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| Romney and gay veteran Bob Garon |
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney got more than he bargained for when he saw two older gentlemen in a booth at the restaurant, and then invited himself to sit down for a quick campaign chat. The man Romney slid next to in the booth, Bob Garon, was dressed in a red flannel shirt and a Vietnam vet baseball cap. The fellow seated across from them was Bob Lemire, who we can only imagine to Mitt's surprise, was Bob Garon's legal husband.
Garon, who did in fact serve in Vietnam in the 1960s, wedded Lemire in New Hampshire where gay marriage is legal. When Mitt Romney sat down at his four-top booth, Garon took full advantage of finally having a "seat at the table," posing several questions to Romney about his stance on gay marriage and a gay spouse's eligibility for veteran's benefits.
You've probably read about this encounter already, but if you're interested, you can find the full text of their conversation here, or watch a video clip of their interaction here.
Romney deserves some credit for how he managed himself in this situation once he realized where the conversation was headed. He didn't quickly slink away to the next table as Michele Bachmann might have done (for fear of gay cooties, no doubt), he didn't cut Garon off in mid-sentence as Newt Gingrich might have done, and he didn't duck Bob Garon's very pointed questions about gay marriage. In fact, Romney gave concise and straightforward answers, even though they weren't the answers he knew Garon wanted to hear. Of course, knowing his response was completely in line with what his Republican base would want to hear probably made being "direct" a little easier for Romney. Still, I give him credit for not pacifying "the Bobs" on the spot.
