Biden and Obama on Gay Marriage

Biden said in the Vice Presidential debate that while he and Obama support benefits for gay couples, that “No. [Neither] Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that.”

Well, surprise. Ends up Obama does, or well, at least he did, or well, maybe he does... oh it is hard to understand and nail the man down exactly when he has a mastery of contorting his own words. Let's take a look at what he said back in 2004 in a letter exposed by the Windy City Media group:

"For the record, I opposed DOMA [ the Defense of Marriage Act ] in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."

Wait. I thought Biden declared to the nation that neither he nor Obama support redefining what marriage means? And here he says the complete opposite. So the spin will be that he isn't going to redefine marriage, but then again he isn't going to support it either. This is an example of the quintessential politician.

Whether you are gay or straight there is no chance you can get a clear view of what Obama believes. From gay marriage to economics to war to diplomacy, Obama seems to be pandering in every direction.

I had a friend say to me that he believed McCain would do what he said he would do, but that he doesn't like McCain and while Obama is changing and shifting his beliefs, my friend believes Obama will inevitably return to the version of Obama that he liked the most.

That is the problem with a chameleon. If you say enough, and pander enough in every direction, eventually you connect with everybody. Then the trick is juggling those statements and various faces until the voting actually happens. But really, who is Obama? We ought to know by now.

Obama ends his letter to the LGBT community with, "If I am elected U.S. Senator, you can be confident that my colleagues in the Senate and the President will know my position." Here we are four years later and I don't think the Gay and lesbian community, the senate, the President, the American public or Vice Presidential runningmate Joe Biden are any closer to understanding his perspective.