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Popping the Question
Advice to Republican presidential candidates on how to answer the question, “Would you attend a gay wedding?”
If you’re a Republican running for president, prepare yourself. The next reporter who corners you at a diner might pop the question. No, she doesn’t want to marry you. But she might ask whether you’d attend a gay wedding. In the last week, that question has been posed to at least five candidates: Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Govs. Scott Walker and John Kasich, and former Sen. Rick Santorum. In general, their answers have been weak. Here’s what they’ve said, and how you can handle the question better than they did.
1. Don’t duck. This is a personal question. If you try to change the subject to law or policy, you’ll look like you’re trying to hide something. That’s what happened to Cruz on Thursday, when conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt pressed him:
Ugh. Bad answer. Take it from the top, where Cruz starts to say that no one in his family has gone to a gay wedding, and then in midstream changes his formulation. Has somebody in his family attended a same-sex marriage ceremony? Is that OK with him? Is it not OK? Why is he trying to narrow the question? Then, instead of answering the hypothetical, he blames it on hostile reporters, even though the guy who asked it, Hugh Hewitt, is a flaming conservative. Then Cruz reaches for the “operative legal question.” He sounds like Michael Dukakis, who whipped out a similar policy lecture when he was asked whether a guy who hypothetically raped and killed his wife should be executed. Dukakis came across as a cold-blooded geek. So does Cruz.
2. Find a middle ground. When Hewitt posed the same question to Santorum on Thursday, the former senator flatly said no:
Santorum gets points for candor. And he draws the approved Christian distinction between loving and condoning. But for listeners who have gay friends or family, Santorum seems to offer nothing.
If you’re a Republican running for president, prepare yourself. The next reporter who corners you at a diner might pop the question. No, she doesn’t want to marry you. But she might ask whether you’d attend a gay wedding. In the last week, that question has been posed to at least five candidates: Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Govs. Scott Walker and John Kasich, and former Sen. Rick Santorum. In general, their answers have been weak. Here’s what they’ve said, and how you can handle the question better than they did.
1. Don’t duck. This is a personal question. If you try to change the subject to law or policy, you’ll look like you’re trying to hide something. That’s what happened to Cruz on Thursday, when conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt pressed him:
Q: If you had a loved one or a friend getting married in a same-sex ceremony, would you attend it?
A: I haven’t faced that circumstance. I have not had a loved one go to a—have a gay wedding. You know, at the end of the day, what the media tries to twist the question of marriage into is ... a battle of emotions and personalities. ... So, for example, they routinely say, “Well, gosh, any conservative must hate people who are gay.” As you know, that has nothing to do with the operative legal question. And, listen, I’m a Christian. The scripture commands us to love everyone ... and all of us are sinners. But ... I’m a constitutionalist, and under the Constitution, from the beginning of this country, marriage has been a question for the states ...
Ugh. Bad answer. Take it from the top, where Cruz starts to say that no one in his family has gone to a gay wedding, and then in midstream changes his formulation. Has somebody in his family attended a same-sex marriage ceremony? Is that OK with him? Is it not OK? Why is he trying to narrow the question? Then, instead of answering the hypothetical, he blames it on hostile reporters, even though the guy who asked it, Hugh Hewitt, is a flaming conservative. Then Cruz reaches for the “operative legal question.” He sounds like Michael Dukakis, who whipped out a similar policy lecture when he was asked whether a guy who hypothetically raped and killed his wife should be executed. Dukakis came across as a cold-blooded geek. So does Cruz.
2. Find a middle ground. When Hewitt posed the same question to Santorum on Thursday, the former senator flatly said no:
Q: Would you, Rick Santorum, attend a same-sex wedding of a loved one or a family friend or anyone who you were close to?
A: No, I would not.
Q: Well, why not?
A: Because ... as a person of my faith, that would be something that would be a violation of my faith. I would love them and support them, but I would not participate in that ceremony.
Santorum gets points for candor. And he draws the approved Christian distinction between loving and condoning. But for listeners who have gay friends or family, Santorum seems to offer nothing.
Another reason why the difference between the two parties is so stark, and why we need a Democrat in the white House in 2016!
Source.
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
and all of us *Republicans* are sinners
Okay fine I added one word
I'm not. 
And, yes you speak the truth. It would be great if it weren't so.
