A Mitt Romney surrogate has expanded on
her remarks that the Republican presidential candidate no longer
supports a constitutional amendment which would exclude gay and
lesbian couples from marriage.
Gay glossy The Advocate quoted
Romney campaign senior adviser Bay Buchanan, sister of conservative
Pat Buchanan, as saying that Romney “would not get in the way of
what states decide to do on marriage and adoption” as it relates to
gay couples.
Romney has previously stated his
support for a constitutional amendment which would define marriage as
a heterosexual union. Such an amendment would create a single
nationwide ban that not even the Supreme Court could strike down, and
would make void the marriages of gay couples.
“He very much supports traditional
marriage, but he's also a very strong advocate for the Tenth
Amendment,” she
told the magazine's website. “It's a state issue.”
Buchanan backtracked two days later in
a statement issued to BuzzFeed.
“Governor Romney supports a federal
marriage amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as an
institution between a man and a woman,” she
said. “Governor Romney also believes, consistent with the 10th
Amendment, that it should be left to states to decide whether to
grant same-sex couples certain benefits, such as hospital visitation
rights and the ability to adopt children. I referred to the Tenth
Amendment only when speaking about these kinds of benefits – not
marriage.”
The Washington Post called it
encouraging that Romney didn't address the comments personally.
“If Romney wanted greater attention
for such a principled stand, you better believe he would have been
out front,” the
paper wrote.
The incident also caught the attention
of AmericaBlog.com's John Aravosis, who had a different take.
“The man is pathetic,” Aravosis
opined. “[B]ecause the religious right clearly yelled at him
behind closed doors, Romney flip-flops again and supports the
amendment all over again.”