Obama courts youth vote during town-hall meeting

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Challenged sternly on his economic and social agenda, President Barack Obama on Thursday defended his commitment to ending the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military, telling an audience of young adults that the policy will “end on my watch.”

Obama’s stance came on the same day the Justice Department asked a federal judge in California to allow the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” on gays to continue while department lawyers appeal the judge’s ruling that the policy must cease immediately. Obama’s administration says such a sudden change could irreparably harm the government.

Against that backdrop, Obama sought to assure at a town hall meeting Thursday that he still strongly opposes the policy, but that it must be ended in an orderly way in a time of war.

He was challenged by a Howard University faculty member who questioned his “alleged commitment to equality for all Americans — gay and straight.”

One man questioned the effectiveness of the massive economic stimulus plan that Obama endorsed and worried about taxes going up. Obama responded that the stimulus is working — “3 million folks are working now that would not otherwise be working” — and said most people have gotten a tax cut on his watch.