JUNE 29, 2015
The GOP today was on the verge of returning to the store what could have been a very valuable gift handed them by the Supreme Court. Friday’s ruling on marriage equality would seem to have given the Republican field a way to gracefully get the thorny issue of same-sex marriage off the table.
The general political consensus is that the GOP position — marriage can only be between one man and one woman — is a loser for them, particularly among Republican millennials, who overwhelmingly back same-sex marriage. The Court, however, has given an easy way out — simply state “I disagree with the Court’s position, but it is now the law of the land. I will focus my attention on preserving religious liberty for those who disagree.” Simple, positive, on-message.
Jeb Bush saw the wisdom of that and took that approach. So did Marco Rubio. And Lindsey Graham, And Carly Fiorina. And even Dr. Ben “Prison-Makes-You-Gay” Carson saw the light and moved on. Problem solved.
Not so fast.
“Today, it’s some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history.”
– Sen Ted Cruz speaking with Sean Hannity
Really, Ted? Worse than 9/11? Pearl Harbor? Sarah Palin?
“I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch. We must resist and reject judicial tyranny, not retreat.”
— Gov. Mike Huckabee
Isn’t it funny that some of biggest anti-gay crusaders are some of the biggest drama queens? Sheesh. I liked Huckabee better in 2008 when he was wacky Uncle Mike, who acted like your right-wing relative who is determined against his will to get along with everybody this Thanksgiving. But this time, he’s that same Uncle Mike after his seventh bottle of Rolling Rock. Not pretty.
“As a result of this decision, the only alternative left for the American people is to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reaffirm the ability of the states to continue to define marriage.”
— Gov. Scott Walker
Scotty must be worried about his right-wing credentials being questioned, because until now, he’s been one of the more non-vitriolic GOP contenders. Governor, in a country which, according to most polls, marriage equality has a 60+% approval rate, do you really think it’s worth wasting your time on an anti-gay ploy that would require approval from 2/3 of the Congress and a full 3/4 of the states? If you do, good luck with that.
When handed the opportunity to quietly remove a losing issue from the plate, these Republicans stamp their feet and refuse that gift and thus are jeopardizing the electoral fortunes of the very party of which they’re trying to lead.
