I know and like Steve Schmidt, and have had
many conversations with him about gay
marriage and his party. He and I disagree on a fundamental point. I
don't think the modern Republican Party, which relies heavily on the
foundational force of Christian conservatism, can shift its position on gay
rights without severe penalties. I know that there are many Republicans who
support gay rights, and that most members of the Republican elite are pro-gay,
and that the business wing of the party could care less about the issue. I know
that suburbanites are turned off by conservative intolerance of
homosexuality and gay rights. I know that younger Republicans tend to be
pro-gay and are alienated from the rest of the party. But I also know that the
possibility that the Republican coalition will find some way to organize itself
without social conservatives is a ways of a way off. Schmidt's concerns may be
valid, but urging the GOP top adopt a tolerance platform WITHOUT figuring out
how to declamp itself from the social conservative hook -- that's not terribly
realistic. That's why so many Republican strategists, even as they're
sympathetic to gay rights (and virtually ALL of them are), don't advise their
clients to so much as acknowledge the dignity of gay people.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/04/steve-schmidt-republicans-and-gay-marriage/16328/
