But as Mr. Obama’s victory showed, the path to change is arduous. Even as the nation shattered one barrier of intolerance, we were disappointed that voters in four states chose to reinforce another. Ballot measures were approved in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and California that discriminate against couples of the same sex. —NYTimes
“He certainly indicated his broad and deep support for the full civil rights for gay and lesbian … I pressed him on the Millennium Development Goals. I wanted to know whether he thought more about them than just they were a good idea but whether he had any intention of pushing for their full funding.” Bishop Robinson said he feared that the economic crisis might affect this agenda.
Obama beat McCain soundly among Catholics (55% – 44%), performing better than Kerry in 2004 and Gore in 2000. Among white Catholics, Obama narrowed the Republican advantage from Bush’s 13-point advantage (56% – 43%), with McCain holding only a 5-points advantage (52% -47%).
At the heart of all this is American exceptionalism – the belief that there is something special about the United States held by Americans of varied religious beliefs and none – it ought to be a country in which a seven-year-old Muslim American can aspire to be president. What seems to have divided Americans in this election is not disagreement over America’s unique calling, but whether that vocation confers privilege or responsibility
While it won’t be the same as it ever was, an Obama presidency will give the Religious Right an opportunity to bask in the glow of martyrdom and seize the mantle of underdog, while it raises hundreds of millions of dollars for its political campaigns and the never-ending ‘culture wars.’
Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians. Proposition 8 also improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities.
Ward Connerly, the California activist-businessman who has led the crusade against affirmative action, said Obama’s victory proved his point. “We have overcome the scourge of race,” Connerly said.
“The polling judge told her that they didn’t have any wheelchairs, and was at a loss at what to do. That’s when five Black men got out of line to assist this woman, supporting her back, arms and legs, they carried her into the polling center.”
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, Ann Nixon Cooper touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
From No On 8: Nov 05, 2008 Results Status Roughly 400,000 votes separate yes from no on Prop 8 – out of 10 million votes