Okay, I’m over the Mehlman coverage. He’s out. I get it. He’s taken up too much of our time already (and he still has to make amends, serious amends.) But, the one positive element of this Mehlman development is that it has caused a discussion about the shifting views of some prominent Republican on gay issues, particularly marriage. And, it also gives those GOPers who aren’t with us an opportunity to repeat the talking point that they’re on the same side as Obama when it comes to opposing marriage equality. Seems like we’ll be seeing a lot of this kind of reporting:
A number of prominent Republicans have broken with their party on the issue, among them former Vice President Dick Cheney, Laura Bush, strategist Steve Schmidt, who was John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign manager, and McCain’s daughter Meghan.But the issue conflicts both parties, as [former RNC Chair Ed] Gillespie, who preceded Mehlman as RNC chairman and who opposes same-sex marriage, pointed out. “Interestingly enough,” he said, “I’m aligned with President Obama and his position, and Ken is aligned with Vice President Cheney and his position. It doesn’t break cleanly along party lines.”
Now, I’d like to think that this kind of statement causes people at the White House to cringe. Unfortunately, I think there are some key players on Obama’s team of political geniuses who love reading a quote like that. They really don’t want to be on the same side as the gays on this one. Team Obama is so politically tone deaf that I could see this becoming one of their talking points, you know, to show that Obama isn’t beholden to the liberals.
Obama looks more and more out of touch on marriage equality every day. He’s on the wrong side of history. But, he’s on the same side as many GOPers and religious right types.
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