UPDATE--Add Talking Points Memo to the list:
The Albuquerqe Journal quotes Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson's reaction to President Obama's rather equivocal statement of support for marriage equality:
Gay rights advocates on the other side of the aisle had a more measured take on the news.
“It is something that’s exciting. It’s obviously a good thing. This is obviously a step in the right direction,” said Christopher Barron, chief strategist for GOProud, which represents gay Republicans. Barron, who supports Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, sees Obama’s move as purely political. Whereas several Democrats called Obama’s announcement courageous, Barron says it’s anything but. “The calls for him to step up to the plate within his own party had gotten to the point where he couldn’t tamp them down anymore,” Barron said. “I think the president has been overtly political about this from the very beginning. I’m glad he finally got to the right place on this, I just think it’s unfortunate that it had to happen the way it did.”
The Albuquerqe Journal quotes Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson's reaction to President Obama's rather equivocal statement of support for marriage equality:
“Gay marriage equality is not a trick question, and we shouldn’t be getting trick answers from the President of theUnited States. Gay Americans deserve better than a President who winks and nods and tries to convince them that he will protect their rights, but refuses to emerge from the closet and support one of the most basic rights – the right to equal access to marriage. And frankly, even opponents of gay marriage deserve the truth from the White House. Is the President for it or against it? Right now, the Administration is trying to have it both ways.”HuffPo does a piece on voter choices with regard to presidential candidates and same-sex marriage and includes Gary Johnson in the mix:
Highlighting the GOP's position on this issue, an issue for which GOProud is attempting to gratuitously attack the president rather than look inward, two-time New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson was run out of the Republican Party primary earlier this year, in part because of his support of full equal marriage rights. As a result Gov. Johnson left the party and now has become the nominee of the Libertarian Party.
--snip--
But if you're a single-issue voter and you're in favor of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, you now have a choice that at least includes President Obama and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who has more political executive experience than Mitt Romney, a one-term governor, and Sarah Palin, a half-term governor, combined.This is a start--only a start. From the leading newspaper in Johnson's own state and HuffPo it is yet another jump to consistent inclusion in the stories posed by CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS et al, but the Gary Johnson/Jim Gray ticket can break into that kind of coverage if they (and we) keep pushing.
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