To get reaction to President Obama's flip-flop on gay marriage,
Thursday's NBC Today brought on openly gay left-wing MSNBC host Rachel
Maddow, who quickly attacked Republicans on the issue:
"It's a very, very conservative Republican Party on this issue....Mitt Romney, who wants to roll back gay rights nationwide."
Co-host Ann Curry helped Maddow along by asking series of questions
from the left: "...[Obama's] leaving it to the states, there's no
movement to do something federally, in terms of making a change, I mean,
what actually changes?....Is it clear, though, that this will not
satisfy gay marriage activists?...that there's going to be an increase
in their demands to push this further forward? Have it be on the
platforms for the Democratic Party?"
Curry
then bolstered the case for Obama changing his mind and supporting gay marriage: "...this comes as there's increasing support in this country
for gay marriage rights. There's a poll from 2004. And it found that
only 30% of the population was in favor of gay marriage. And now there's
a new poll that finds that 49%, a majority, favors gay marriage. So to
what degree is this really just smart politics by the President?"
Note to Curry: 49% is not a majority. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal
poll she cited showed that as of March 2012, 49% favored gay marriage
while 40% opposed. 49% would be a plurality, not a majority.
In part, Maddow responded: "...for the President to have made this
decision to say this is my personal view, I think is an act of political
bravery because there's no clear – there's no clear way to say that
this is going to help him politically."
Later in the show, as part of a liberal panel discussion of the topic, openly gay CNBC host Suze Orman cheered Obama's move [1]: "This is something that should have been done, in my opinion anyway – obviously, I would think that – a long time ago."
NBC couldn't seem to find any opponents of gay marriage to react to the President's announcement.
Here is a full transcript of the May 10 exchange:
7:05AM ET
ANN CURRY: Well, Rachel Maddow is the host of The Rachel Maddow Show on
MSNBC and she joins us now. Rachel, good morning to you.
RACHEL MADDOW: Hi, Ann.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Obama vs. Romney; Will President's Gay Marriage Stance Change Race?]
CURRY: You've called the President's announcement historic in civil
rights. But given what we've just heard from Chuck Todd, that this –
he's leaving it to the states, there's no movement to do something
federally, in terms of making a change, I mean, what actually changes?
MADDOW:
Well, you know, it's – I think that symbolic value is hard to see in
the moment. I think this is something we will know more in retrospect in
terms of what this milestone – just for knowing that the President
believes this and he's waiting to see it – what that means.
But this is not a given that this would happen. I mean, think about
what's going on in the rest of politics. George W. Bush was for civil
unions. The current Republican de facto nominee Mitt Romney is against
civil unions. The states that have recognized same-sex marriage rights
would have those rights overturned federally by the constitutional
amendment that the Republican Party supports.
I mean, this is not something that is – where everything is all
marching in the same direction. I mean, Mitt Romney is right where Rick
Santorum is on gay rights issues. It's a very, very conservative
Republican Party on this issue. And I'm not sure that it's clear what
the electoral impact will be given the way that states keep voting
against these rights when they have the choice.
CURRY: Is it clear, though, that this will not satisfy gay marriage
activists? In other words, that this – that there's going to be an
increase in their demands to push this further forward?
MADDOW: I think that-
CURRY: Have it be on the platforms for the Democratic Party?
MADDOW: I think that – I think that there's a very good chance it will
be part of the platform for the Democratic Party. I think the prospect
that that was going to be some sort of divisive fight or something they
really wanted to avoid is now over because of yesterday's announcement.
It will be in the party platform. What that means practically, I don't
know.
I think that it's interesting. I'm an openly gay person who works in
the news media covering this but also feeling this as a gay person. The
thing that I'm realizing is that gay people have very practical feelings
about this. That this is about our lives. This is about our families.
This is about whether or not we're hurt by policy made in the public
arena. And so the symbolic value, I think, is important and does mean a
lot to us. But mostly we want practical policies that help us.
CURRY: It's interesting in seeing how all this came about, this
announcement in a hastily arranged interview on the heels of Joe Biden's
comments on Meet the Press.
MADDOW: Yeah.
CURRY: You do get the sense that Joe Biden forced the President's hand
on this. But I want to show you this poll, because it's really
interesting to also note that this comes as there's increasing support
in this country for gay marriage rights. For example, take a look at
this poll. There's a poll from 2004. And it found that only 30% of the
population was in favor of gay marriage. And now there's a new poll that
finds that 49%, a majority, favors gay marriage. So to what degree is
this really just smart politics by the President?
MADDOW: Well it – again, it's very hard to say, because as you've seen
those poll numbers go up, and it's consistent across all polls and
really over – it's an accelerating progression toward more accepting
views in the public, but every time you put these issues up to a
statewide vote, they lose. I mean, I think in civil rights, generally
speaking, when you ask for a majority vote on minority rights, generally
minorities do not fare well. So you have to look at the fact that this
came right after the North Carolina vote on Amendment One, a
constitutional amendment to ban gay rights. That was an overwhelming
vote against gay rights in that state.
And so for the President to have made this decision to say this is my
personal view, I think is an act of political bravery because there's no
clear – there's no clear way to say that this is going to help him
politically. I think the gay community broadly supported the President
anyway. They've pressured him on some things certainly. But it's not
like they were going to go to Mitt Romney, who wants to roll back gay
rights nationwide. So this was something that the President did, I think
as a matter of conscience. And I think it's sort of – we're in a chips
fall where they may moment.
CURRY: Alright. Well, on that note, thank you, Rachel, for being here this morning.
MADDOW: Thank you. Thanks.
CURRY: And you can watch The Rachel Maddow Show weeknights at 9 Eastern and Pacific Time here on MSNBC.
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here [2] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.