California Decision Puts Obama Double Speak In Spotlight

WASHINGTON (Aug. 5) -- A gay federal judge's decision overturning California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage may take years to get to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the political fallout has already begun.

Judge Vaughn Walker's 136-page ruling eviscerating Proposition 8 as unconstitutional brought roaring back to life a divisive social issue that a few years ago dominated political discourse but had recently taken a back to seat to economic anxiety. And its timing, on the eve of Elena Kagan's Senate confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, is a reminder that the issue won't be settled until nine justices have their say.

"Judge Walker has launched the first salvo in a national culture war," said Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage. "There will be electoral consequences for candidates who do not stand up and support marriage. Either they stand on the side of activist judges or they allow voters to have their say. There is no middle ground."

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, called the ruling "a cultural wedge issue that has the potential to galvanize Republicans, conservatives and Blue Dog Democrats around the defense of biblical marriage."

"It's a judicial coup d'etat ... that has taken over the body politic of this nation," he said.

The decision set off infighting among conservatives. Mathew Staver of the Liberty Counsel criticized lawyers for bungling the case. "I am distressed that Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) presented thin evidence to support Prop. 8," he said. Still, he was confident the decision would be reversed on appeal.

Jordan Lorence, a lawyer working with the ADF, told AOL News that Walker made clear early in the trial that he "was inclined to strike down Prop. 8" and accused the judge of ignoring written evidence and testimony during cross-examination. Asked why his side called only two witnesses, one of whose testimony the judge said "provided no credible evidence," Lorence replied, "If we had called 30 witnesses we would have had the same result." Walker "created new heights of judicial activism" in his ruling, he said.

John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in California and a former GOP congressional aide, said gay marriage will provide Republicans with just one more piece of evidence, along with the recent ruling on Arizona's immigration law, that "show the danger of activist judges and the need to uphold federalism." Still, he predicted most voters will stay focused on pocketbook issues.

The ruling once again put President Barack Obama on the spot.

The White House put out a statement saying, "The president has spoken out in opposition to Proposition 8 because it is divisive and discriminatory. He will continue to promote equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Americans."

White House senior adviser David Axelrod told MSNBC that Obama "does oppose same-sex marriage but he supports equality for gay and lesbian couples." The president favors civil unions for same-sex couples instead but also believes marriage is a state issue.

That neither here-nor-there position has irked gay rights activists. Sainz said gays are "disappointed that their president does not stand with them" on marriage. Still, Obama has done more for the gay and lesbian agenda than any predecessor, signing into law civil rights protections, extending benefits to gay federal workers and pushing toward the end of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. His power to push further may end in November, however, if a majority voters push back. See Chick's SIN CITY.