Gay Marriage Defines Schuette's Reelection Campaign

Bill Schuette launched his campaign for another four-year term as Michigan's Attorney General March 22 at press conferences in several locations across the state. Although he gamely tried to stay focused on his campaign, reporters questions were almost exclusively about gay marriage and Schuette's opposition to it.
"The constitution is not like a buffet line at some restaurant where you can pick and choose which item you might wish," Schuette told reporters. "It doesn't work that way. I took an oath to defend the constitution, and I'm consistent."
His presumed opponent this November is Michigan State University law professor and Democrat Mark Totten who strongly supports same-sex marriage in Michigan.
"I think Bill Schuette has waged a crusade against some of Michigan's most vulnerable children," Totten told BTL. "He's argued from the beginning of this case that the kids at the center of this trial would be better off as orphans than with two gay parents. That's wrong, and it violates the U.S. Constitution and its commitment to equal protection under the law."
Totten began his legal career in Washington, D.C., where he served in the U.S. Department of Justice. He later clerked for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where he advised on critical national security cases winding through the courts in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He lives in Kalamazoo and teaches criminal law and ethics at MSU.
For more information about Mark Totten and his campaign to unseat Bill Schuette go to http://www.marktotten.com.