Senate to Vote This Year On Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Saturday, the Washington Post reported that the Senate is going to vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage this year. It appears that many social conservative leaders see this as part of a winning platform for the 2006 election. I think they are wrong.

Over the past 20 years, Republicans and social conservatives in particular have found themselves on the defensive time and time again. And social conservatives have become very good at fighting from this stance. They have been fairly successfully at painting their opponents as outside of the mainstream. However, when social conservatives have gone on the offensive they have lost this advantage. Social conservatives on the offensive generally come across as rather mean-spirited and narrow-minded. Note I said "come across".

I think that this paradigm is going to hold sway in the battle over same-sex marriage. As various courts ruled against laws banning same-sex marriage, the public at large has remained rather skeptical of instituting same-sex marriage as a state-sponsored right. But the public is likewise skeptical of the likes of James Dobson or Gary Bauer and their vision of America. And as an evangelical Christian myself, I am too.

• Dignan
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• marriage
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• senate
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• dobson