Obama Should Say What He Thinks On Marriage Equality

Walter Shapiro thinks Obama will embrace full marriage equality in 2013, either as president, or as a private citizen, which may become more likely if Obama continues to piss off his supporters with bullshit double talk on marriage equality. Shapiro thinks Obama should take a page out of Lyndon Johnson's notebook and follow his vice president's lead by fully embracing marriage equality:

If Obama dips into the latest volume of Robert Caro’s Lyndon Johnson biography, “The Passage of Power,” he may well pause when he reads LBJ’s reaction to the advisers who urged political caution about embracing civil rights on the verge of a presidential election. Johnson snapped, “Well, what the hell’s the presidency for?” A close reading of “The Passage of Power” reveals that Johnson always understood the importance of political timing. It would be easy for Obama to conclude that now is simply not the time to speak out clearly about gay marriage. But mealy-mouthed evasions and rhetorical obfuscation come at a cost--dampening the enthusiasm of supporters and frittering away the opportunities provided by the bully pulpit of the presidency. Obama is fooling no one with his endless evolutionary pondering of gay marriage. A brave president--election year or not--might follow the lead of Joe Biden and actually say what he thinks.