Qball
Corner Pocket
I know that gay marriage now polls at 55% and whatnot, and some conservatives think in order to win another national election they have to turn the page on gay marriage.
Here's why that's not only not true, but a bad idea.
First of all, notice how there are two separate but parallel narratives with the push for gay marriage. The first one goes "it's only a matter of time until it's nationally legal, so opponents need to drop it because they're on the wrong side of history". The second one goes, "this is about equal rights and gays not being denied their constitutional rights". Hmm.
If it's inevitable and all the young people and smart people agree with it, why does it matter that we see it as a matter of equal rights? It has a majority of support. The people have spoken. They want gay marriage. What's with the need to be Right when you're so sure you're going to Win?
Or...
If it's about equal rights and constitutional rights, why does it matter if the people agree with it or not? If this is about the principles of the Bill of Rights and not denying certain classes of people their right to marry, who cares if it enjoys populist support? Right is right, right?
Methinks supporters are trying to create an aura of support while not placing much faith in either tactic.
Remember something: California voted twice in eight years to define marriage as a man and woman...and yet, it is now legal. In 1996, Congress passed DOMA with bipartisan support and over 2/3 of the states followed suit...and now many of them have legalized SSM and part of DOMA has been struck down.
Few states have shown through popular vote that they agree with same-sex marriage, if any. And yet, because of a few polls, it's now accepted that most Americans support same-sex marriage. What sense does that make?
I think it's clear that the mentality for most supporters entrenched in this fight is something like: If most Americans agree with gay marriage, great, we'll go with that. If not, we're perfectly fine Just Legalizing It Anyway.
And that's why the GOP needs to continue to oppose it. They need to tell the truth. Gay marriage supporters are fine using any means to get what they want, but most Americans have demonstrably shown they disagree with it. Using data without the anticipation of an actual vote to push a narrative shouldn't be just accepted as political wisdom. They need to stop being scared of being booed -- because the bottom line is gays and young people aren't going to vote for a Republican by any wide margin regardless what they say on these issues du jour (i.e. pot legalization, gay marriage, etc) -- and make a principled argument based on the truth.
Here's why that's not only not true, but a bad idea.
First of all, notice how there are two separate but parallel narratives with the push for gay marriage. The first one goes "it's only a matter of time until it's nationally legal, so opponents need to drop it because they're on the wrong side of history". The second one goes, "this is about equal rights and gays not being denied their constitutional rights". Hmm.
If it's inevitable and all the young people and smart people agree with it, why does it matter that we see it as a matter of equal rights? It has a majority of support. The people have spoken. They want gay marriage. What's with the need to be Right when you're so sure you're going to Win?
Or...
If it's about equal rights and constitutional rights, why does it matter if the people agree with it or not? If this is about the principles of the Bill of Rights and not denying certain classes of people their right to marry, who cares if it enjoys populist support? Right is right, right?
Methinks supporters are trying to create an aura of support while not placing much faith in either tactic.
Remember something: California voted twice in eight years to define marriage as a man and woman...and yet, it is now legal. In 1996, Congress passed DOMA with bipartisan support and over 2/3 of the states followed suit...and now many of them have legalized SSM and part of DOMA has been struck down.
Few states have shown through popular vote that they agree with same-sex marriage, if any. And yet, because of a few polls, it's now accepted that most Americans support same-sex marriage. What sense does that make?
I think it's clear that the mentality for most supporters entrenched in this fight is something like: If most Americans agree with gay marriage, great, we'll go with that. If not, we're perfectly fine Just Legalizing It Anyway.
And that's why the GOP needs to continue to oppose it. They need to tell the truth. Gay marriage supporters are fine using any means to get what they want, but most Americans have demonstrably shown they disagree with it. Using data without the anticipation of an actual vote to push a narrative shouldn't be just accepted as political wisdom. They need to stop being scared of being booed -- because the bottom line is gays and young people aren't going to vote for a Republican by any wide margin regardless what they say on these issues du jour (i.e. pot legalization, gay marriage, etc) -- and make a principled argument based on the truth.
