Same-sex marriage has little support among Indiana campaign leaders

It started with a domino effect.

President Barack Obama affirmed his personal support for same-sex marriage May 9, live on national television.

What ensued soon after the president’s, as ABC’s Diane Sawyer described, “historic, political and cultural” decision, was a multitude of political figures, celebrities and officials rushing to make their views known, thus launching the hot-button issue back in the spotlight.

Mike O’Brien, chairperson of the Hendricks County Republican Party, said the issue of same-sex marriage is beginning to manifest itself as more of a “generational value” topic versus that of a party identity.

“My assumption has always been (that the) younger generations inherit positions of leadership,” O’Brien said. “As a 32-year-old conservative, I have a hard time explaining why my government needs to come in and set two sets of standards.”

Political analyst and journalist Brian Howey said he agrees.

“I really do think there is a generation shift,” Howey said. “Here’s a Republican chairman. He’s 32 years old, not really that big of a deal (among) younger Republicans. (O’Brien is) one of the up-and-comers of the Republican party.”

The political climate in Indiana has recently been stirring around that of the upcoming gubernatorial November election, as well as campaign initiatives for the 2014 state senate elections.

As a GOP and tea-party-backed United States Senate candidate, Richard Mourdock has recently been subjected to television advertisements labeling him as an “extremist.”

“You never compromise on principles,” Mourdock told CNN. “If people on the far left have a principle they want to stand by, they should never compromise. Those of us on the right should not either. Compromise may come in the finer details of a plan or a budget. But the real principles that I’ve mentioned about having government rolled back in size, lowering taxes, those things are the principles that caused me to get in this race.”

Running against Mourdock as the Democratic candidate is Congressman Joe Donnelly. Meghan Kaler, press secretary for Donnelly, said Donnelly intends to uphold the traditional concept of marriage.

“Congressman Donnelly has a long-held personal belief that marriage is between a man and a woman,” she said. “He believes that each state should decide this issue and is opposed to an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

Bob “Citizen” Kern said it was his plan from the beginning to run for U.S. senate.
Kern has now redirected energy and efforts toward his campaign for U.S. Senate after losing the race for the U.S. House, representing Indiana’s seventh district.

Kern is now running as an Independent, though he ran as a Democrat in previous elections.

“(The elections are) not set up for the people, they’re set up for the two-party system,” Kern said. “My allegiance is not to the Democratic Party, and it wouldn’t be to the Republican Party, either. My allegiance is to the people I plan to serve. It’s all about serving. Everyone else has their own agenda.”

Kern asserted that even though he said he was convicted of felony charges for forgery and theft in 2007, this is not indicative of his ability to run for office.

Kern said he is a homosexual but does not practice the lifestyle.

“Who am I to dictate?” Kern said. “Everybody needs somebody to love and to care about, and that’s how I see it. I don’t agree with Obama (making the announcement). I don’t know if he’s trying to get votes.”

Contrary to President Obama’s “evolution,” both the GOP and Democratic gubernatorial candidates, Mike Pence and John Gregg, have expressed opposition in regard to same-sex marriage.

“Mike Pence believes that marriage should be defined as the union between one man and one woman and will continue to support efforts to defend traditional marriage in Indiana,” said Christy Denault, spokesperson for Mike Pence for Indiana.

In terms of the governor’s race, Howey said Pence has spent most of his campaign discussing jobs and is “very popular among evangelical Republicans.”

“I’ve been watching Mike Pence with great interest,” Howey said.

Howey also said he believes that 80 to 90 percent of Pence’s campaign revolves around issues such as jobs and the economy.

Megan Jacobs, Gregg’s campaign spokesperson, said Gregg believes too much time is being spent on attempting to legislate social issues. Jacobs indicated that Gregg has, however, expressed interest in legislating anti-discrimination laws in the workplace and that Indiana is one of five states without such laws.

“Well, it’s pretty simple,” Jacobs said. “He believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman. He does not support gay marriage. At the same time, he believes everyone should be treated with respect.”