Newark Mayor Cory Booker has said the
election won't turn on gay marriage.
Booker questioned whether the inclusion
of a gay marriage plank in the 2012 Democratic Party platform would
effect the outcome of the election.
Last week, the Democratic platform
committee unanimously approved the platform drafting committee's
proposed language drawn up last month in Minneapolis. Democrats
meeting in Charlotte on September 3 will ratify the platform.
The plank, titled Freedom to Marry,
calls for “equal respect, responsibilities and protections under
the law” for all families. It also calls for passage of the
Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA), the 1996 law which forbids federal agencies from
recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
Booker, who is co-chairman of the
platform committee and a strong supporter of gay rights, called the
milestone inclusion of a gay marriage plank important but stressed
that the election would be based on the economy.
“At the end of the day it'll maybe
repel some and attract others to be more engaged,” Booker
told the AP. “This campaign is not going to turn on gay
marriage. This campaign is going to turn on who has the best ideas
for the economy.”