January
22 Al Gore Favors Gay Marriage

We've actually heard little this primary season from Al Gore. In fact, he hasn't said much publicly since he won his Nobel Peace Prize in early December. But on the website of CurrentTV, the network he launched with Joel Hyatt, he posted an opinion piece where he says that he favors gay marriage. In doing so, he puts it in terms of family values.

"Shouldn't we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to one's partner regardless of sexual orientation?"

The Democratic presidential candidates stop just short of endorsing gay marriage, so it will be interesting to see whether this statement will create any kind of attention toward the issue as the campaign heads into the more diverse and larger Feb. 5 states.

Although such issues came up in debates in the summer and fall, they have all but taken a back seat to economic concerns in recent forums.

But Obama, who came under criticism for the inclusion of singer Donnie McClurkin in an October gospel tour, told a congregation at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday, “If we are honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community. We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them.”