President Obama's profile in courage

Over the years I have heard TV and radio talk show host lament that "news" is always made whenever they take a vacation. So when President Obama made his endorsement of marriage equality "news" last week I wondered which hosts and columnist would lament taking a vacation in early May for years to come. My next thought was literally, "what knots will members of the opposition GOP twist and tie themselves into over this issue?" Of course, I knew just what to expect from the mild "I support traditional marriage," to the political, "the president is just pandering," to the downright ugly - this from former Louisiana State Representative and failed US Senate candidate, Tony Perkins, now president of the Family Research Council ,"From opposing state marriage amendments to refusing to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA) to giving taxpayer funded marriage benefits to same-sex couples, the President has undermined the spirit if not the letter of the law."

ABCNews

Make no mistake about it, whether one agrees or disagrees with 
President Obama on Marriage Equality, this was a profile in courage moment. Consider this, only days before the president took this stance, voters in North Carolina passed a constitutional amendment banning recognition of same gender marriage in that state. Indeed, in more than 30 states voters have passed laws and constitutional amendments either banning same gender marriage and/or refusing to recognize same gender marriages from other states. For the president to make his endorsement then, seemingly against popular opinion, took courage and a great deal of it. President Obama joins brave American Presidents from Lincoln who declared war to end slavery to FDR who famously stated during a time of economic depression and brewing world war that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson who stood against racial hatred and segregation. 

If we are to believe polls, President Obama has high personal approval ratings from the American people. As was stated by Vice President Albert Gore in his speech at the Democratic Convention in 2000, "the Presidency is more than a popularity contest. It's a day-by-day fight for people. Sometimes, you have to choose to do what's difficult or unpopular. Sometimes, you have to be willing to spend your popularity in order to pick the hard right over the easy wrong."

by Brent Scott
Executive Director of Vote by Mail America