GOP marriage issue strategy will be harder this time around

President Bush and the Republican Congressional majority are betting that voters will cast their ballots based on marriage issues rather than in response to Iraq or economic concerns.  On Monday, one day before the Senate will vote on a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage nationwide, President Bush will lend his support to the cause in a televised Rose Garden address.  Only one Senate Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, will vote for it.  Many Republicans will join Democrats and vote against it.  Insiders say it is a done deal that the Senate will not have the 66 votes needed for the measure to pass (2/3 majority in Senate and House, plus 38 of the 50 state legislatures are required for any constitutional amendment).

Some ask, if Republicans already know the measure is not going to pass, why they would waste the taxpayers' time by putting all their energy towards an issue that divides people -- even though we have had a lot of that going on over the last few years?  Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera responded:

"They'renot interested in the policy, they're interested in reassuring theirconservative base and distracting attention from their failedleadership, and that's just wrong," LaVera told Cybercast News Service. "It's wrong to scapegoat people for their political gain."

Betting against the political awareness of voters this time around might not be such a good idea.  The Republicans are telling their conservative voters that a federal marriage amendment is a more important issue than cutting taxes, balancing the budget and fighting terrorism.

Rick Santorum disagrees.  He thinks that the bigger issue is how people are treated, and does not think that same sex couples deserve the same rights as the rest of us:

..it's an opportunity for us to get beyond, you know, We should treat everybodynicely.

Maybe Santorum should open up the window a bit more.  There is a war going on.  Iran might be next.  Gas prices are going through the roof.  Median family income is down.  Also down are real wages (wages adjusted for inflation).  The cost of health care and education are skyrocketing.  The Office of Homeland Security is still not ready to deal with this summer's hurricane season.  Yet, the issues that the GOP want to focus on are a federal marriage amendment and the estate tax repeal.

No wonder both the GOP Congress and the President have such a low approval rating.  They are out of the loop, and don't seem to care at all.

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