Bartlett describes Hillary Clinton as "his girl," and worries that Obama's nothing but hot air.
AB: An Obama supporter recently said one of his main problems with Clinton is that she wants to leave parts of DOMA in place. Where do you stand on that?

JB: What I don't like about Barack's campaign is that he hasn't had to make hard, fast decisions on some of these issues. He's been able to get over on rhetoric versus making hard policy. That's a fact. And that concerns me going forward. Like I said, the numbers will dictate for both of them. If they don't have the numbers, then we're going to have a partisan war. My question is "Who would be better at that?" Clinton is better at that. I think that Hillary Clinton has the backbone, history – she has what it takes. She learned from her husband, but I think she's going to be stronger than her husband. There are going to be a lot of things she can accomplish that he couldn't. I don't know how committed Obama is to any of our issues – of course there's DOMA, but what about something closer to my heart: when he wanted the black vote, Obama went around and got all these ministers in South Carolina and then put a homophobe – and when he was pressed about that, he was a politician through and through. He didn't stand up and remove McClurkin. He tried to shoot down the middle.

AB: But that's what every politician does! That's what Hillary Clinton does. That's what she did Tuesday when asked about her tax records -

JB: That's fine, but he's trying to say that he's different than Hillary Clinton – that he's transcendent, and that's where I don't think his argument stands up. He's just like every other politician.

AB: So he's just like Hillary Clinton in that respect?

JB: I think he's just like every other politician.

AB: Including yourself?

JB: I think that Hillary Clinton personally is more committed to the issues that I care about and she's not trying to present herself as someone who's above it all – that has value.

AB: Okay. Let's get back to you – What did your parents say to you when you came out?

JB: They were both supportive. My dad said that I'm his son, he loves me and that was that.

AB: And you have two children?

JB: Correct. I adopted them. Biologically they're dad's nephews and both of their parents died, so I took them in and made a family unit. I didn't go out and make them.

AB: How old were they when you adopted them?

JB: Nine and eleven.

AB: Did they know you were gay before their parents died?

JB: I told them about a year after.

AB: And did they know what gay was?

JB: Yeah… They did not have a positive attitude about it. They weren't exposed to positive role models or positive conversations. They were young, though, and I had an opportunity to expose them to myself and other people – my partner. Now they're very well adjusted – they're very positive, very supportive. It's interesting, because I thought they told more of their friends, but apparently they hadn't and I'm not sure they really knew what "coming out" was – and they got more phone calls than I did.

AB: Did you sit them down ahead of time and explain what would happen?

JB: I explained it, but I think that the reaction was much more powerful than what they were prepared for.

AB: Powerful how? In a positive way?

JB: Not that they were unprepared. It was a bigger reaction than – a bigger deal – they would have thought about or I expressed to them. I didn't know it was going to be that big of a deal. I didn't realize that their friends would call them and talk to them. So, it was a big deal for them, but they're both happy and supportive.

AB: Were you raised in a religious household?

JB: Well, people have different connotations as to what is religious. I was not raised in a fundamentalist household, by any stretch. I was raised Episcopalian.

AB: Do you believe in hell?

JB: Yeah.

AB: Who goes there?

JB: [Laughs] I don't want to get into the theological…

AB: You are a politician! [Laughs] So, what is your next step?

JB: I have a session that I'm in until June and working on the issues that I'm interested in – representing the district. After the session I'll make the decision as to whether I'll run for reelection. If I'm able to get reelected, I think that would be a big statement for the district and who I am and the record I was able to establish. It's one step at a time.