Update: Ellen DeGeneres Lectures John McCain on Gay Marriage

John McCain just appeared 'Ellen' aka 'The Ellen Degeneres Show'. After a  questions about his age where he quoted Reagan's 'youth and inexperience' line and another that Ive already forgotten, Ellen asked McCain what he thought about the  California Supreme Court decision that would allow her to get married.

McCain replies that he supports peoples rights to enter contracts, but that he supports the natural, traditional marriage between man and woman, and never quite manages to look Ellen in the eye.

Ellen forcefully but respectfully, and looking him directly in the eyes, says that her love is no different than any other persons love. She makes the comparison to blacks and women not being allowed to vote, and then goes on to say that saying 'contracts' vs marriage is kind of like saying 'you can sit back there but not up here'.

McCain then states that she has stated her opinion well, but that he disagrees. He then goes on to answer two questions from the audience, where he seems very uncomfortable and rambles without ever answering the questions. After the commercial break McCain is gone, and this seems to have surprised Ellen as she seemed to think he would be doing another segment.

If anyone can link some video or a transcript, I will add it ASAP.

Update: Link w/ Video

   

McCAIN: Well, my thoughts are that I think people should be able to enter into legal agreements, and I think that is something that we should encourage, particularly in the case of insurance and other areas, decisions that have to be made. I just believe in the unique status of marriage between man and woman. And I know that we have a respectful disagreement on that issue.

   DEGENERES: Yeah, I mean, I think that it is looked at, and some people are saying that blacks and women did not have the right to vote. Women just got the right to vote in 1920, blacks didn’t have the right to vote until 1870, and it just feels like there’s this old way of thinking that we’re not all the same. We are all the same people. All of us. You’re no different than I am. Our love is the same."

ThinkProgress takes a look @ McCains past stances on the subject:

Even this stance may have been pandering to Ellen’s audience. In the past, McCain has been even more radically conservative, opposing civil unions:

   – In 2005, he supported an Arizona amendment that would change the state’s constitution "to ban gay marriages and deny government benefits to unmarried couples."
   – On Nov. 19, 2006, ABC’s George Stephanopoulous asked McCain, "So you’re for civil unions?" McCain replied, "No." He instead said they should be able to only "enter into contracts" and "exchange powers of attorney."

   – In 2007, McCain said he was opposed to New Hampshire’s bill legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples. "If I were a citizen of New Hampshire, I would oppose it," he said. "Anything that impinges or impacts the sanctity of the marriage between men and women, I’m opposed to it."