Gay Marriage: The Final Nail

The CNN story on Bush’s formal call for an anti-same sex civil marriage amendment to the United States is here.

If that doesn’t hammer a stake through the heart of the “Compassionate Conservative” vampire, nothing will.

As with everything Bush does this year, the act is politically motivated, of course.  Constitutional amendments don’t get passed overnight.  They take months.  This ensures that a divisive, middle America-squicking issue is in front of the voters all year long, but the actual voting fallout of it won’t occur until after this November.

This is designed, as much as anything, to force Kerry (or possibly Edwards) to take up a contrary stance.  This may well backfire on Bush and company.  Initially, it has a polarizing effect and may push some people into the Conservative camp.  But it is well established that the more gay people someone knows, the less severe their reactions toward gays tend to be, and by extension, the more someone knows about a subject, the better they can make a choice.  And thus, the more this issue is out in the public eye, the more people will be forced to confront their internal biases.  People who are already heavily against it will stay that way, but others are vastly more likely to shift their opinions to be in favor of same-sex civil marriages as they learn and think more about the issue.

So to quote our fine President: “Bring it on.”