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Audio: “I am Barbara Bush, and I am a New Yorker for marriage equality. New York is about fairness and equality. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love. Join us.”
Her support is not overly surprising as Barbara has shown that her political beliefs aren't exactly in line with her dad's in the past. She supported Obama's Health Care plan. More over, she attended a fundraiser last September for the pro-freedom to marry American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) in New York City.
Of course, Barbara Bush isn't the first political child to come out and support something that was in rather stark contrast to that of their parents. In fact, there must be something about being the child of a President that makes children more likely to go the other way.
Take for example Patti Davis, President Reagan's daughter who uses her mom Nancy's maiden name. She was "the most rebellious of the three kids -- she was vocally pro-choice, anti-nuke and even posed nude for Playboy."
And then there's Julie Nixon Eisenhower, youngest of Nixon's daughters, who -- gasp -- supported Obama in 2008.
So, it's not really like Barbara Bush is the first to do something or support something that her political parent(s) wouldn't have or might not approve of. In fact, I found it more shocking (in a good way) Laura Bush, G-Dub's wife, supported equal rights for same sex partners. And then there was the mother-daughter pairing of Cindy and Meghan McCain for the NOH8 campaign.
Barbara's PSA has made some waves in the blogosphere, of course. All sorts of various topics are being discussed regarding her support.
- Gabby Babble thinks the Bush parents should be proud of their daughter.
- Adam Brink at the Prop 8 Trial Tracker thinks the importance of Bush's support is less based on who she is and more based on the next generation understanding that "equality knows no party lines."
- Amy Graff at the Babycenter blog admitted to previously snarking the twins and talks about how her father once said he'd "disown" her if she disagreed with him regarding politics.
- The Huffington Post points out that Barbara Bush has been pretty quiet about politics in the past, making her support all the more meaningful.
All of this talk about Barbara Bush disagreeing with her dad -- or, as politics and presidencies are involved, "dissenting" from the Republican party -- got me thinking. How many times have I (or you) blogged about something -- political or otherwise -- that my parents, in-laws, friends or other relatives totally disagreed with? Or, have we shied away as bloggers from writing about something we're passionate about because our mom reads? Or grandma? Or sister-in-law? Or Crazy Aunt Betty?
During the 2008 Presidential Election, I regularly received forwards about politics from various members of my family, both the one I was born into and the one I married into. I hold different political beliefs than both sets of family members, save for a (blessed!) few. I deleted them all, but they just kept coming. Eventually, I posted a banner on my blog for the candidate whom I was supporting and, later in the election process, shared a post or three as to why we were voting that way. It took a few days but the emails
