politics of SSM
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238
Although Bush’s profane “friend” told Newsweek that, uhm, the
President doesn’t care a whit about the issue. Which isn’t true. LINK
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13121953/site/newsweek/page/2/ [full
quote: “I think it was purely political. I don’t think he gives a s–
t about it. He never talks about this stuff.”]
Matt Dowd and Grover Norquist are dubious at best at the ability of
same-sex marriage initiatives to drive turnout, reports Newsweek’s
Rosenberg. LINK
“While the GOP leadership clearly hopes this tack can revive their
sputtering election prospects this fall, some GOP strategists aren’t
so sure. Pew polls show a 10-point jump in support for gay marriage
since 2004. And Bush pollster Matthew Dowd doubts it was decisive
last time around. ‘It didn’t drive turnout in 2004,’ he says. ‘That
is urban legend.’ Turnout was the same in states with bans on the
ballot and those without, Dowd says. GOP consultant Grover Norquist
also questions how gay marriage plays as an electoral issue. Though
social conservatives vote for marriage bans, it’s not clear whether
that will translate into votes for GOP candidates. ‘We don’t have
much to go on,’ he says.”
The New York Post picks up the highlights of Newsweek’s coverage. LINK
“The measure has 31 GOP sponsors, and one said yesterday the debate
would just be a start. ‘The fact that we’ll have a majority vote but
not a two-thirds vote doesn’t mean that you don’t try,’ Sen. George
Allen (R-Va.) said on CNN’s ‘Late Edition,’” reports the New York
Daily News. LINK