The Washington Post's Amy Gardner takes a look at the main issue President Barack Obama will overlook when he returns to North Carolina Tuesday -- and no, it's not the scandal at the state Democratic Party. It's the consitutional amendment defining the legal recognition of marriage.
Obama previously issued a statement opposing the amendment. But Gardner, a former N&O political reporter, notes his campaign's hands-off approach to the May 8 ballot initiative. (Read more below.)
"The advocates are also hungrily eying the president’s formidable grass-roots operation, which they would love to tap into to defeat Amendment One.“We certainly think that this would be a great opportunity for them as a dry run for November,” said Stuart Campbell, executive director of Equality North Carolina, a gay rights group. “But that’s really a decision for them to make, and as far as I know they have not made that decision.”
"Whatever Obama does or does not say about Amendment One in the coming two weeks, he could benefit, at least somewhat, from the push to defeat it. Across the state, particularly on college campuses, diverse coalitions of students, gay rights activists, libertarians and others have been collecting e-mail addresses and registering voters in advance of the May 8 referendum." Read the full piece here.
