Mr. And Mrs. John Edwards Split On Gay Marriage

June 24th, 2007
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Remember the old adage: “Politics makes strange bedfellows…” when you read this:

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, kicked off San Francisco’s annual gay pride parade Sunday by splitting with her husband over support for legalized gay marriage.

“I don’t know why someone else’s marriage has anything to do with me,” Mrs. Edwards said at a news conference before the parade started. “I’m completely comfortable with gay marriage.”

She made the remark almost offhandedly in answering a question from reporters after she delivered a standard campaign stump speech during a breakfast hosted by the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club, an influential San Francisco political organization. California’s presidential primary is Feb. 5, one of the earliest contests in the nation.

She conceded her support puts her at odds with her husband, a former senator from North Carolina who she said supports civil unions among gay couples _ but not same-sex marriages.

OOPS. Or IS IT oops??

“John has been pretty clear about it, that he is very conflicted,” she said. “He has a deeply held belief against any form of discrimination, but that’s up against his being raised in the 1950s in a rural southern town.”

No serious presidential candidate from either major political party has publicly supported gay marriage.

“John believes that couples in committed long-term relationships should enjoy the same rights, benefits and responsibilities regardless of whether they are straight couples or same-sex couples,” Edwards said earlier during her speech. “He supports civil unions.”

There are several ways political junkies can look at this:

–It will hurt John Edwards because those who oppose gay marriage will think he’s just opposing it so he won’t lose social conservatives’ votes.
–It will help John Edwards because some will think Ms. Edwards is saying what John REALLY thinks.
–It will be the best of all worlds since John Edwards opposes it, Elizabeth Edwards supports it.
–It will be a wash.

But there is one certainty. Elizabeth Edwards is an independent person and reportedly quite issue-oriented. And — no matter what — her comments will draw additional media (and blog) attention to her husband.

Which they already have.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2007 at 6:59 pm and is filed under Elizabeth Edwards, Social Conservatives, Homosexuality, John Edwards, Society, 2008 Elections, Gender, Sexuality, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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