Michele Bachmann Calls For A Renewed Assault On Marriage Equality
The Faith and Freedom Conference is occurring in D.C. this weekend, and it didn’t take long for the founder of the Tea Party Caucus in Congress to reveal once again that the movement’s fiscal conservatism is little more than a fig leaf:
BACHMANN: Minnesota is the first state that has decided that this issue will be on the ballot in 2012, the state of New Hampshire will be taking this issue up as well, and other states. This is the time. And so I want to encourage all of you at home, if you don’t have a similar amendment, consider this in your home states. I believe this is the time to do it. So I just want to say thank you to those who continue to carry that torch.
I’m not so sure it’ll work out as well as it did for the GOP in 2004, however, considering that public attitudes on same-sex marriage has changed significantly.
This is what I’m curious about. I’m wondering if the GOP will shift to culture attacks if Obama does, as I suspect he will, endorse marriage equality while at a big LGBT event in NY next month. Yes, the economy is the easy attack for them, but I’m wondering if they’ll be swayed back into attacking on that again. It’d be foolish for them to do so, but that’s what happens sometimes.
Support for gay marriage is up (which I consider a Good Thing), but I’m pretty sure it’s still soft. Very soft. I followed what happened in Maine pretty closely and it was interesting how the dynamics of the campaign worked. Various things happened but two of the key factors were 1) The anti campaign started saturating the place with a message that basically ran along the lines of “If we have gay marriage, your kids are going to be placed in danger of sexual predation (somehow)” and 2) It pretty much worked. Peeled off just enough concerned middle class families to win it. I’m far from convinced that this line of attack would not work in the future, pernicious balls though it may be.
That said, when it comes to encouraging widespread referendum campaigns in numerous states at the same time, it may be that gay marriage opponents need to be careful what they wish for. So far, opponents have been able to concentrate their forces in one state at a time. The anti gay marriage camp in Maine was able to rely disproportionately on funds, campaign management/logistical infrastructure and manpower from out of state (the pro gay marriage camp also enjoyed external support, but to a lesser degree). If there are multiple campaigns going on across the country, it’s far from clear – from what I can tell at least – that the opponents of gay marriage will be able to mass their forces nearly as effectively. They’re going to have to spread themselve thinly. Maybe that would be enough to tip the balance.
Were I a Karl Rove within the GOP, I would deep six the entire issue and tell the fundies to STFU.
As in Maine, the out of state fear campaign worked here in California, but just barely.
The demographics are tilting towards marriage equality, and there isn’t any reasonable argument to be made that the field can be tilted back again. Once people get comfortable with gay friends and coworkers, or becoming friends with other kids who have gay parents, its tough to get them to buy the fear and loathing that DOMA requires.
So even if they can pull out one or two more squeakers, the loss of gay conservatives and deepening hostility among those who sympathize with the cause is a long term loser.
Doug: What has been making you believe that social conservatives are fiscal conservatives on any level beyond “MY (and NOT necessarily your) taxes are too high?” Granted, that’s a simple message and makes a good bumper sticker (especially when one substitutes an disengenuous “our” for the “my”) , but I’ve been following social conservatism since the early days of the abortion wars. Social conservatives are the most one note of all the one-note choirs in America.
If the democrats could make social conservatives believe that the Democratic Party was pro life and anti-gay, social conservatives would see the wisdom of raising YOUR taxes retroactive 10 years to make up for all the stealing from the treasury you and all your corporatist cronies did to the Federal Treasury all these years,
Figure it out. Like all the other fringe groups in American politics, these guys are only on their own side. They don’t care who suffers what, as long as they don’t suffer any.
It wouldn’t take much to convince me that the Democratic Party is anti-gay, since they did enact DOMA and DADT in the first place.
@Joe R. — At least be intellectually honest as to WHY they enacted DOMA and DADT. It was due to the fact that the GOP were pressuring for even MORE DRACONIAN legislation. DOMA and DADT were COMPROMISES to prevent even worse things down the pike. Look, Clinton signed it and it was on him, but it’s dishonest to suggest he wanted it to go that route.