December 16, 2011
Republican Presidential Candidates Push the Marriage Card
Michael K. Lavers READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Should Republican presidential candidates continue to push the marriage card?
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney defended marriage as between a man and a woman as he responded to questions about pro-gay statements he made during his 1994 campaign against the late-U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy during the latest Republican presidential debate in Sioux City, Ia., on Thursday, Dec. 15. He told the Boston Herald on Wednesday, Dec. 14, that he would create a three tier system that would allow same-sex couples who have legally married to maintain their status, but prohibit others who may want to follow suit. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum suggested in a tweet the same day that gays and lesbians are somehow responsible for the country's declining marriage rates. In addition, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich vowed to remain faithful to his third wife Callista when he endorsed an Iowa Christian group's "marriage pledge" on Monday, Dec. 12.
The institution of marriage in this country is a farce as Kim Kardashian and countless other heterosexuals have proven, but defending so-called traditional marriage between one man and one woman remains a fundamental principle for mainstream Republican candidates who seek to succeed President Barack Obama in the White House next November. Congressman Michele Bachmann railed against Iowa Supreme Court judges who ruled in support of marriage equality during an interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace earlier this month. Jon Huntsman said at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., last week that the federal Defense of Marriage Act "serves a useful purpose."
Do recession-weary Americans even care?
Only one percent of those who took part in a Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll in February listed "stopping gay marriage" as a top priority. A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll in October found that 81 percent of respondents feel that nuptials for gays and lesbians in the Granite State has not impacted their life within the context of a bill that would repeal the state's marriage equality law. Conversely, a Gallup poll in November found that roughly two-thirds of Americans feel unemployment and the economy are the country's most pressing problems.
It remains the economy, stupid!
Based in Washington, D.C., Michael K. Lavers has appeared in the New York Times, BBC, WNYC, Huffington Post, Village Voice, Advocate and other mainstream and LGBT media outlets. He is an unapologetic political junkie who thoroughly enjoys living inside the Beltway.
