Joe Bardi owes President Obama $5.
In "Shit Happened," Creative Loafing's week-in-review column appearing in tomorrow's print edition, he says this:
"SUNDAY 6: Vice President Joe Biden expresses his 'comfort' with gay marriage, putting President Obama in the uncomfortable position of actually having to take a stand on an issue that’s a slam dunk with his base. $5 says he won’t do it…"
Shortly after the column went to press, we heard the news: Seems like the president decided he could stand to be a little uncomfortable.
I'm still a little stunned by Obama's statement in support of gay marriage. Like Joe, I wasn't expecting it. Frank Bruni's column in Sunday's New York Times, though critical of the president's tentativeness on the issue, seemed to sum up the stakes involved: "It's impossible to assert that marriage equality is a prudent wager for a presidential candidate in 2012." I figured Bruni was right: How could a president declare support for gay marriage in an election year when he has to campaign in, say, North Carolina?
Well, now we will find out.
And I'm surprised how much it matters to me.
This article appears in May 10-16, 2012.
