On the August 10 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, senior national correspondent Jake Tapper said that the six Democratic presidential candidates who attended the August 9 forum sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) “treated the group as with any other interest group: They came, they saw, they pandered.” But as Tapper went on to note, four of the six candidates reiterated their opposition to same-sex marriage. Also contrary to Tapper's suggestion that the candidates merely said what their audience wanted to hear, the candidates' statements regarding civil unions and the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” military policy were not new, reflecting views they have repeatedly articulated.

During the event, former Sen. John Edwards (NC), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and Sens. Barack Obama (IL) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) all reiterated their opposition to federal recognition of same-sex civil marriage. Immediately following the forum, HRC President Joe Solmonese released a statement criticizing those candidates opposed to same-sex marriage:

From repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” supporting equal employment rights, providing full funding for the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to eliminating the Defense of Marriage Act, these candidates went on record and committed to fighting for equality in all sectors of our society. Unfortunately, we have more work to do. The overwhelming majority of the candidates do not support marriage equality. While we heard very strong commitments to civil unions and equality in federal rights and benefits, their reasons for opposing equality in civil marriage tonight became even less clear. ... The next president must be committed to not only doing what's achievable, but also what's right.

Moreover, the four candidates who stated their support for civil unions were reiterating long-held positions. Support for civil unions was a consensus position in the last presidential primary as well, as The Boston Globe reported on April 26, 2003: “Almost all of the Democratic presidential candidates favor allowing gay couples to enter into civil unions.”

The HRC forum was also not the first time that the two candidates who spoke in favor of legal recognition of same-sex marriage -- former Sen. Mike Gravel (AK) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH) -- had articulated this view.

In addition, those who expressed support for repealing the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy -- Edwards, Clinton, and Richardson -- have all done so in the past. The New York Times noted on June 8 that this is also a consensus position for Democratic presidential candidates: “In back-to-back debates in New Hampshire this week, every Democratic candidate raised his or her hand in support of repealing that policy [”Don't Ask, Don't Tell"], while not a single Republican embraced the idea."

Following are examples of the candidates' previous statements regarding same-sex marriage, civil unions, and “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” each of which is consistent with the positions they took during the HRC forum:

Obama

In a statement printed in the March 7, 2004, edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Obama said, “I support civil unions to guarantee basic rights to same-sex couples. I do not believe that federal recognition of same-sex marriage is practical because of strong political and religious resistance.”

On March 6, the Associated Press reported that Clinton's “chief rivals for the Democratic nomination, John Edwards and Barack Obama, also favor repealing” the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.

Edwards

On the December 31, 2006, edition of ABC's This Week, Edwards said: “I think from my perspective it's very easy for me to say, gay civil unions, yes, partnership benefits, yes, but it is something that I struggle with.”

Edwards also addressed “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” on the February 4 edition of NBC's Meet the Press:

TIM RUSSERT (host): Do you believe that openly gay men and women should be able to serve in the military.

EDWARDS: Yes.

RUSSERT: And you would do that as president?

EDWARDS: Absolutely.

Richardson

A December 4, 2003, Boston Globe article reported: “Richardson and the front-running Democratic presidential contenders oppose gay marriage. Instead, they have voiced support for civil unions to give same-sex couples many of the same rights and benefits that are available through marriage.”

On March 16, the AP reported that Richardson said “he would push Congress to repeal military's 'don't ask, don't tell policy' in which gay service members are required to keep their sexual orientation private.”

Clinton

A July 27, 2000, AP article reported that Clinton's bid for U.S. Senate had been endorsed by the Empire State Pride Agenda and the HRC. According to the article, the two organizations “cited for her support of civil unions providing legal recognition for gay couples; for favoring homosexuals being allowed to serve openly in the military; for supporting laws against hate-crimes; and for backing abortion rights.”

Kucinich

At the July 15, 2003, Human Rights Campaign forum, moderator Sam Donaldson asked Kucinich, “Congressman, you support same-sex marriage?” Kucinich responded, “Yes.”

Gravel

In a July 12 Huffington Post blog entry, Gravel wrote, “This week The Advocate praised me for being 'unabashedly pro-gay marriage.' ”

From the August 10 edition of ABC's Good Morning America:

TAPPER: Well, supporters of gay rights had to have been pleased. The politicians treated the group as any with other interest group: They came, they saw, they pandered.

[begin video clip]

TAPPER: The first task for the candidates speaking to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender crowd was to try to relate.

CLINTON: I come to these issues as a friend of a lot of members of the LGBT community.

OBAMA: When you're a black guy named Barack Obama, you know what it's like to be on the outside.

RICHARDSON: I'm Hispanic. I felt the sting as a kid of being stereotyped.

TAPPER: Former Senator John Edwards even reminded folks of his fight with conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who once referred to him using an anti-gay slur.

EDWARDS: I think that what Ann Coulter does is the worst kind of public discourse.

TAPPER: But there was friction. Some of it caused by panelist and musician Melissa Etheridge.

ETHERIDGE: I am not a professional politician. I'm not even a journalist. I'm an incredibly privileged rock star.

TAPPER: Candidates were asked why all but two of them opposed same-sex marriage even though they all support civil unions.

OBAMA: What I'm interested in is making sure that those legal rights are available to people.

RICHARDSON: I'm not there yet. And the country isn't there yet.

TAPPER: And a major theme was disappointment with actions taken by President Clinton.

EDWARDS: “Don't ask, don't tell” is not just wrong now. It was wrong when it began.

ETHERIDGE: We were very, very hopeful. And in the years that followed, our hearts were broken.

CLINTON: If I were sitting where you're sitting, I'm sure I would feel exactly the same way. But I believe there was a lot of honest effort going on.

[end video clip]

TAPPER: It did not seem to be a great night for front-runner Hillary Clinton, who spent much of the night defending actions taken by her husband as the best that could be achieved for gay rights at the time. But, Diane, if anything indicates how much these issues have changed since the 1990s, it's the very fact that this forum was held at all, televised, with all these Democratic heavy hitters showing up.