Democrats over the weekend put themselves on track to endorse a pro-gay marriage plank for their convention platform, but neither the party nor the Obama campaign wanted to talk about it Monday.
Six states have legalized gay marriage and three more have legalization measures on the ballot for the fall, but the gradual increase in acceptance of the issue hasn’t done anything to mitigate its political touchiness this election year. Though legalization is seen as a major boost to Democratic efforts to energize the base and stoke fundraising among an active LGBT donor community, wide swaths of voters — including in many swing states — remain opposed.
Both parties, however, have steered clear of making it into a central issue of the campaign, with Democrats wary of setting off a damaging culture war and Republicans wary of looking noninclusive.
But even the platform plank — something LGBT activists had sought — sparked some worries. The platform is set to be adopted, after all, at the party convention in North Carolina, which in May passed a referendum banning gay marriage. Obama’s long-sought endorsement of gay marriage came the next day, increasing momentum for the effort.
The 15-member Democratic Party platform draft committee unanimously approved the pro-gay marriage language at its meeting over the weekend in Minneapolis and sent the platform draft to the full platform committee, which meets in Detroit in two weeks.
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White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to discuss the issue at Monday’s press briefing.
“The president’s position on this view has been well-chronicled, shall we say,” Earnest said. “But in terms of a specific reaction to the platform, I’d refer you to my colleagues at the DNC.” -Politico
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