Normally, it is the Republicans who launch the gay marriage debate every presidential election cycle. So why are the Dems so eager to make an issue of it this fall in North Carolina — a key swing state for Obama — and nationally this year?
The issue was front and center again in the Charlotte Observer this Sunday. The Dems plan to debate a new plank in the party’s platform at the DNC in Charlotte this September to fully support gay marriage. That would make Charlotte and NC the epicenter of gay marriage debate this fall, with the Dems deliberately bringing the issue back up and keeping it before voters here and across the country long after North Carolinians vote on a gay marriage ban — and likely approve it — this spring.
Why would Democrats do this in a crucial swing state where the majority disapproves of gay marriage? Why would they do it when the Democrats are on the wrong side of this issue in this state, with 56 percent of voters supporting the amendment and 34 percent opposing it, according to Public Policy Polling.
I haven’t seen the Democrats’ internal polling, but I can take a guess. After watching Obama masterfully sidetrack the Republican candidates in the GOP primary, forcing a debate on contraception for over month now and keeping them off their talking points about his record on the economy in the process, I think the Democrats have more of the same planned for the fall.
This time around, anything that distracts from his disaster of a record on the economy is a win for Obama. Every news cycle the eventual GOP presidential candidate has to spend discussing gay marriage is a loss for that candidate.
And there is another reason. I bet that their polling is also showing that talking about any issue other than the economy and jobs is likely to make a candidate look out of touch. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it could cause an angry backlash from voters.
This Gallup poll shows what voters really want to hear. A staggering 92 percent of voters rate the economy as extremely or very important. The number for the unemployment issue is 82 percent. But only 38 percent consider social issues like gay marriage and abortion important. And I guarantee most of those are hard core right or left wingers whose votes are already locked in for one party or the other.
The gay marriage issue, unfortunately, has become a trap for the right. The Democrats are clearly hoping to spend six weeks on it starting in September. If the last six weeks are any indication, they may succeed.
Unfortunately, like it or not, this issue will be decided by the courts. From a purely electoral point of view, during the last two presidential elections, pulling out this issue made sense, since there weren’t a lot of other hot button issues to get voters fired up. But with the US economy teetering on the brink, actual unemployment at near 20 percent and the future of this country’s place at the helm of the world in question, this ain’t the year to discuss this issue.
The outcome of the N.C. vote, (Tony) Perkins told the Charlotte Observer, will help determine how marriage and sexual orientation are addressed in schools, and could change how family values are passed from parent to child. “Marriage matters,” he said. “We must publically stand for marriage and how God designed it to be. We should live that out, and we should engage in the public debate.”
Yes. He’s right. But it won’t much help us if the courts are having this debate while we live in Greece. Please, let’s take this up after the election.
