Gay Marriage: Opportunity for Democrats and Liability for GOP as Acceptance Grows

It would be a fitting irony if the Republicans from Karl Rove down who used anti-gay rhetoric to help the Chimperator win re-election in 2004 may have in the longer term set the stage for on-going GOP defeats at the polls. An article in Yahoo News suggests that that is perhaps precisely what is occurring and that the growing acceptance of gays - at least outside of the most backward states in the South - may prove to be an opportunity for Democrats and a growing liability for the GOP. Karl Rove wanted to create a permanent GOP majority and simply be too delicious if he instead planted the seeds for a permanent GOP minority. As I have noted many times before, the majority of the younger generation is accepting of gays and supportive of gay marriage. As the older bigoted and reactionary generations die off, the GOP will need to change or die. Here are some story highlights (I hope Obama wakes up to this reality):

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WASHINGTON – Gay marriage legalization in several states and the public's growing acceptance of same-sex unions have Democrats sensing political opportunity and some Republicans re-evaluating their party's hard-line opposition to an issue that long has rallied its base.

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In recent weeks, Vermont and Iowa have legalized same-sex marriage, while New York, Maine and New Hampshire have taken steps in that direction. Polls show younger Americans are far are more tolerant on the issue than are older generations. For now at least, the public is much more focused on the troubled economy and two wars than on social issues. In addition, over the past decade, public acceptance of gay marriage has changed dramatically.

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With congressional elections next year, Republicans, Democrats and nonpartisan analysts say the changes benefit Democrats, whose bedrock liberals favor gay unions, and disadvantage Republicans, whose conservative base insists that marriage be solely between a man and a woman. "This is not a sea change. This is a tide that is slowly rising in favor of gay marriage," creating a favorable political situation for Democrats and ever-more difficulty for Republicans, said David McCuan, a political scientist at Sonoma State University in California.

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Democrats have a broader base filled with more accepting younger voters, as well as flexibility on the issue. . . . Conversely, the GOP base is older, smaller and more conservative. Republicans have no place to shift on the issue but to the left, because the party has been identified largely with its rock-solid opposition to gay marriage and civil unions.

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But as more states accept gay and lesbian unions, there is a debate inside the party over how it should position itself on the issue. The dispute is just one part of a broader struggle within the out-of-power GOP over its identity and whether it should focus on rallying conservatives or attracting supporters from across the political spectrum. Some prominent Republicans are backing away from cut-and-dried opposition, and some party operatives say it's only a matter of time before others follow suit because the country is changing.

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Personally, unless and until the Christianists are driven from their stranglehold on the GOP, I doubt there will be much movement on the GOP's position on gay marriage and as the make up of the voting public continues to trend towards gay-acceptance, the GOP will find itself more and more at odds with the general population.