"Same-Sex Marriage Holds Peril for G.O.P."

That headline for this post is also the headline in the print edition of the New York Times for Adam Nagourney's analysis of Republican Party and gay issues. Wasn't too long ago that Karl Rove made gay-bashing a top priority for the G.O.P. Dan Froomkin captured it shortly after the 2004 election:

Rove Targets Gay Marriage

In what AFP called a "victory lap around the U.S. talk shows," Rove yesterday explicitly added a big item to Bush's avowed second term agenda.

Jim Drinkard writes in USA Today: "President Bush 'absolutely' will use his second term to push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, his top political strategist said Sunday. Karl Rove, who oversaw Bush's re-election victory, said Bush will renew the effort, which failed in Congress this year but may enjoy new support after 11 states approved bans on same-sex marriage on Election Day."

Rove had a lot of help from Marilyn Musgrave and Rick Santorum (who both lost re-election bids) among others in Congress and, of course the entire gay-obsessed right-wing extremists like Tony Perkins and James Dobson.

As Nagourney notes, times have changed -- and are changing fast:

The fact that a run of states have legalized gay marriage in recent months — either by court decision or by legislative action — with little backlash is only one indication of how public attitudes about this subject appear to be changing.

More significant is evidence in polls of a widening divide on the issue by age, suggesting to many Republicans that the potency of the gay-marriage question is on the decline. It simply does not appear to have the resonance with younger voters that it does with older ones.

Consider this: In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released on Monday, 31 percent of respondents over the age of 40 said they supported gay marriage. By contrast, 57 percent under age 40 said they supported it, a 26-point difference. Among the older respondents, 35 percent said they opposed any legal recognition of same-sex couples, be it marriage or civil unions. Among the younger crowd, just 19 percent held that view.

The obsession with gay-bashing is another reason why the G.O.P. is the incredibly shrinking party. Now, perhaps, some leading Democrats will also see where the nation is heading and start supporting marriage equality.