Posted on 10/18/2004 5:47:40 AM PDT by Michael Goldsberry
WASHINGTON - Gay marriage is emerging as a big enough issue in several states to influence races both for Congress and the presidency.
Ballot initiatives on banning same-sex marriages are expected to propel social conservatives to the polls in 11 states, including four presidential battlegrounds: Arkansas, Ohio, Michigan and Oregon.
The topic also is a prominent issue in Oklahoma, South Dakota and North and South Carolina, all states with close Senate contests.
An independent group has run an ad in South Dakota, where Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is in a tight race, saying Daschle "refuses to protect marriage; he would let liberal activist judges redefine it."
In Arkansas, GOP state Sen. Jim Holt has made homosexual marriage the central theme of his longshot campaign against Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (news, bio, voting record). It's not the only issue, he said, "but it is the most important issue, I believe, in America."
President Bush (news - web sites), in the final presidential debate, reiterated his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, saying he was concerned that, otherwise, "activist judges" would rewrite the definition of marriage.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) expressed the view of many in his party after a narrow ruling by the supreme court in his home state of Massachusetts a year ago legalized same-sex marriage gave Republicans a new issue to activate their base.
Kerry said he supports the right of homosexuals to form civil unions. He opposes same-sex marriage, but also is against a constitutional amendment that would ban it. States should determine marriage laws, he said.
The nuances of that stance are often lost in 30-second TV ads and campaign literature suggesting that Democrats, by opposing a constitutional amendment, are clearing a path for gay marriage.
That was the message in a Republican National Committee (news - web sites) mailer sent to voters in Arkansas and West Virginia, with a picture of a man placing a ring on the hand of another man. It said a failure to vote would open the way for liberals to ban the Bible and allow same-sex marriage.
"The people who put this out (are) taking West Virginians to be gullible, ignorant fools," Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., told an interfaith group in his state.
But Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, said defense of marriage transcends even abortion as a social issue this year because it concerns a spectrum of voters well beyond social conservatives. "Christians are going to turn out more than they did last time," she predicted.
Peter Sprigg, senior director of policy studies at the Family Research Council, said his group also hopes "there will be a strong turnout of people with strong family values."
Sprigg stressed that the referendums in the 11 states derived from court rulings and were not "cooked up as a tool to help re-elect the president."
Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian support group, saw it differently, saying it was "no coincidence" that in states where races are tight, "we're seeing the ramping up of the issue with billboards and flyers."
The Family Research Council and other conservative groups are putting out scorecards to inform voters how their representatives and senators voted on proposed constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage that were rejected in both the House and Senate this year.
In North Dakota, Mike Liffrig, in an uphill race against Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), attacks Dorgan over his constitutional amendment vote using an ad showing two tuxedo-wearing men moving in for a kiss.
In North Carolina, Rep. Richard Burr (news, bio, voting record), in a tight Senate race with Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, cited Bowles' opposition to a constitutional amendment in an ad that said "it's a shame Erskine Bowles doesn't have the courage to stand up for traditional marriage."
Gay rights in general has cropped up in several other close senatorial races.
Former Rep. Tom Coburn, the Republican candidate in Oklahoma, sparked a controversy when he warned of "rampant" lesbianism in some Oklahoma schools. GOP Rep. Jim DeMint (news, bio, voting record), running for the Senate in South Carolina, caused a stir by saying that openly gay people and unwed, pregnant women should be barred from teaching in public schools.
Gay rights groups say Bush and others could be making a mistake by courting his conservative base and ignoring moderate swing voters.
Patrick Guerriero, head of the gay Log Cabin Republicans (news - web sites), a group that has withheld its endorsement of Bush over the marriage issue, told the Republican National Committee that "appealing to people's anti-gay animus as a campaign strategy betrays the (inclusive) legacy of President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites)."
In using a divisive issue such as gay marriage, said the Human Rights Campaign's Jacques, "you don't know who you are offending. There's no way of knowing what the backlash is."
And we should listen to those who want to destroy what we stand for because....
And male to male homosexual sex in the human sewer system is simply a normal facet of everyday humping.
nothing gay about it.
This kind of pisses me off.
I'm amazed at the turnout when these gay marriage ammendment issues are on the ballot.
These people should be voting EVERY SINGLE YEAR!! GOP would hold a monopoly on the entire country if these people came out and voted in every single local, state, and national race!.
We can only pray that there is not another October surprise which will turn these people off. I am optimistic that the religious march on Washington in the next few days will help solidify W's support nationwide.
Public opinion might be slowly, slowly swinging around but it has a long way to go. If this was decided in the legislature or by referendum I would say "the people have spoken" and leave it at that. But this whole, in-your-face collusion between a handful of activist judges and well-heeled, elitist lobbying groups--with a few punk, renegade mayors adding insult to injury--makes this here tiny sample of the body politic want to push back, hard.
this is another bush hates gay ppl article.
the evil neocons are gonna kill the gays...muahahahaha.
gimme a break.
The polls show that over 70% of the population want to preserve marriage as being between one man and one woman. At 70% I would say that more than just conservatives are motivated.
Follow up..
Why don't we just put EVERY ISSUE on the ballot. That would destroy the Dims.
"Do you vote yes or no, to increase your federal tax bill by 5%."
Nah, the only people appealing to the gay marriage animus are the liberals who are trying to motivate their liberal base.
The conservative base doesn't care so much about the gay marriage issue because:
1) we already have a law on the books
2) we are a majority (most of the country is opposed to gay marriage)
3) the gay marriage issue is one of preventing judicial activism
4) the morality of gay marriage is no different than the morality of gay relationships. "Not in my house, not in my church." In other words, be discrete, and we'll leave you alone.
5) marriage is between a man and woman, and the only marriage i recognize is such. but if two gay people want to go stand under a tree and declare their love, that's their business... as long as it isn't my tree.
6) gay people are not otherwise deprived of any rights, nor taxed any differently than other single, straight, and unmarried Americans
This is the non-issue of the year if gay marriage is the issue. The issue is, and always has been, preventing activist judges from legislating for the minority from the bench.
"RINOS say Bush and others could be making a mistake by courting his conservative base and ignoring moderate swing voters."
Nice to know who the RINOS are part and parcel with.
Josh,
See my post #13.
no dems
i DO hope you are right....and I hope you put in a GOP governor in MO!
It is so sweet of those guys to worry about the fate of Republican candidates....
It will be hard to beat the 110% rate of voter turnout they already have in some of those districts.
This issue reminds me of the 55 MPH speed limit.
Only this time, the stupid party (Republicans)
is on the winning side.
We need to expand, and keep this issue
around indefinitely.
...for issues.
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