The McCain campaign granted an interview to the Washington Blade Wednesday that produced few surprises other than giving the first glimmer that, although Sen. John McCain presently supports the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, he would consider having it analyzed. "On 'don’t ask, don’t tell,' I’m going to defer to our military commanders. So far they have told me it’s working. I’m willing to have the policy reviewed to make sure that’s the case, but at the end of the day, I’m going to rely on the commanders who will be impacted by a change in the law," McCain responded in a written statement.
Though the answers were presented by the McCain camp as coming directly from McCain, the Blade noted that the interview was conducted as a written exchange, with the questions being supplied to the campaign in writing and the campaign responding in kind.
During the course of the interview, McCain invoked his commitment to federalism several times, saying that he supported the Defense of Marriage Act because no state should "be compelled to recognize a marriage from California or Massachusetts," that adoption by gays should be left up to individual states though he believes "a child is best raised by a mother and father," and noting that he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in both 2004 and 2006 because marriage "should be a state matter, and not one for the federal government -- as long as no state is forced to adopt some other state’s standard."
But McCain also made clear that he supports passage of Proposition 8, which would overturn California's supreme court decision legalizing marriage. "As I did in my home state of Arizona, I support the effort in California to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. However, the people of California will ultimately decide this issue, and I’ll of course respect the decision of the voters," he said. McCain's position on the marriage ban has been murky until now, with his campaign signaling at one point that he supported efforts to pass the ban and then backtracking to say he simply supported the right of the voters there to decide.
While LGBT Democrats said the interview simply highlighted that Sen. Barack Obama is far more progressive on gay issues than McCain, Log Cabin Republicans president Patrick Sammon took a different view. "This interview just shows that we've taken a quantum leap forward in the Republican Party from four years ago," Sammon told The Advocate.
Sammon noted several points that he said showed movement for McCain: that he laid out two areas that needed to be addressed for him to sign an employment nondiscrimination bill -- making sure the law wouldn't lead to a flood of lawsuits or infringe on religious institutions; that he called for the development of a national AIDS strategy to address the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis; and that he is open to reviewing "don't ask, don't tell."
Obama has pledged to sign an employment nondiscrimination bill into law as president, develop a national AIDS/HIV strategy, and support repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." (Kerry Eleveld, The Advocate)
These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.
If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above.
All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.
See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.
Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.
Home | Contact | Current Issue | LGBT Community Partners | Staff
Jobs | Help
Subscribe: Print Edition Digital Edition | Subscriber Services: Print Edition Digital Edition
Visit our Websites
Out.com | OutTraveler.com | HIVPlusMag.com | Alyson.com | HereTV.com | GayWired.com | SheWired.com
Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Community Guidelines | Legal Notice
Advocate.com © 2009 Regent Entertainment Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
