compassionate convention

[plazul]

The speakers at the convention tonight are following a compassion and inclusion theme. However, as they put moderate speakers out front to appeal to swing voters the core of the party is ramping up its anti gay platform to oppose ALL gay partnerships, not just gay marriage.

There are, believe it or not, over a million gay Republicans and they are angry. But Party strategists are betting that their base will solidify on this stand and I suppose they're hoping to attract some conservative Democrat bigots as well.

What a hoot that they would do this while trying to steal the Democrat image as an inclusive, big tent party.

I really want to believe that there are people of goodwill out there whose religious beliefs just condemn the sin and not the sinner. But the cynic in me sees the gay marriage issue as the classic bandwagon technique in which the propagandists exploit people's fears and prejudices on social issues in order to to advance their hidden agenda. Does anybody believe that Karl Rove gives a rip about gay marriage?


I doubt if we'll get beyond gay/straight tensions in my lifetime. But Dick Cheney's remarks about how people should be free to marry whoever they choose gave me a little hope (even though his daughter is a lesbian) that the conservative movement isn't in lock step against gay rights.

[Warsai]

Yes, I never thought I'd see the day when Cheney would speak out against Bush's plan of ending gay marriage. The campaign also has people like Arnold Schwarzenegger reaching out to immigrants.