Conservatives want Bush to push gay marriage

The Weekly Standard's latest editorial, written for the editors by Fred Barnes, argues, somewhat disingenuously in favor of Bush using the gay marriage issue as an election-year winner. The article is a lot of BS until you get to the part about voter turn out. I think Barnes is right that putting a gay marriage ban on the state ballot in the fall might turn out conservative voters in the ballot state, thus helping Bush win collateral votes. But that being said, the Democrats have been scoring record turnouts as well, and it's not clear that such a ballot measure might not spur liberals to equal action.

More disturbing is that this editorial comes at a time when the religious right has finally begun their public campaign to chastise the president for dropping the ball on gay marriage. I've been predicting for a while that come this month the religious right would start publicly freaking out over the fact that Bush is no longer talking about the constitutional amendment, and I think that freaking out has finally begun. The Family Research Council, one of the top religious right anti-gay hate groups, came out and criticized the president today for being silent on the issue. More such criticism will likely come from the American Family Association, the AgapePress, and others of their ilk in the days ahead.

In the end, the religious right, and Fred Barnes with them, are nuts if they think gay bashing is the way to get the campaign moving. Middle America does not want to talk gay issues, especially when the boys are dying in Iraq. But Bush has proved time and again that when the far right screams loudly enough, he knuckles under and does their bidding. For that reason I think this is coming back soon, and with a fury.