MOMocrats™

John Edwards and the Gay Marriage Issue

Recently I received an email from a commenter who said something to the effect of "I just can't support a candidate who doesn't support gay marriage." I whole-heartedly agree with the commenter that who a person marries is none of my business, and I fully support gay marriage.

John Edwards does not.

But neither do Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Obama says because he is a Christian he cannot support a practice that goes against his fundamental beliefs. Hillary has been a little more muddled on the issue saying in the past that children are "better off if they have a mother and a father" and that traditional marriage should be "strengthened." Hillary supporters should also note that during her husband's presidency, she supported the Defense of Marriage Act.

Dennis Kucinich supports gay marriage but it's not enough for me to vote for him, at least not at this point in my life. Vote for Nader and you get burned. I've learned this. Plus, he loses me on the "I've been visited by aliens" issue.

So where does John Edwards stand on gay rights? Here is what you need to know:

Edwards opposes same-sex marriage, but he does not think the Constitution should be amended to define marriage as between a man and a woman. He supports civil unions.

On 2/24/04 Edwards said in response to President Bush's proposed Constitutional amendment, "I am against the president's constitutional amendment on gay marriage...I don't personally support gay marriage myself. My position has always been that it's for the states to decide."

Edwards supports the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Edwards supports giving same-sex couples the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples. He also says both members of a same-sex couple should be able to form a legal relationship with their children.

Edwards supports the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly in the United States Military. He says, "The military ought to treat all service members equally and in a way that promotes national security, without regard to sexual orientation."

Though John Edwards doesn't support gay marriage, Elizabeth does.  Kicking off this year's San Francisco Gay Pride Parade she said:

"I don't know why someone else's marriage has anything to do with me. I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage."

I wish John Edwards shared his wife's view, but knowing Elizabeth feels differently makes a difference for me. She may be at odds with her husband, but for me, knowing that helps to "soften the blow."

Bill Maher & John Edwards: A View from the Audience

As MOMocrat Beth reported, I had the opportunity to go to the taping of Senator John Edwards' appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher.  Beth and I both got invitations from the campaign to go to the show on Wednesday.  Since we live in Northern California and the taping was in Los Angeles, I looked at the e-mail and shrugged it off, thinking, "Wish that was in San Francisco...I'd go in a heartbeat." 

Beth had a different idea.  She e-mailed me and said she was thinking about going.  I thought of all the reasons why I couldn't go--I have to work, there wouldn't be time to get a babysitter for my son, it would be too expensive, there's a soccer game on Saturday we have to go to and a Cub Scout event.  Then, I realized that my husband is a huge Bill Maher fan, and that I should at least tell him that we had this invitation, and maybe...just maybe...

My husband thought it was a great idea.  He found reasonably priced tickets that would take us down to LA in the morning and return in the evening, with ample time to go to the show, have dinner and make it back in time for our son's Saturday events.  It still seemed a little nutty to me to take an airplane to LA and not even stay overnight, but he does this sort of thing all the time for business, so for him, it's no sweat.

Beth couldn't work out the logistics to go with us, so she volunteered to keep our son for the night, along with her three boys for a sleepover. So, somehow, the planets aligned just right, and the next thing I knew, it was Friday and we were heading into the famous CBS Television City in LA, just like I'd seen countlesss times on TV.

Speak UP, Your Voice Will Be Heard

I have been following netroots for some time. But I wondered how someone like me, a busy mom, can participate. I don't have time to volunteer at campaigns because I can hardly juggle volunteering at my kid's school. I decided to start by doing my homework by choosing which Presidential candidate I would support.

I researched the candidates positions and made my choice. I felt John Edwards had comprehensive plans, leadership skills and a devotion to public service that set him above the other candidates. But what next?

So I decided to speak up, and was lucky to find some others who felt the same way. Just around the same time, we happened to have the honor of meeting with Elizabeth Edwards. 

Hope: A Conversation With Elizabeth Edwards

This weekend, the Silicon Valley, Chicago, and D.C. Metro Moms bloggers had an opportunity to speak with Elizabeth Edwards.  The Silicon Valley moms met with her in person and some of the Chicago and D.C. Metro Moms bloggers participated by conference call, including yours truly.  Joanne was the spokesperson for the D.C. Metro Moms on the call and she did a fabulous job. I'm a huge Elizabeth Edwards fan, so I was thrilled to have the chance to ask Ms. Edwards substantive policy questions.  (If you'd like to see live blogging of the whole shebang, go here and here.)

I did, however, have a moment of sheer mortification.  I was on the conference call on my cell phone parked at my laptop in the dining room.  My husband has been transferring the contents of said laptop to an external hard drive for the last 3 days, so I was grounded, so to speak, unless I disconnected the hard drive and undid all of T's hard work.  I couldn't lock myself in the bedroom away from the chaos created by two small boys.

Just the Facts, Ma'am -- PunditMom and Elizabeth Edwards

It was an amazing honor to get to ask a couple of questions on behalf of the DC Metro Moms on Saturday's conference call and meet-up with Elizabeth Edwards.  The only thing that would have made it nicer was if I had been able to hop on a plane to California to be in the same room with her and all those great Silicon Valley moms!

My head was spinning when I got off the phone after an hour of Q&A.  Elizabeth Edwards can really talk the talk, and if her husband John is really going to do the things he says he wants to do, then I know it was a good use of space to put an Edwards '08 button on my blog.

I had to run out right after the phone call (Saturday night is date night sometimes here at Chez PunditMom!), so I'm still processing and thinking and pundit-izing!  But here are some  highlights of her comments:

1.  The role of being the First Lady is "impossible to imagine."  But if she lands in that spot, one of her goals will be to advocate for military families.  As a child of a military family, she knows what it's like to have loved ones be away and to move from place to place.  She doesn't think military families are being well-served these days, and if she gets to move in to the White House, that's one of the causes she wants to focus on.

2.  We need to get more women registered to vote. If we're the key to the election, then someone has got to do the work of getting women to sign up and get to the polls.

3.  Cancer?  "I know there are answers.  I don't know how soon we will find them, but think of the [beneficial] impact on long term care and Medicare there would be."

4.  Let's put public health care resources in or next to elementary schools instead of putting them in out of the way places, so people can get to them and we can de-stigmatize them.

5.  If we built schools and health clinics in the Middle East instead of engaging in a war, and America was seen as a benefactor rather than an invader, think of what we could accomplish in the world.

6.  A College for Everyone program.  Bold, huh?

There was lots more, especially about health care and her husband's vision for the country, but I do want to say this -- the conversation wasn't about broad strokes.  The details that went along with each idea were astounding. 

This is a campaign that has thought through how to approach and fund each initiative they're proposing and they aren't afraid to explain it.

And as I was listening in on the call with some of the other DC Metro Moms (and IM'ing at the same time -- I know, we're such geeks!), we all had the same thought -- where are the details like this from the other campaigns?  If we had the chance to ask Hillary or Barack or the others the same questions, would we get the level of thoughtfulness we got this afternoon?

I'd like to find out the answer to that question. So candidates, if we're the "key" you need to open the door at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, why not have a sit down with the moms of D.C., Silicon Valley and Chicago? 

We've got lots of blogs, people who read them and we want to know what you have to say -- in detail.

Cross-posted from PunditMom and DC Metro Moms Blog.

Momocrats Meet Elizabeth Edwards

Stefania and I had the amazing opportunity to meet with Elizabeth Edwards again with the other Silicon Valley Moms Bloggers. Glennia was out of town (darn!) and Joanne and Stephanie were on the phone. Here are the links to the liveblog posts at the Silicon Valley Moms Blogs (here and here). Stefania liveblogged on our site.

As I said in my post, Elizabeth Edwards has the talent of being completely engaging as well as keeping us at ease during our meeting. I will post more later (we are still in the conference room and we need to leave...). But here are some pictures.

Here is a picture of Stefania and I with Elizabeth Edwards wearing our new campaign buttons (thanks Stefania for bringing them!).

Here is a group picture.