Empirical knowledge is very important to any President. Before there was the law of gravity there was observation (empirical knowledge) of the event; as people saw objects fall.
A President can't live in denial of the world that surrounds him or her. A President, even if not spoken, has to know there are citizens deserving of their rights when they were born in the USA. It isn't necessary to rattle social content to the roots in order to demonstrate that knowledge, but, as Guy Raz (below in article) stated the former Governor's view of GLBT rights has changed over the years.
If I were to compare the evolution of President Obama's awareness of that of Romney in the same time frame I would see President Obama as embracing American values where Mr. Romney embraces Right Wing Religious Dictates. That is not Presidential. A true President involved with a nation of people would not err on the side of the majority, so much as protect the minority. It is a characteristic dominant in the thinking of the Right Wing in the Supreme Court. They, unlike the Burger Court, find no reason to protect anyone from their demands of the Commerce Clause of the USA Constitution. I find Mr. Romney's speaking engagement offensive and extremist at a time when he is suppose to be a nomination for President of the USA.
May 12, 2012
...Speaking at Liberty University (click here) in Lynchburg, Va., on Saturday, Romney finally spoke out. "Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman," he said to a cheering crowd of students who have to follow a strict code of conduct that considers sex out of wedlock and homosexuality to be sins.
Despite earlier avoidance of the issue, Romney might be forced to draw a clear contrast when it comes to all gay issues because of Obama's position.
One group watching Romney's position carefully is the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that advocates for equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians. Rich Tafel, who founded the national office, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz that Romney's position on gay issues has shifted over the years.
"Certainly when he was running for Senate in Massachusetts in 1994, he really made a case to Log Cabin Republicans that he would be even better than Sen. Kennedy," Tafel says. Romney basically made the pitch, he says, that he's a businessman who has never discriminated against gay people, that he has no problem with gays and he'd be a supporter if he were in the Senate....
