24 February 2004

Defense of Marriage

GWB just threw down the glove with his public support of a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The real question is whether Kerry will pick it up or not. So far he's waffled on the issue, backing gay civil-unions but not gay marriage, which I consider a non-answer. I hope that the increased media heat will force him to make stand one way or the other, but something tells me he'll try to escape with his so-called "compromise" position.



I think W made a strong move here (speaking totally from the perspective of him getting elected and with no regard whatsoever to my own feelings on the topic itself); he throws a bone to his hard core constituents, alienates only those people who already hate him and forces his opponent to take a stance on an inflammatory issue. If Kerry opposes the amendment he'll offend a lot of middle-of-the-road Americans who are creeped out by the idea of same-sex marriage, but if he supports it, he'll be vilified by the liberals. I'm curious to see how he handles it.



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