Palin breaks with McCain on gay marriage amendment
Tue Oct 21, 12:02 am ET NEW YORK – Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin says she supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a break with John McCain who has said he believes states should be left to define what marriage is.
In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, the Alaska governor said she had voted in 1998 for a state amendment banning same sex marriage and hoped to see a federal ban on such unions.
"
I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had the opportunity to vote to amend our Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. I wish on a federal level that's where we would go. I don't support gay marriage," Palin said. She said she believed traditional marriage is the foundation for strong families.
McCain, an Arizona senator, is supporting a ballot initiative in his state this year that would ban gay marriage. But he has consistently and forcefully opposed a federal marriage amendment, saying it would usurp states' authority on such matters.
As governor, Palin vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to the partners of gay state employees. In a debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden, Palin said she was "tolerant" of gays and said she supported certain legal protections for same-sex couples, like hospital visitation rights.Biden, meanwhile, said during an appearance Monday on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that if he lived in California he would vote against a ballot measure that seeks to ban gay marriage. DeGeneres, who is gay and newly wed to actress Portia de Rossi, has urged Californians to reject Proposition 8.
"I think it's regressive," the Delaware senator said. "I think it's unfair, and so I vote 'no.'"Biden added that he and Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, opposed a similar initiative nationally. In the debate with Palin, Biden said he supporters partnerships rights for gays and lesbians, although he also opposes same-sex marriage.
In the CBN interview, Palin also said she would speak out if she heard a supporter at a rally yell violent or threatening comments about Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee.
"What we have heard through some mainstream media is that folks have hollered out some atrocious and unacceptable things like 'kill him,'" Palin said, referring to a Washington Post story two weeks ago about angry supporters at a Palin rally in Florida. "If I ever were to hear that standing up there at the podium with the mike, I would call them out on that, and I would tell these people, no, that's unacceptable."
CBN released excerpts of the interview Monday and planned to broadcast it in its entirety Tuesday.
Palin also claimed religion and God had been "mocked" during the campaign, although she offered no evidence to support that.
"Faith in God in general has been mocked through this campaign, and that breaks my heart and that is unfair for others who share a faith in God and choose to worship our Lord in whatever private manner that they deem fit," she said.
Palin is a conservative Christian who was baptized and grew up attending Pentecostal churches. In September, Obama defended Palin's religious beliefs and said it would be "offensive" to portray her faith as strange or wrong.
Palin also reaffirmed her view that Obama had been "palling around with terrorists" because of his association with Bill Ayers, a 1960s-era radical who helped found the violent Weather Underground group to protest the Vietnam war. The group was responsible for bombings of several government buildings.
"I would say it again," she said.
Ayers and Obama live in the same Chicago neighborhood and have served together on charity boards. Ayers also hosted a house party for Obama when he was first running for the Illinois state Senate.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_el_pr/palin_gay_marriage**********************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************
Agree or disagree with the issue, this article struck me because it's typical of my concerns in this election. I watched the Palin/Biden debate, as many of you did. In that debate, Palin clearly stated she felt marriage should be maintained as between one man and one woman. She went on to say that she would not deny rights of same sex partners. In this article, she gives the basis for her reasonings about the issue, "she believed traditional marriage is the foundation for strong families". That's her belief and she has a record of clarity in both actions and words reflecting that belief, both for protecting rights of same sex couples and for upholding the sanctity of traditional marriages.
However, in the debate, I also heard Biden say the same thing as Palin and even remark that their positions were the same. But when his company changed, so did his mind. I do not trust the democratic ticket. Biden has a record, and it can be evaluated, but since he has taken a place under Obama, I don't trust even his record. I'm not alarmed when someone has been in office a long time, and changes his mind over time. A record that conflicts itself on certain points seems normal to me. It's Obama's record of nothing that bothers me, and it falls to his words, which are eloquently delivered but full of "wind testing" and even malice, lately.
I'm really alarmed at the twist he's put on the Joe the Plumber encounter. He's too bright not to know he's misrepresenting the facts, and the venom of his approach to this single father, veteran, middle class plumber persuing the American Dream
really bothers me.
I don't trust his "altruism and concern for the middle class" words when I SEE the attack on Joe. It makes me look further, and I
see Acorn and the campaign contribution to it, but he
says he wants fair elections, and I
see 20 years in a church with Rev. Wright, but he
says he can't tolerate the racism, I
see the blurb Obama wrote in Ayers book in 1997, but he
says Ayers was just a neighbor. I
see the clips of his campaign for Odinga, but he
says that radical Islam and terrorism must be stopped. I
see Rezko's criminal conviction and property deal, but Obama
says he barely knew him, and I wonder if I'm looking at a chameleon who changes colors when the wind blows hot or cold. I don't want to see my country put at risk by the weather. I can handle disagreement on a given issue. I can't handle handing the reins of power over to a very persuasive mystery.
Source for book blurb:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2110671/postshttp://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78640
