The Hill They Want to Die On
Representative Durbin perfectly summed up the Federal Marriage Amendment today:
We have a preemptive foreign policy; I don’t think we oughta have a preemptive Constitution, and that’s what you’re arguing for here, we oughta put a provision in the Constitution to preempt the possibility that the Defense of Marriage Act will be found unconstitutional and force on some other state the definition of marriage. And that, I think, is entirely premature, and totally political.
Amen. I swear I can remember a time when conservatives understood the difference between a federal law and a constitutional amendment - much better than the left.
The story also notes that the Republicans hope to force a vote on the Amendment just before the Democratic convention. Bring it on. Not only will the FMA fail, but Kerry and Friends will have non-stop media coverage with which to explain why it deserved to fail.
Kevin Drum wrote last night:
I think the economy is basically a wash this year: good enough to keep Bush in the running but bad enough to give Kerry a chance. Neither man has an overwhelming advantage….. Rather, the race this year will be won or lost on terrorism and national security….
But the terrorism issue isn’t working for Bush’s crowd anymore. So now they’re trying to make the election about gay marriage, in particular a ridiculous Constitutional amendment that only true partisans will support.
And when we look back a year from now, the Federal Marriage Amendment will be what we all agree sank George W. Bush.