July 18, 2004
TAKE THE NORTHEAST BACK (via David Hill, The Bronx):
On trail, Bush stays close to right wing (Anne E. Kornblut and Susan Milligan, July 18, 2004, Boston Globe)
As Senate Republicans began accelerating the debate over gay marriage last month, President Bush got a warning about the potential for political fallout. Representative Charles Bass of New Hampshire, sharing a ride on Air Force One, told Bush to ''back off this gay marriage thing, that it was going to be devastating for him in the Northeast," where voters have a famously libertarian streak.''I don't think they actively support gay marriage, but they have a subliminal distrust for government establishing a moral code for people's lives," Bass, a Republican, recalled telling Bush.
In response, Bass said, Bush ''looked at me like I was crazy." The president ignored the advice and actively supported a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that was defeated in the Senate last week.
Mr. Bass is a nice guy but could hardly be more wrong--Vermont became a Republican state again after its civil union fiasco. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 18, 2004 5:39 PM
A large group of bloggers and regular media were calling the vote down of the FMA a huge defeat for the GOP and the right. Others who believe the vote clarified the lines between the GOP and Dems claim it was a victory for the GOP.
Posted by: AWW at July 18, 2004 8:32 PMThe identification of the Democrats with the gay activists and the GOP with more traditional values can't possibly hurt Republicans.
Posted by: oj at July 18, 2004 8:48 PMThough the media would never believe, there are supporters of the FMA who don't view it as primarily as a campaign issue. One helpful aspect of bringing it to a vote in the wake of the Massachusetts decision is to smoke out the opposition. Opponents were uniform in arguing that the FMA wasn't needed because the Full Faith and Credit Clause won't require recalcitrant states to allow homosexual marriage. When a federal court rules that the FFCC overides the objections of a state, and/or rules that the U.S. Equal Protection Clause requires homosexual marriage (keep in mind that all of these state equal protection clauses are worded identically the 14th Amendment), then a big I-told-you-so will mushroom into 70+ votes in the Senate.
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at July 18, 2004 10:30 PMVt. Republican?
Posted by: genecis at July 19, 2004 10:03 AM