Congress Is Urged to Pass Amendment to the Constitution

It's Fighting Time.

President Bush is backing a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.

Here's the smart strategy for Dems if they want to be in the White House come January: The candidates should keep way the hell out of the argument -- holding to the line they have been for the time. They should be against "marriage" -- just as Edwards credibly says he is, and Kerry wishes he could. The should be for "civil unions." Only a pendant would give a damn about the penny's worth of difference for the name. Like all civil rights struggles, this will be won inch by inch.

While they do that, the argument should be fought as it is now -- by cities (San Francisco), states (Massachusetts) and the people in the streets. This will engage President Bush and the RNC directly in a fight with people normally well below him, while leaving the Democratic contender out of it.

Simultaneously, this will inflame Bush's traditional base -- the conservative Christian right -- who will rally to the convention.
Instant replay of 1992, but this time from the floor. Bush takes the tactic of appearing as a rational, compassionate person -- but his followers cannot. The question for the American people come November, then, will be: can we see ourselves with those nut jobs in the RNC?

Of course, this could backfire. It may just well be that most of the country can well see themselves with the nut jobs on the RNC. Generally speaking, relying on the moderation and rationality of hundreds of millions of people has never really worked well for any political movement. C'est Democracie!