Illinois Republican party chairman Pat Brady “emerged from another ouster attempt” and said his party “must be more welcoming of diversity and inclusive of people who disagree if it’s going to grow and win future elections,” the AP reports.
More conservative members have been trying to oust Brady for months, “largely because he took a position in favor of gay marriage when a bill to legalize it was before the Legislature earlier this year.”
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds support for gay marriage “now stands at 53%, up from 49% last March and 30% in 2004. For the first time, pollsters said, the survey found a majority of independent voters saying gays should be allowed to enter into same-sex marriages, with Democrats continuing to support gay marriage in large numbers and Republicans opposing it.”
Also interesting: “Half of all respondents believe people are born gay, with only 31% saying they choose to be gay. Fifteen years ago, views were split nearly evenly, with 41% saying people are born gay and 38% saying people choose to be gay.”
“Under this law, I am considered a felon. I am not your equal.”
— Montana Rep. Bryce Bennett (D), quoted by the Missoulian, arguing for repeal of a state law that criminalizes gay sex.
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Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) became the latest Democratic senator to embrace gay marriage, the Washington Post reports.
Said Johnson: “After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation. This position doesn’t require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets; it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom.”
The Week looks at the final four Senate Democrats who have not yet indicated their support for same-sex marriage: Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Mark Pryor (D-AR).
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) both announced their support for same-sex
marriage in statements this morning.
The two announcements leave just four Senate Democrats who have
not yet indicated support for marriage equality.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) “has endorsed gay marriage, the latest in a string of lawmakers to change his position on the issue,” the Washington Post reports.
He becomes the 51st senator to announce his support for same-sex marriage.
Patti Davis, daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, told the New York Times that she believes her father would back same-sex marriage if he were alive today.
Said Davis: “All I know is the heart of the man who raised me as my father.”
But Michael Reagan, the late president’s son by a different marriage, told the Washington Post that people shouldn’t be making assumptions about where this father would stand on the issue today.
Said Reagan: “You’d have to ask him… t’s easy to say he would do or not do something when he’s not here to answer.”
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) announced his support for same-sex marriage, becoming the second sitting GOP senator to do so, The Hill reports.
Said Kirk: “Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back — government has no place in the middle.”
Meanwhile, The Hill also reports that Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) said he now supports same-sex marriage, now leaving just seven Senate Democrats who have not publicly voiced support for allowing gays to marry.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) told the Allentown Morning Call that he “had decided over time that the Defense of Marriage Act — the federal law that defines marriage as one man and one woman — should be repealed, and determined that such a belief could not be separate from the overall question of gay marriage.”
Said Casey: “I ultimately decided that to make a decision about DOMA was making a decision about marriage equality itself… It wasn’t until recently that I thought some point this year it will be reintroduced, so that was a question I was asking myself: Can you separate the vote on that [from] the ultimate question on marriage equality? There’s no way to do that.”
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) told KTVK-TV that he does not support gay marriage despite having a gay son.
Said Salmon: “I don’t support gay marriage. My son and I have had a lot of dialogue about it. I will say this: you know, my son is by far one of the most important people in my life. I love him more than I can say.”
He added: “My view is while I don’t believe we should be vitriolic and try to enact harmful policies, by the same token, I’m just not there as far as believing in my heart that we should change 2,000 years of social policy in favor of a redefinition of the family.”
“You may be as straight as an arrow, and you may have a friend that is as straight as an arrow. Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits? I just see so much abuse in this it’s unreal.”
— Georgia Republican Party Chairwoman Sue Everhart, quoted by the Marietta Daily Journal, arguing against same-sex marriage.
“I don’t think you would ever see the Republican Party platform saying we are in favor of same-sex marriage.”
— Former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie, in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
New York Times: “Why did the Supreme Court agree in December to hear a major same-sex marriage case and then seem to think it had made a terrible mistake on Tuesday when it came time for arguments?”
“The answer lies in the gap between two numbers. It takes four votes to hear a case and five to decide one.”
“If nothing else, this week’s arguments provided a telling glimpse into the process through which the court selects its docket, one that is usually shrouded in exceptional secrecy. The arguments also cleared up most of the mystery of whose idea it had been to hear the case, a challenge to Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.”
Wonk Wire: When did same-sex marriage bans become unconstitutional?
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina tells Businessweek that he doesn’t believe that the 2016 GOP presidential nominee will support same-sex marriage.
Said Messina: “Given who their primary electorate is and given the fact that the ABC/Washington Post poll showed that 60 percent of older Republican primary voters still oppose it. I think you will see people talk less about it. But I don’t think they’re showing any signs of moderating.”
“Messina’s analysis runs counter to what many Republican strategists in
Washington are telling reporters–that the GOP will have to evolve on the
issue, as Democrats have done. But this may be wishful thinking on the
part of elite Republicans. The Republican consultant class has always
been more comfortable with gay rights than the party’s base.”
John Fund notes Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) raised a “third way” of looking at the same-sex marriage debate.
“On Meet the Press this month he remarked on how many young people have asked him why the debate is over whether the definition of marriage should be expanded. They think the question is rather ‘why the government is sanctioning it in the first place.’ The alternative would be to ‘not have the government sanction marriage period, and leave that up to the churches and the synagogues and others to define that.'”
While Walker was careful to note his thoughts weren’t “anything I’m advocating for,” he gave voice to many who would like to avoid a culture war over the issue.
Rush Limbaugh said those who oppose same-sex marriage must accept that they’ve “lost the issue.”
Said Limbaugh: “This issue is lost. I don’t care what the Supreme Court does, this is now inevitable — and it’s inevitable because we lost the language on this.”
He added that conservatives “lost the issue when we started allowing the word ‘marriage’ to be bastardized and redefined by simply adding words to it.”
“After the sudden flip of several Senate Democrats from opposition to endorsement of gay marriage this week,” Alex Rogers notes “the stampede may have come to an end, leaving a handful of holdouts in states where opinion still lags the national trend.”
Just nine Senate Democrats remain in opposition, a core group that includes some of the party’s most socially conservative members: Joe Manchin (WV), Mark Pryor (AR), Bob Casey (PA), Bill Nelson (FL), Tom Carper (DE), Tim Johnson (SD), Mary Landrieu (LA), Heidi Heitkamp (ND) and Joe Donnelly (IN).
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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