IN THE midst of pre-election politics, the Bush administration pulled a powerful and stigmatizing trump card when proposing the ban on gay marriage amendment. This proposal created nationwide discussion on gay rights, and was seen on 11 state voting initiatives, all 11 of which passed, some by huge margins such as in Mississippi.
These anti-gay initiatives subsequently created a large voting turnout by social conservatives, and arguably were why many Democrats, including former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., lost their races.
While Democratic opposition to anti-gay marriage amendments may have cost them elections across the nation, it is important that such savvy political maneuvers constructed by Republican puppetmasters do not change the fundamental values that Democratic walls are built with.
When the anti-gay marriage amendment was first proposed before the 2004 election, it was badly defeated in a Senate procedural motion, receiving only 48 votes, far short of the necessary two-thirds majority. Although it was obvious that this amendment would never pass, its proponents advocated its cause loudly, gaining much media attention and satisfying their goal: to make gay marriage an election topic.
This time, however, proposing an anti-gay marriage amendment embodies a wholly different strategy. In the eyes of a Republican, as was seen by post-election rhetoric, the Democrats have several lessons to learn from the "mandate" that was the November elections, one of these lessons being to move to the center on key social issues, including gay rights. Given this lesson, several key Republicans strongly believe that a handful of Democrats will succumb to the political pressure and vote for the amendment in fear of losing their office.
One of these Republicans is Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., who directly expressed this belief: "I know the Democrats are re-evaluating their position on a number of social issues, and I'll bet this is one of those issues." This shows that many Republicans are expecting the recent election to remold the Democratic Party into Republican Lite, a hypothesis that will be tested if the anti-gay marriage amendment is re-introduced in the Senate.
The more obvious part of this strategy is an attempt to replay its success of 2004. Republican strategists and politicians know that introducing this amendment helped conservative campaigns, including that of Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who defeated Tom Daschle and said, "There were a lot of races... where [the gay marriage issue] was prominent." That at least some Republicans are promoting the amendment for this purpose is not purely speculation, however, as Sen. Allard told CNN that he expects the amendment to become an issue before the 2006 midterm elections.
The Republican Party is clearly taking advantage of a nation that is not accustomed to the concept of functional homosexual relationships. Nonetheless, no stones of complaint should be thrown in their lake, as they are merely advocating their traditional beliefs and democratically pursuing them.
By contrast, this is a time where Democrats should make it clear to their party that they absolutely will not stand for compromise on the basic rights of fellow Americans, which includes the right to marriage. While outgoing Democratic chairman Terry McAuliffe has made it clear that the party in general will not compromise their social values, it is equally if not more crucial that individual congressmen across the nation be equally fierce in the face of the legislative tsunami that we can expect from a Republican majority.
The cynical view of politics in our nation often asserts that winning is all that matters in Washington. However, the Democrats must remember that winning elections slowly becomes meaningless with each and every value that we give up. While compromise on certain issues like the economy is absolutely crucial to a healthy government, similar compromises cannot be made when it comes to the lives and freedoms of our fellow citizens. It's that simple.
Sina Kian's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at skian@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
PATEL: Personal development courses support students beyond the gradebook
By Heer Patel | 3 days agoThe University must rethink its approach to education beyond traditional major-specific requirements and mandate personal development courses.
EDITORIAL: Commercialization threatens U.Va.’s educational mission
By Editorial Board | 4 days agoAfter all, measuring the University’s worth in terms of accrued capital, operational efficiency and numerical rankings molds this space into just another cookie-cutter institution.
YOUNIS: Why every U.Va. student should say yes to English
By Ayat Younis | January 9, 2025Every student at the University, regardless of their primary field of study, can professionally and academically benefit from engaging with the English department.
