A week after the New Jersey Supreme Court injected new energy
into the gay marriage issue, how is it playing out in Peoria?
President Bush came out swinging on Monday: "For decades,
activist judges have tried to redefine America by court order,"
Bush said. "Just this last week in New Jersey, another activist
court issued a ruling that raises doubt about the institution of
marriage. We believe marriage is a union between a man and a
woman, and should be defended." According to the Associated
Press, "the line earned Bush by far his most sustained applause
at a rally of 5,000 people aimed at boosting former GOP Rep. Max
Burns' effort to unseat a Democratic incumbent. In this
conservative rural corner of eastern Georgia, even children
jumped to their feet alongside their parents to cheer and clap
for nearly 30 seconds -- a near-eternity in political
speechmaking." Bush has added it to his repertoire of taxes and
terrorism as the issues that will move GOP voters at the polls
this November.
In New Jersey, in a tight race for U.S. Senate, Republican Tom
Kean immediately endorsed a state constitutional amendment, while
Democrat Bobby Menendez weakly punted: Gay marriage is now "up to
the legislature to decide" was all he said, according to The New
York Times.
If the Democrats do take control of the Senate, it will be in
part because of candidates like Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford, who
(according to the National Journal) shot out of the box to issue
this statement: "I do not support the decision today reached by
the New Jersey Supreme Court regarding gay marriage. I oppose gay
marriage, and have voted twice in Congress to amend the United
States Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. This November
there's a referendum on the Tennessee ballot to ban same-sex
marriage -- I am voting for it."
Even Sen. Hillary Clinton continues to say she opposes gay
marriage, although she hints before gay groups that support her
campaign that her position may be "evolving."