The fracas surrounding Del. Sam Arora continues. Sam, you may recall, is the delegate who was ardently for same-sex marriage before he was against it before he was for it before he, well, you get the idea. As the Gazette reported, two openly gay and lesbian legislators ripped Sam for his actions during the session.
Sen. Rich Madaleno:
"I think Sam Arora distinguished himself as someone not to be trusted, and I don't think he will have a long career in the House of Delegates," said Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, the Senate's only openly homosexual member." . . .Del. Anne Kaiser:
"When you co-sponsor a bill where the lead sponsor is the majority leader from your county who worked very hard to get you elected and you change your mind on the day of the vote, you damage, potentially fatally damage, your credibility," he said, referencing the bill's lead sponsor, House Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve (D-Dist. 17) of Gaithersburg.
Going forward, that could impact Arora's ability to get things done for his district, Madaleno said.
"For me, I will always have a doubt when he makes a commitment on any issue whether or not I can trust that commitment," he said.
"I think it's definitely true that Sam hurt his reputation within the legislature and potentially within his district," she said, noting that her parents and other family members and friends supportive of the bill who live in Arora's district felt betrayed. "The sense was, ‘What is he going to back out on next?' His word was damaged."However, Del. Ben Kramer--Sam Arora's colleague in District 19--attacked Sen. Madaleno for his comments:
"I do think that Sen. Madaleno saying that in a public forum was inappropriate and unnecessary," he said. "I can understand that Sen. Madaleno has a perspective based on a particular issue, but I don't think that it is accurate or reflective of Del. Arora's abilities or potential in the legislature."So I guess Sen. Madaleno is really just overwrought and too sensitive? Or was it just bad form for another member of the club to call out Del. Arora for turning his back on his constituents and colleagues after campaigning for same-sex marriage, trumpeting his sponsorship of the bill to constituents, and telling colleagues he was for the bill just two days before the vote?
Meanwhile, Del. Kathleen Dumais--the floor leader for the bill--apologized for Sam:
Del. Kathleen M. Dumais said Arora handled the matter appropriately by discussing his dilemma with committee and chamber leaders.Sam has moved on to extent of declaring same-sex marriage a relatively unimportant issue in a written statement:
"That gave us all the opportunity to talk him through [it]," she said. "I think that gives him credibility as opposed to not."
Dumais (D-Dist. 15) of Bethesda, who is vice chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee, believes Arora eventually has to tell constituents what led him to reconsider his stance. But she noted that such re-evaluation is not uncommon, particularly on emotionally charged issues.
"When we sit in committee and listen to hours of hours of hours of testimony on these tough issues, it gives you a different perspective than when you're out on the campaign trail and these things sound wonderful," she said.
"Every day I'm honored to work for the people of my district by working to protect education funding and make our communities safer," he wrote in the statement. "With all due respect to Senator Madeleno [sic], I'm finding the folks in my community are less concerned about Annapolis politics and more concerned with issues like caring for our seniors and improving Pepco."Again, recall that this is a man who proudly campaigned on his support for same-sex marriage, took campaign donations on that basis, and then touted his sponsorship of the bill to constituents. And note that there is nothing on his current position on same-sex marriage.
4 comments:
If Mr. Arora wishes to show moral leadership on PEPCO, which has proved itself an ethically challenged and morally bankrupt operation, then so be it. As long as Montgomery County's legislators are proactively seeking leadership as representatives of the richest, most populous county in the state, we should be proud of them. Mr. Arora might very well need to explain his position on same-sex marriages to his constituents, but he has three more legislative sessions after this one, so let's wait and see what this promising young leader has to offer our society and his district.
-Hamza Khan
District 15
I think that Rich Madaleno's comments were appropriate.
But since I do not know Sam Arora, I am reluctant to treat him as permanently beyond the pale. I am operating on the assumption that his initial support for civil marriage equality was sincere, but then he got a lot of blowback from the church community of which he is a member -- and that blowback made him reconsider his public position.
If my assumption is correct, then what Del. Arora needs to do is to think long and hard about whether the church blowback has persuaded him that his initial position was a mistake. And if he thinks it was a mistake, he has an obligation to Rich Madaleno and all the rest of us -- both gay and straight -- who support civil marriage equality to explain precisely why he now thinks that it may be immoral for gay couples to have civil marriage equality. This is something, I submit, that it is impossible to do. Theology is not co-extensive with morality. If he concludes that he personally opposes civil marriage equality for solely for theological reasons, then, as a legislator, he must square his view with the First Amendment, establishing a separation of church and state.
It may take courage to take a legislative position that is at odds with the theological views of one's church. But when it comes to fair treatment of all our citizens, those theological views cannot take precedence over fairness in public policy. If Delegate Arora, away from the heat of his first legislative session, goes through this sort of thought process, he may well conclude that his waffling was in error. If so, we should welcome him back to the fold. He is young, and hopefully he will learn from his mistakes. He would not be the first aspiring politician to do so.
A lot of Sam Arora's constituents here are really rather conservative and religious, especially the Spanish-speaking ones. I imagine that they put a lot of pressure on him over this issue.
Senator Madaleno's comments were entirely appropriate.
Mr. Arora defrauded the voters of his district by campaigning extensively in support of same sex marriage, only to turn his back on that issue when it came time to cast his vote.
While I don't live in his district (just outside of it), I know several of my friends that do, and they look forward to the opportunity to cast their votes against Mr. Arora at any opportunity.
Mr. Arora betrayed those that supported him and should and will be held accountable.
I for one find it refreshing that Senator Madaleno is willing to do so publicly instead of doing the normal political doublespeak.
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