Obama's Risky but Necessary Move

I think we all understand Obama's circumstances. He has to come out on the gay marriage issue, especially after Biden's comments earlier in the week. Most people think this has always been his position, just one he couldn't publicly espouse politically.

But what will be the consequences? Will African-Americans and Latinos still vote for him?  I think in the end they will, not least because he is coming off as reluctantly coming forward.  He's not coming across as a militant on the issue.

The bigger question is his evangelical support.  There are a number of evangelicals who have been able to reconcile his support of abortion with their vote. But will they be able to reconcile his position on gay marriage?  That is a good question.

I suspect in the end that they will because most people have already made up their mind who they are going to vote for in November.

Defeat of Lugar

I don't think anyone actually reads this blog, but I wanted to marvel at the difference in perspective right now on working across the aisles.  Murdock won over Lugar in Indiana with the argument that Lugar worked too much with the other side of the aisle. Basically, he is arguing for polarization in Washington.

He is not presenting it that way, of course.  The hope of the Tea Party is that their ideology will sweep Washington so that they can institute their vision for America.  But if this does not happen, then the end result is polarization and stalemate.

I hope that the Democratic candidate genuinely takes a middle of the road line. I don't think most Americans want the extremes on either side. They want people in Washington who can work together and represent all America. I still believe that this is the majority, but we'll see.