Tony Snowjob stumbles.
Tony Snowjob fumbles.
Pity poor Tony. The White House must have thought a guy with a name like Snow could deliver. But after today's
, and all the ones like it since he began, I wonder how long until he has to spend more time with his family. (hat tip Raw Story)
Q There is some criticism that the President's remarks today are merely intended to energize conservative supporters since there is little likelihood this is going to pass in the Senate. What's your response to that?
MR. SNOW: Well, the response is, the President -- again, and we went through this last week, this is driven in many ways by the legislative calendar. The President is making his views known. Whether it passes or not, as you know, Terry, there have been a number of cases where civil rights matters have arisen on a number of occasions and they've been brought up for repeated consideration by the United States Senate and other legislative bodies. So as far as a SOP, I mean, I've also had people say, well, wait a minute, you take a look at a constitutional amendments that's only a 45 percent to 50 percent proposition.
You can cut this both ways when you take a look at polls, but the fact is, A, the President is restating a long-held position, and, B, he's also made it clear that he wishes it didn't have to come to this -- this is in response to a number of states where either through their own constitutions or through laws or even initiatives or referenda, people have chosen to define marriage as being between a man and a woman and the courts have over-ridden them.
Q You present this as something that he's talking about because the occasion of the Senate vote. Once this week is over, do you expect him to be silent on this?
MR. SNOW: Don't know. I mean, I don't think -- look, in many ways, again, the debate is hot right -- the question is, will you be asking about it in five weeks? And the answer is, probably no. Quite often, a President will make statements -- and we went through this ripeness criterion the other day -- when it is, in fact, in the public eye, and there is action that may be imminent or pending, and that is the time one would expect a President to speak out on it.
Q You mentioned civil rights. Are you comparing this to various civil rights measures which have come to the Congress over the years? Is this a civil right?
MR. SNOW: Marriage? It actually -- what we're really talking about here is an attempt to try to maintain the traditional meaning of an institution that has maintained one meaning for a period of centuries, and for --
Q Do you equate that with civil rights?
MR. SNOW: No, I'm just saying, I think -- well, I don't know. How do you define civil rights?
Q It's not up to me; up to you.
MR. SNOW: Well, no, it's your question. So I need to get a more precise definition.
Q Can you stand there and say with a straight face that there is not a political dimension to this?
MR. SNOW: Of course there's a political dimension to it. There's going to be a Senate vote on it, for heaven's sake. There's naturally -- there are political dimensions on both sides. This is an issue -- and we talked about this, this morning -- that I think is of keen interest to a lot of people. And one of the interesting aspects is that there -- it's still -- the amendment still permits states to consider arrangements and institutions for same-sex couples that would not be called marriage. The President feels strongly that marriage is an institution, has a fixed meaning that ought to be honored in American law.
David.
Q In January, 2005, the President was asked about his support for this, and he said, well, there's a kind of a mind set in the Senate right now that it's unnecessary to push for this amendment because there is something -- a law that's been passed, the Defense of Marriage Act, and that's, frankly, good enough. So what's changed?
MR. SNOW: The Defense of Marriage Act now also is, itself, subject to legal challenge in a number of places. And that changes the dynamics a bit. And the question, also, ought to be asked of the Senate because the dynamics apparently have changed in the Senate in the sense that the leadership has seen fit to bring this up for a vote.
Q In an election year. And of course, the last time this came up for a vote was in 2004, another election year.
MR. SNOW: Again, I'm not sure that this is a big driver, to tell you the truth, of voters. This is an issue that is of concern, that the President is making his views known on. But I think we ought to be clear that the President is speaking out about a piece of legislation because he believes in it.
Q Isn't this why people hate politics, this kind of political posturing?
MR. SNOW: I don't think so. I don't think it's posturing. Many of us in this room are married, and we have strong feelings about the importance of marriage in our lives. And I think having the ability to define marriage is something that's important to a great many people in the United States of America. Whether the proper forum is a constitutional amendment or dealing with it state by state, that is something that the people are going to have to decide.
Q One follow up on DOMA. What has changed about the potential legal challenge since January of last year that makes this riper?
MR. SNOW: Again, David, you're going to have to ask --
Q Something has happened.
MR. SNOW: -- the people who brought it up for a vote in the Senate.
Q The Republican leadership works in concert with the White House, as you know.
MR. SNOW: But I'm not aware that the White House had any particular hand in scheduling this. But, you know what, I'll check it out, because I don't have the answer.