I was having a discussion with a few of my good friends a while back, and I asked "Why don't we have a presidential candidate running a campaign on social issues?" They responded with the same old logic that has been dictating the political discussion for a long time, "It's the economy, stupid." It's true that this election is largely a referendum on Obama's handling of the economy and a debate on the proper role of government in regulating and stimulating the economy, but it is not true that the economy is the only thing that is going on. For many people, other issues like abortion, gay rights, woman's rights, civil rights, immigration reform, voting rights, foreign policy, campaign financing, free speech, internet freedom, and so on are equally as important as Obama's stewardship of the American economy. I find it insulting, as they trumpet time and time again, that these issues are nothing but a "distraction" from the "real" issue, which is always: creating jobs, and growing the economy.
I'm sure many of you saw the video of the veteran who got the chance to sit down with Romney at a campaign stop in a diner. He asked a simple question: if Romney would support same-sex marriage. Romney flat-out declined, and the veteran told reporters after the exchange that he definitely wouldn't vote for Romney. When pressed on why, he said "Because I'm gay, that's why." He went on to say that he didn't see the difference between his loving relationship and that of any other two individuals, and to think that his civil rights were being infringed upon after his years of service to this country is unjust. To say that same-sex marriage is just a "distraction" from the "real" issues facing this country is a disservice to all of those people who just want to same privileges afforded to heterosexual couples to be extended to all couples. My argument for gay marriage has always been simple: Christianity, or any religion for that matter, does not own the concept of marriage. Jews get married, Muslims get married, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, Blacks, Whites, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans get married, and they don't have to double-check with Christian leaders if it is fine by them. Hell, even nihilists, pedophiles, and murderers can get married, and those acts are sinful according to the Bible. So why the special prohibition against homosexual marriage? It isn't wasting political capital to talk about this issue, and it has literally zero effect on the economy, so don't tell me that now is not the time. Don't just kick the can down the road, address the issue.
Another issue I would like to have an open debate about is the DREAM act. To me, it seems like a pretty simple idea: If you were brought here through no choice of your own, if you did not get in trouble, completed high school, and decided to serve your country or pursue your dreams in higher education, the United States has a vested interest in helping you do so. It is not a costly program, it does not open the floodgates to millions of illegal immigrants, and it provides amnesty to people who, although here illegally, did not choose to be here. There are two principles of American society that I think apply here. One is that "All people are created equal" and have the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It does not include a clause that says "only if you were born on American soil, or if your parents did not commit a crime." The crime of the parents should not indict the virtue of the child. The second principle is enshrined on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,/ The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,/ Send these, the homeless, tempest toss'd to me,/ I lift my lamp beside the golden door." I'm not sure that Romney's policy of "self-deportation" is in keeping with this sentiment.
I don't think that Obama is on the right side of all social issues, and I think he's gone the wrong way on some foreign policy questions, such as drone strikes, execution of American citizens abroad, or expansion of privacy invasions. But I do think that he is more closely aligned with my vision of a just and free society than what Romney is advocating for. Social issues matter to me, because they are the issues on which the government plays a clear role. The debates on the proper role of government in promoting economic growth are a never-ending quagmire, and it is difficult to wade through the muck to get an idea of who knows what they are talking about. I want a society where everyone can marry the love of their life, where good residents can become good citizens, and where discrimination based upon race, gender, ethnicity, or creed is expressly prohibited by law. I have seen Obama make moves in the right direction down these paths, and I hope that a second term will make further gains. I fear that a Romney presidency would be socially as well as economically regressive, and that confirms my support for Obama in November.
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