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Tulsi Gabbard's Leftward Journey
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Candidate
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| Contributor | karin1492 |
| Last Edited | karin1492 Aug 06, 2012 04:20pm |
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| Category | Profile |
| News Date | Monday, August 6, 2012 10:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "Gabbard" is a loaded name in Hawaii politics, synonymous with steadfast socially conservative views.
State Sen. Mike Gabbard has led the charge against same-sex marriage in the state for two decades. His 30-year-old City Council member daughter, Tulsi, long shared his stances against abortion rights and in favor of a constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to being between one man and one woman.
So when Tulsi Gabbard received a glowing endorsement from the progressive reproductive rights group EMILY's List in her 2012 campaign for Congress, plenty of people had some version of this reaction: Huh?
Tulsi is among the candidates seeking to replace Rep. Mazie Hirono, arguably Hawaii's most liberal congressional delegate. In the same way that it helps to be a Democratic candidate in solidly blue Hawaii, one could argue that it helps to lean far left in Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District. Sure, the more moderate Rep. Ed Case held the seat for five years before Hirono, but he succeeded Congresswoman Patsy Mink, a liberal legend in progressive circles.
But Tulsi says her transformation has nothing to do with politics.
In recent years, Tulsi has undergone what she describes as a "gradual metamorphosis" on social issues. She says her transformation was spurred by spending time in countries governed by oppressive regimes during deployments to the Middle East as a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard.
"Some of these experiences living and working in oppressive countries, not only witnessing firsthand but actually experiencing myself what happens when a government basically attempts to act as a moral arbiter," Gabbard said. "It really caused me to take a look at myself and the way we're doing things here at home, locally, and nationally."
Today, she says she is pro-choice and would fight to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
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