Look: I’m loyal to President Clinton. I’m loyal to President Obama. What my advice was… I don’t need to get into what I personally advised them or what my own sympathies were. I believe that legislation [DOMA] should be repealed. I believe that gays and lesbians should be allowed to get married. That’s why I thought the civil unions [ are ] the right thing to do, but it’s only the first step toward an ultimate goal. If you look into my record when I was a United States congressman, I sponsored the legislation and I was clear about the legislation, and I worked with the leadership in moving legislation. What I did in the White House for the presidents is … I’ve got to respect the privacy [ regarding ] how I give advice.
—Rahm Emanuel, former Obama chief of staff and current Chicago mayoral candidate, who believes Democrats do not take the LGBT “for granted,” voicing support for repealing DOMA and enacting civil unions [via]
Ronbo
Rahm, it’s not what you say that is important. It’s what you actually do. And you have been instrumental in pushing bigotry against LGBT Americans for decades. Was it you who pushed DADT with Clinton? Was it you who encouraged Obama to not take action on LGBT issues because they were “controversial”?
Fool me once, shame on you…. May you receive as you have given.
reason
Rahm gives political advice to presidents, that is his job. Whether the president takes that advice is up to the president. Rahm argued against tackling health care the president did it anyways. You take the political landscape as it is but nothing is for certain, prognosticators have been wrong before. Repeal of DOMA may not carry the political backlash that advisers think. Though I would suggest DOMA is something for a second term. I am sure from an ideological perspective they would all like to see DOMA gotten rid of now, but if they wish to be successful they need to be realist.
Ronbo
@reason: Seriously? You think Obama is getting a second term? He is alredy behind that creepy Mormon dude. People are waking up to the fact that Obama has kept 98% of Bush’s agenda; that Obama is a trojan horse Republican.
It’s good to have hope. But it’s better to have a plan. I’ve seen Obama’s plan – same as the Bush plan. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Not a good plan.
Ceaser in SF
@Ronbo: No man. Obama is doing even better in the polls now that he has moved RIGHT. After dissing his base last week, guess what? Americans love his “deal” with Rethugs and Americans love him more. This is according to fresh polls out this week! We are stuck with this dude for a long time.Only in America!
Joe
@Ronbo: Please don’t pay any attention to what Reason writes. He is a homophobe who is part of the Obama campaign.
Look at all of his posts..they are all exceedingly pro Obama, no matter what.
He’s a troll.
reason
@Ronbo: Bill Clinton won reelection resoundingly, and he split from the democratic party ideologically. Obama is polling better than Bill Clinton and Ronald Regan during this time in their presidencies. He is polling astoundingly high with an economy this bad. The deal making is only going to prove that he is not going to destroy the country for the sake of ideology which is very important for centrist, moderate republicans, and democrats. The economy is going to get an up-tick after this deal by making business more confident, their is over 2 trillion dollars in cash that they are holding which could back 20 trillion in loans creating jobs and providing capital. The president also has nearly unwavering support still by African Americans, Jews, Hispanics, highly educated, women, and young people. Those constituencies alone put him in striking distance, and are a base that no modern president has enjoyed. I was reading a poll yesterday that has showed that women are shifting heavily back towards Obama after this mid-term election. So, yes Obama has a good chance of being reelected.
Furthermore where do you get your info? Obama is leading “that Mormon” Mitt Romney 47% to 40%. You must have not understood what you read. http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/15/obama-in-good-shape-for-2012-despite-current-woes-poll-finds/