Audio: Bill Clinton speaks out against Amendment One
The former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, has spoken out against North Carolina’s Amendment One, as the state goes to the polls tomorrow morning.
His statement is being sent out on a robo-call, which is estimated to reach about 500,000 voters.
The message is seen as a tactical approach to the issue, as it does not even mention the word ‘gay’ once. Rather, Mr Clinton says it will affect the state’s “ability to keep good businesses, attract new job, and attract and keep talented entrepreneurs.”
He adds that the amendment, which outlaws all legal protection and benefits for couples outside heterosexual marriage, would gravely affect children, and prevent women from seeking help under domestic abuse. This amendment is not about keeping the definition of marriage, he says, and refers to the fact that North Carolina already has an addendum that bans equal marriage.
Meanwhile, those who want to push the amendment have taken out a full-page ad in most of the newspapers in the state. According to the latest polls, North Carolina looks set to pass the amendment by a margin of 14%.
The fight has become extremely important to the Democrats, as the city of Charlotte will host the Democratic National Convention this summer. Two leading democrats, the vice-president Joe Biden, and the education secretary Arne Duncan, have now come out in support of equal marriage, though President Obama himself has yet to state his position on the issue, other than declaring they were still “evolving.”
