A number of LGBT bloggers expressed dismay Tuesday night that no question about same-sex marriage was posed during the first two presidential debates or in the only vice presidential debate. But at a most unexpected moment during the October 16 debate, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney stumbled into an awkward riff about the importance of two parents being married before having children.
That set off a flurry of reaction among various LGBT bloggers who were posting their reactions to the debate live on Twitter.
"Whoa...marriage is the solution to gun violence? Who knew?" posted Get Equal.
"A two parent family (so long as they aren't legally married gays)," posted Jeremy Hooper at the Good as You group.
And, "Two parents in home, married is answer to gun violence. So same-sex couples should be able to get married, right Mittens?" posted Pam Spaulding.
Various "snap polls" within 30 to 60 minutes of the debate's conclusion, conducted by mainstream news organizations, declared President Obama the "winner" of the town meeting-style match-up. CBS said 37 percent of "uncommitted voters" thought President Obama won, 33 percent thought it was a tie, and 30 percent thought Romney won. The margin of error was plus or minus four points but the network did not explain last night the demographics of its survey group. Public Policy Polling group's survey of "Colorado voters" showed Obama with a 48 to 44 advantage over Romney. Among independent voters, said PPP, President Obama was preferred by 58 percent, while Romney was preferred by 36 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus three points.
CNN's snap poll of people who watched the debate —which the network acknowledged was about eight points heavier with Republicans than is the general population—went for President Obama 46 percent to 39 percent for Romney. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 points.
The town hall style meeting of the candidates fielded pre-screened questions from selected audience members gathered at Hofstra University in New York. The audience was chosen by the Gallup polling group to include 82 "uncommitted" voters. CNN moderator Candy Crowley was allowed to screen questions ahead of time.
With Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney having moved up in the polls to tie President Obama after the first presidential campaign debate, commentators were postulating that President Obama had to perform well to try and stem that positive tide toward Romney.
When President Obama talked about his record on immigration reform, the Human Rights Campaign posted a Twitter message "Fact: Under Obama, US Customs & Border Protection proposed rule including domestic partners in definition of family." And at the end of the 90-minute debate, HRC tweeted "Fact: Obama is steadfast advocate for LGBT Americans. Romney donated $60,000 to rabidly anti-LGBT orgs."
In one of the more awkward moments, Romney seemed to stray away from a question about gun control and started talking about the importance of having a two-parent home and getting married before having.
The last question asked the candidates to correct any misperception about themselves that they think the American public may harbor.
Romney said the Obama campaign had unfairly painted him in a negative way, then wandered into his personal religious beliefs and, from there, into a stump speech.
Long-time Democratic activist Richard Socarides said, "It's unfortunate that anti-gay discrimination is not being addressed at all on the main campaign stage, but I'm excited that the candidate who clearly will lead us to a better place is back on his game and now poised for reelection. We need to press President Obama in the next for years, because we now know that it works, but first we have to get him reelected."
Gay Republicans were not disheartened. R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the national Log Cabin Republicans group, said Romney "was solid again."
"Obama cannot run from his record, which Romney consistently hammered tonight," said Cooper.
But Jerame Davis, head of the national gay Democratic group National Stonewall Democrats, said, "Despite Romney's dissembling and attempts to run out the clock with rambling answers, the President offered a clear vision forward for the next four years and made his strongest case yet for another term."
© 2012 Keen News Service. All rights reserved.
