Christie on Same-Sex Marriage: "I Have the Same Exact Position as the President"

Daniel Doherty | February 23, 2012 3:34 PM

On Thursday morning, Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to discuss a range of topics including Bruce Springsteen, same-sex marriage, and the Arizona GOP debate.

The most fascinating part of this discussion, however, was learning that Governor Christie and President Obama have the same exact position regarding same-sex marriage. Although Democrats refuse to highlight this unsavory fact, the president in effect opposes gay marriage for a number of different reasons. To be sure, President Obama is a strong advocate for equal rights under the law and civil unions -- as is Governor Christie -- but has yet to come out and state unequivocally that he supports gay marriage. So why, then, is Chris Christie the only one being demonized as a bigot? As expected, it seems to me that there is a gross double standard at play here that is clearly benefitting (and will only benefit), the president and his acolytes.

Perhaps above all, though, Christie debunks the liberal charge that his feet are firmly established on the “wrong side of justice” for vetoing a bill that would legalize gay marriage. In fact, while Christie has stated publicly that he personally believes the institution of marriage should be defined as a union between one man and one woman – he supports a public referendum in the Garden State. This, in effect, would give New Jerseyans an opportunity to decide whether or not same-sex marriage should be legalized. The problem, however, is that Democrats are growing increasingly skittish, insisting that marriage is a “civil rights issue,” and therefore shouldn’t be subjected to a public referendum. The reason, indeed, is because in spite of howls from the Left that New Jerseyans overwhelming support gay marriage, this might not actually be the case.