While New York State is busy hemorrhaging money due to serious budget shortfalls, some in the NY GOP have decided to flog the gay marriage deceased equine a few more times. This is what the GOP does best when they can’t balance budgets. Unfortunately for them, this issue increasingly rings hollow with younger generations, and is probably doing more to alienate younger voters than any of their other failings. I predict this will be a winning issue for Democrats, especially downstate, if the GOP chooses to press it.
In other news, it would seem the term being used now is “marriage equality” rather than “gay marriage,” or “same-sex marriage.” This makes sense from a PR perspective. Kind of like how we framed the term “modern sporting rifle” when our opponents started using the word “assault weapon” to describe anything under the sun that hurled a projectile out of a long barrel that had a few ugly accessories attached to it. After all, who can be against equality? And who doesn’t like modernity, and sportsmanship? I mean other than Andrew Goddard.
Let us hope that the GOP does not borrow an idea from our opponents and adopt “assault marriage,” to describe same-sex marriage. Some of them are getting close.
You know, I realized the other day that gay marriage is essentially the only issue stopping me voting party-line republican these days, considering how poorly both parties have handled the deficit row…
That’s a scary thought for a young liberal.
This is the loser social crap I was talking about earlier this week. This is the kind of crap that costs you more votes than you get out of it.
It’s jobs, debt, and taxes. This other crap needs to be left alone.
It’s one of the primary reasons that the Rep-wing is “The Stupid Party(tm)”.
They’re doing the same nonsense here in Minnesnowta instead of prioritizing on balancing the $6 billion budget deficit, and slashing state spending.
Just get the stinking government out of our private lives and out of our pocketbooks, you twits.
Not in favor of gay marriage myself (and please don’t call me a homophobe for that), but this fallback to bringing it up reminds me of 2 things:
First (a joke) there was this preacher who closed every sermon with a reading of the 10 commandments. Then one day this little old lady came up to him and said – “Stop it, you’re giving the young folks ideas.”
Secondly – “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
For it or against it, it’ll get settled in its own time, but the more you bring it up the more I gotta wonder if you’re just trying to hide your own marital issues. Nobody else was making an issue of it right now, why start a fight about something so totally irrelevant to matters at hand? It’s like arguing with a relative who keeps bringing up something bad their uncle did 50 years ago as an excuse for why they themselves can’t make rent.
(sidebar – the term “gay marriage” was actually coined by a guy in the early 90’s doing an anti-gay rant).
Meanwhile, the car’s outa gas and we’re lost – stop bitching about the color of the car and how you wanted to go to Disney instead of Six Flags. There are more important things to worry about now.
Yup, that’s why “one man, one woman” wins popular votes just about everywhere–even in California–because it is so unpopular.
I agree that the deficit is the big issue–and the rest is relatively noise. But let’s not kid ourselves that this is an unpopular issue. With libertarians and liberals, yes, but there are few libertarians in America and liberals don’t generally vote Republican anyway.
You can always expect Clayton to show up on the Morals bus. When real unemployment is 15%, states are facing a pension time bomb, the gov’t is printing money at the fastest rate ever, and states are looking at 20% budget shortfalls – it’s time to stop wagging the dog, spinning this issues, and get off this homo marriage issue. Just ignore it, no votes on it, nothing moved out of committee. Let it die and focus on what’s really going on. Now, using California as a case study in anything rational, sane, or logical is nothing but irrational, insane, and defies logic.
I think in the short term it’s a winning political issue for the GOP in most places. I do believe this will hurt the GOP in downstate New York when it comes to winning statewide offices (like Governor). But long term this issue is alienating the GOP from younger generations, which are more accepting of civil marriages for same-sex couples.
Government should just drop out of the marriage business entirely. Civil unions should be treated as nothing more than contracts, and every adult should have the right to enter into contracts, period. Whatever you do at church is between you and your church, period.
Why is this not the standard conservative position?
Relating the gay marriage issue to the gun issue:
Years ago, the issue was non-discrimination laws for gays. Proponents (i.e. NY Times editorial page) said 1) Such laws won’t lead to gay marriage and 2) We don’t want gay marriage anyway.
Now, they want gay marriage — and courts that rule for gay marriage cite non-discrimination laws for gays as a basis for their ruling. I am not an opponent of gay marriage, but when you hear it said that “reasonable” gun laws won’t lead to extreme gun laws — and they don’t want extreme gun laws…
…it’s the same old liars telling the same old lies.
But you knew that.
As previously mentioned, This issue may alienate younger voters. However, I pragmatically question whether that same young urban demographic would support a gun rights candidate in the first place? I don’t think these are young libertarians, for the most part. At best maybe they support a teeny bopper level understanding of socialism.
I’m pro gun-rights, pro-freedom, pro-fiscal responsibility, but if it comes to choosing between some asshat railing against gay marriage and not voting, I won’t vote. I want the government out of my business – every aspect of my business. The government shouldn’t be deciding who can love whom, just as they shouldn’t be deciding what foods we can eat. Some conservatives exactly mirror liberals on this issue – in that they want other people to live according to their preferences. If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t gay marry.
Boy does it get to me when people who want the government out of their lives want to use the full force of the government to impose their beliefs on others regarding things like gay marriage. I think the word is “hypocrite.” IMHO, hypocrisy is kinda gay.