Eileen McNamara has a scathing column in today's Globe urging Senator Kerry to take a position on amending the Massachusetts Constitution to prevent same-sex marriage. Her point seems a fair one. As she writes:
How can a candidate whose campaign slogan is "The Courage To Lead" say he needs time to see what the Legislature does before he can declare a position of his own?...
The Kerry campaign wants its candidate to reap the benefits of his past support of gay rights, but is unwilling to risk the political capital it might cost to stand up against discrimination now. The truth is, it was not all that courageous of Kerry to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. He was in a tough reelection fight, but his opponent, Governor William F. Weld, was an equally strong defender of gay rights. Kerry had nothing to lose.
This fence-sitting of Kerry's isn't exactly courageous leadership.
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