Playing The Gay Card

I'm being lazy this evening and just stealing a post from Hypoxic. Actually, I think he stole it, too. But I digress...

The picture - that says so very much about the Republican strategy - is from dondon's blog. It's awesome!


Courtesy of Karl Rove, President Bush and the Republicans have, as expected, trotted out the gay card to help energize their radical religious right base before the November elections. The only time that Bush and Company talk about gay marriage is just before an election. The same for abortion rights. Once the election is won, they all but forget about it. I don't think this strategy will work for them this time.

Even the anti-gay religious Conservatives can see it for what it is. As reported in a recent LA Times article ...

"The campaign against gay marriage is scheduled to get the full White House treatment on Monday - words from President Bush in front of assembled VIPs and a bank of television cameras. Such a carefully staged production aims to confer the grandeur of the office on the push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. But even before administration officials announced the event, some invitees denounced it as a sham. "I'm going to go and hear what he says, but we already know it is a ruse," said Joe Glover, president of the Family Policy Network, which opposes gay marriage. "We're not buying it. We're going to go and watch the dog-and-pony show, [but] it's too little, too late." Such comments have raised the prospect that the debate over gay marriage,— designed to galvanize one of Bush's most important constituencies, social conservatives.— could instead exacerbate the president's political headaches".

I think most will see the attempt for what it is - pure political opportunism ... nothing more, nothing less. Hopefully, it will not have a significant impact on the turnout for the November elections (if you are not yet registered to vote, click on the icon to the right and get registered today - before you forget).

But having said that, I never, repeat NEVER, underestimate Karl Rove. I think his current strategy is to unit the major U.S. religions on this issue in an effort to get them to turn out their members in November. I don't think he can do it (I'm not sure the religions can do it) , but I know that he is working hard behind the scenes to do just that.