Julie Pace
At Barnard, Obama challenges women to lead the way
President Barack Obama arrives to deliver the commencement address to graduates at all-female Barnard College, on the campus of Columbia University, accompanied by Barnard President Debora L. Spar, in New York, Monday, May 14, 2012. Barnard was the first college in New York City where women could receive the same liberal arts education available to men. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)(Credit: AP) NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama is telling graduates of a women’s college that they and their generation will lead the country to better days. To the notion that change may not seem as possible, Obama says: “Don’t believe it.”
Obama was the commencement speaker at Barnard College, a private women’s college in New York City, on a day of travels targeting constituencies key to his re-election bid.
The president challenged the graduates to embrace and rekindle the spirit of change. He implored them to stand up be heard, not just “sit back and watch.”
Obama said the nation’s challenges are solvable. He said the question is “whether, together, we can muster the will.”
Biden proves catalyst for Obama on gay marriage
In this May 10, 2012, photo, Vice President Joe Biden gestures while speaking to students and educators about student loans during a White House Briefing on College Affordability in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington. After Joe Biden voiced his support for gay marriage ahead of President Barack Obama, there was only one thing for the vice president to do: apologize. Biden did that on Wednesday in the Oval Office. He apologized shortly before Obama sat for a hastily arranged interview in which he told the public he supported gay marriage. Biden had made similar comments on Sunday without permission from the White House. His remarks thrust gay marriage into the political spotlight and focused fresh attention on what Obama has called "evolving" views on gay marriage. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)(Credit: AP) WASHINGTON (AP) — Sorry, Mr. President.
After nearly single-handedly pushing gay marriage to the forefront of the presidential campaign and inadvertently pressuring President Barack Obama to declare his support for same-sex unions, there was only one thing left for Vice President Joe Biden to do: apologize.
Biden’s mea culpa came Wednesday in the Oval Office, shortly before the president sat for a hastily arranged interview in which he told the American people that he now supported gay marriage.
Continue Reading CloseNC vote shows gay marriage still divisive
Catherine Klein, a minister at Unity in Greensboro church (right) and Benedette Mutisya (left) console William Robinson, the Triad area field director for the Coalition to Protect NC Families on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in Greensboro, NC. Robinson fought Amendment One on the street, on the phone and with media interviews on the issue. oRobinson lives in Greensboro, NC.(names and location CQ by jw) (Jerry Wolford, news-record.com)(Credit: Jerry Wolford) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is facing mounting pressure to express support for same-sex marriage after a setback for gay-rights advocates in North Carolina.
Republicans there turned out in force Tuesday night to vote to strengthen the state’s gay marriage ban. The passage of the state constitutional amendment proves that the topic remains a powerful election-year wedge issue despite tough economic times. It also illustrates the risks for the president as Democrats press him to do what no other has before — back gay marriage.
Obama appears ready to add his voice to this week’s debate in a Wednesday afternoon interview with ABC News that the White House hastily arranged.
Obama’s vague gay marriage stance under scrutiny
FILE - In this April 20, 2012, file photo Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks durng the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama's vague stance on gay marriage is facing fresh scrutiny. Duncan has broken ranks with the White House, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage. Duncan's comments on Monday, May 7, 2012, came one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested he supported gay marriage, too. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)(Credit: AP) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s election-year vagueness on gay marriage is coming under fresh scrutiny.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he supported gay marriage as well.
Obama aides worked to manage any political fallout. They said the back-to-back remarks by two top administration officials represented personal viewpoints and were not part of a coordinated effort to lay groundwork for a shift in the president’s position. Obama aides also tried to use the latest flare-up in the gay-marriage debate to shine a light on GOP rival Mitt Romney’s history of equivocating on some gay-rights issues, an attempt to turn a potential political problem into an opportunity.
Continue Reading CloseObama’s vague gay marriage stance under scrutiny
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s vague stance on gay marriage is facing fresh scrutiny. A prominent Cabinet official has broken ranks with the White House, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s comments came one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested he supported gay marriage, too.
Obama aides insisted the statements were not part of a coordinated effort to lay groundwork for a shift in the president’s position. Obama has stopped short of backing gay marriage, saying his views are “evolving.”
The White House kept to that position Monday. But with Biden and Duncan’s comments reinvigorating the debate, the pressure on Obama to clarify his views ahead of the November election seems certain to increase.
Biden OK with equal rights for married gay couples
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden says he’s “absolutely comfortable” with gay couples who marry getting the same civil rights and liberties as heterosexual couples, a stand that gay rights advocates interpreted as an endorsement of same-sex marriage.
But the White House and President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, eager to avoid a debate on a hot-button social issue in an election year, insisted that Biden was not breaking ranks with Obama, who does not publically support gay marriage.
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