With the the Technician being the N.C. State newspaper, which covered the House Speaker’s talk on campus. On the proposed state constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriages, Tillis said it’s a generational issue and that “If it passes, I think it will be repealed within 20 years.” Can’t argue with that.
More generally, politicians have time horizons that are only slightly longer than that of the typical teenager. Pols just don’t think much past the next election. For now, the political calculus behind the amendment is simple enough: older people vote at higher rates than younger people do. Older folks are also more likely to be in favor of the proposed amendment. The GOP is chasing those votes and also rewarding one of its core constituencies.
The problem for the GOP is that those older voters will die off. Today’s younger people, whether currently politically active or not, are more likely to not have a problem with gay marriage. Basic marketing says that its hard to change brand loyalty once established — and to the degree that this is turning younger citizens away from the Republican Party and towards the Democrats, it represents a real long-term problem for the GOP.
So when will the GOP realize that they are the frog in a pot of water that is very slowly being heated to a boil?
Bonus observation: The Heartland Institute’s Eli Lehrer had an interesting column out recently on “What Conservatives Give Up When We Turn Our Back on Gay Americans.”
