Virginia: Ground Zero for Same-Sex Unions?

Terry McAuliffe

Absent a U. S. Supreme Court Ruling that extends gay marriage nationwide - something I'd like to see but do not necessarily expect - gay marriage will likely become an issue in the gubernatorial race in Virginia between the GOP's rabid gay hater Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli, and Democrat Terry McAuliffe who has come out for same sex marriage.  Inasmuch as Kookinelli is the darling of the Christofascists, funds from anti-gay groups will like pour in from around the country in the hope of electing a Kool-Aid drinker of the first order in the Governor's mansion.  On the Democrat side, with the Democrat Party largely in support off gay marriage, funds from the other side of the issue will flow to Virginia as well.  An article in Politico looks at this coming contest.  Here are highlights:

Events are converging to make Virginia ground zero in the battle over same-sex marriage this year.  For the first time in southern political history, Democrats will nominate a gubernatorial candidate - Terry McAuliffe - who says there is a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Every southern state has a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage. McAuliffe’s position would mean all such laws are illegal under the Constitution.

McAauliffe held the opposite view in 2009 during a losing race for governor. But this reversal by the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee is a de facto proxy for his party’s rapid shift on this controversial issue. President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have all had a similar reversal in recent months.

Virginia passed its same-sex marriage ban by a significant majority in 2006. The 2013 Republican gubernatorial candidate - Ken Cuccinelli – helped lead the winning side. As the state’s Attorney General, he has been a steadfast backer of the law, which also denies recognition to same-sex marriages legally performed in other states.

Since Virginia seems certain to be the lone competitive contest for governor this year, exploiting the contrast will prove irresistible to the media - especially the national press.

McAuliffe and the Democratic candidate for Attorney General will pledge to use the power of their offices to achieve what they regard as equality for same-sex couples. Cuccinelli and the Republican candidate for Attorney General will counter-pledge to use the power of their offices to protect traditional marriage. Democratic activists will accuse the GOP ticket of being “unreconstructed conservative bigots.” Republican activists will counter by charging Democrats with the “liberal homosexual agenda.”

Hot button social issues did admittedly dominate Virginia gubernatorial elections during the segregationist era. But a new competitive two-party system emerged in 1977. Since then, “bread and butter” issues – budget, crime, economic growth, education, jobs, spending and taxes, transportation – have risen to the fore. The last time a social issue decided a gubernatorial election was in 1989.

Now in 2013, the Supreme Court is again poised to issue a potentially explosive mid-campaign ruling, this time on same-sex marriage. We expect the decision to excite and enrage at the same time, similar to the swirling dynamics that reshuffled the campaign deck in 1989.

Virginia politics was previously roiled the last time the Supreme Court decided a major marriage equality case. For years, conservative governors and attorneys general had strongly defended the state’s ban on interracial marriages. But after a long court battle, a 1967 Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia, overruled the Commonwealth’s prohibition.

But current polls suggest Virginians may now favor same-sex marriages. Republicans charge Democrats with being political opportunists without any real constitutional principles. Democrats reject this label, declaring their change sincere, consistent with the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

Same-sex marriage backers know they would greatly advance their cause with their first win ever in a Southern state. Their opponents likewise understand the potential domino effect of losing in a conservative state that only 7 years ago strongly rejected same-same marriage.

Aiding Kookinelli will be extremist organizations and hate groups like The Family Foundation which lead a deliberately false and dishonest campaign in 2006 that helped dupe Virginians into voting for the heinous Marshall-Newman amendment.  We can expect many more lies to flow from the "godly Christian" folk between now and November.  No one lies as consistently and as deliberately as the Christianists.  Oh, and did I mention that the ancestors of the folks at The Family Foundation opposed interracial marriage too?