Howard Dean was on Larry King last night talking about a number of different issues, but Michael Crowley at The New Republic noticed that Dean’s answers about gay marriage weren’t quite up to the good doctor’s self-described “straight talk” standards.
To be sure, Dean has done a great deal on gay rights. As Vermont’s governor, Dean was the first state chief executive to sign a law granting gays the right to civil unions. While running for president, Dean hasn’t backed down from defendnig that decision, arguing that civil unions are worthwhile and extend important rights to gay couples. Good for him.
The debate, however, has shifted of late. Questions about civil unions are important, but many are wondering if gay marriage can be, or should be, next. The Republicans are anxious to use this as a “wedge” issue, and most of the Dem presidential candidates are cautiously expressing opposition to gay marriage.
So where’s Dean of this issue? Larry King, not exactly Tim Russert when it comes to hardball questioners, tried to find out. It didn’t go well.
King’s first question was fairly straightforward. “On your own state level, if it were a referendum, would you vote for gay marriage?”
Dean apparently didn’t like that question, so he answered a different one. “[W]e don’t have a referendum in my state, and we have civil unions, and we deliberately chose civil unions, because we didn’t think marriage was necessary in order to give equal rights to all people,” Dean said. “Marriage is a religious institution, the way I see it. And we’re not in the business of telling churches who they can and cannot marry.”
King saw that Dean was answering a question, just not his. So he asked again, “So you would be opposed to a gay marriage?”
Again, Dean, who just minutes earlier was patting himself on the back for being blunt in an age of overly-careful politicians, dodged this basic question.
“If other states want to do it, that’s their business,” Dean said. “We didn’t choose to do that in our state.”
Yes, we know, governor. But what do you think? If you were voting on a referendum, would you vote yes or no? King followed up again. “And you personally would oppose it?”
“I don’t know,” Dean said. “I never thought about that very much, because we didn’t do it in our state for that reason.”
Never thought about that very much? Vermont was the epicenter of a major battle in the so-called culture war for months over civil unions. Some in the legislature wanted a flat ban on gay marriage. Since then, this has been a major topic of conversation in Washington, Bush has sort-of endorsed a constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage, his rivals for the Dem nomination have spoken out one way or the other on this issue, and Dean has “never thought about” whether he supports or opposes the policy?
I remember when Clarence Thomas was before the Senate Judiciary Committee before being confirmed to the Supreme Court and he tried to say sincerely that he hadn’t made up his mind on whether abortion should be legal or not. He was in law school when Roe v. Wade was handed down, it has been a major topic of debate in America for three decades, and a sitting judge was sincerely trying to argue that he hadn’t reached any conclusions on the matter.
I remember thinking to myself at the time that Thomas would be better off just telling these people the truth. Opposing abortion rights would not have necessarily doomed his nomination, he’d have the opportunity to explain how he came to his conclusion, and he could describe how this would matter (or not) as a Supreme Court justice. But to say he was undecided made him seem dishonest, evasive, and a little ridiculous.
Dean was at least as annoying dodging these questions last night about gay marriage. Dean has, justifiably, held himself out as a friend of the gay community. He should be able to say whether or not he supports gay marriage and explain why he believes as he does.
But dodging the question — on Larry King’s show, no less — was disappointing. If he’s a straight shooter who cares more about being painfully honest then polls and politics, that’s great. Be that guy. But don’t tell us that you “never thought about” whether you support gay marriage. Just answer the question and let the chips fall where they may.
As Michael Crowley put it, “Even if he believes it’s a decision that should be made on a state level, his absurd tap-dance around his personal view on gay marriage makes it pretty hard to take his straight-talk reputation seriously. And if Dean is afraid to tell it like it is on marriage, how much credibility do his attacks on other Democrats for being spineless really have?”