Well, it's been a shell-shocking few days.
Today the Obama campaign released this video putting Mitt Romney totally on the defense on LGBT partner rights. I have to say, I'm really very impressed they're doing that and with the manner they have done it. The Obama campaign is even highlighting the fact that Romney would deny LGBT spouses hospital visitation rights.
In fact, when Romney said he didn't support civil unions, I thought, "Well, he's opened the door for us to one-by-one quiz him which rights for LGBT couples he DOES support? Does he support joint tax filing? Does he support spousal immigration petitioning? Does he support waiving estate inheritance tax fees? Does he support allowing gays to pay for partner health insurance and other benefits pretax like straight people do? Does he support the right to chain of custody for non-biological children raised in LGBT families?"
The list can go on and on and on.
And if Romney's answer is no, why not?
I thought, "We can have that conversation until November, and he can flop around on the deck like a fish, trying to explain why he'd toss a few crumbs to gays, but deny so much else."
And that is pretty much the point of the video. They've certainly cleverly tied it into a theme that like for cars, D is for Drive, R is for Reverse.
And Obama can now totally have this conversation on LGBT partner benefits without a moment's awkwardness, because when it comes to any question regarding equitable LGBT partner benefits, his answer is an unqualified, "Yes, I support that."
Very well done. This is what I have been saying, run into the fire, not away from it. This is how you fight them. You don't let them define the conversation with their cries that "Obama hates the family," you define the conversation yourself, "Romney would let gay people die alone, denied the comfort of the presence of their life partners."
Keep doing this, and on every issue. These Republican bullies are so vulnerable everywhere, if you just stand up to them.