say could pull votes away from Democratic candidates in Republican-leaning states.

“The president was looking at his own political prospects,” said U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.C., and a member of the chamber’s Republican leadership. “But if you’re somebody from a Midwestern state, a fairly conservative state, it’s probably not going to be helpful.”

‘BRICK BY BRICK’
While Obama’s endorsement was praised by gay rights advocacy groups and some Democrats in Congress, lawmakers from the party’s more moderate wing have mostly stayed silent or reiterated their opposition to gay marriage.

Manchin, a former West Virginia governor running for Senate re-election in a state Obama lost by 113 percentage points in 2008, remains opposed to same-sex marriage, a spokeswoman said.

“His position hasn’t changed; he believes marriage is between one man and one woman,” Marni Goldberg said in an e- mail.

Tester “supports civil unions for committed same-sex couples, but in Montana, marriage is between one man and one woman,” spokeswoman Andrea Helling said yesterday.

McCaskill spokesman John LaBombard told the Springfield, Mo., News-Leader after Obama’s announcement that while his boss opposes discrimination against homosexuals, she thinks states should “take the lead in determining marriage equality.”

Missouri, which Republican presidential candidate John McCain won by a 3,600-vote margin in 2008, and Montana have state constitutional provisions defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

A potential Republican opponent for McCaskill, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, said in a statement that Obama’s support for same-sex marriages showed the president’s “unquenchable desire to tear down the traditional family unit brick by brick,” and reiterated his opposition to gay marriage.

‘MOVE ON’
The chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign committee said lawmakers and candidates who oppose gay marriage shouldn’t hide their position from voters.

“If you agree with the president, state your agreement; if you disagree with the president, state your disagreement,” New York Representative Steve Israel told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. “Be clear, let people know and move on.”

Obama’s support for gay marriage isn’t “that relevant” to individual House races, Israel said, adding that “each candidate has to run their own race.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was noncommittal when asked if he would seek a vote on legislation to partly repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. The Nevada Democrat, who has devoted floor time to Obama’s re-election campaign themes including a freeze on student loan interest rates and a minimum tax on millionaires, said he would “look at” the measure.

PUSH TO THE STATES
Following Obama’s announcement that he supports gay marriage, Reid said in a statement that while his “personal belief is that marriage is between a man and a woman,” the matter should be left to the states, which he described as “the proper place for this issue to be decided.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee in November approved, on a 10-8 party-line vote, legislation that would extend federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. Eight senators seeking re-election this year are among the measure’s 31 Democratic co-sponsors.

Asked whether advancing such a measure before the election might cause political problems for some Democrats running for re-election, the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said, “Yes, and I’m not assuming that every Senate Democrat agrees with the president.”

“They’re all going to take their own positions on this,” said Durbin, who supports gay marriage.

WEDGE ISSUE
Hours after Obama’s announcement, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, and one of the chamber’s 15 Catholic Democrats, announced on Twitter that he supported gay marriage and that he would co- sponsor the partial-repeal measure.

Obama’s move drew criticism from religious groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Gay marriage advocates said they hope Obama’s support will prompt more members of Congress to publicly back gay marriage, said Michael Cole-Schwartz, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington organization that supports gay rights.

“The president speaking out very publicly can serve as a great example for members to be able to articulate their own journeys on this issue,” Cole-Schwartz said.

A Gallup poll conducted May 3-6 showed that 50% of Americans think same-sex marriage should be legal, while 48% are opposed. The same survey in 2009 found that 57% of Americans opposed same-sex marriage and 40% supported it. The current poll’s margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.

Democratic candidates “are not going to get through a whole campaign, particularly now” that Obama has made his position known, “without being asked” about gay marriage, said U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican.

Still, Cole said, social issues such as gay marriage and abortion aren’t wedge issues in this election because “there is one big wedge, it’s called the economy, and the second big wedge is called the debt.”