Do you think Bush's strong "anti-gay" stance will hurt him?

[Ladyhawk]

[calimary]

1. He's whoring to the fundamentalists. Not sure.

Trying to shore up his base.

[mac2]

2. Who cares what Bush thinks about anything....

stop worry about this but get busy and help candidates,etc.

They divide us so they can control us. There are more of us than them..get busy.

[BillZBubb]

3. No.

Nothing sells in America like good old fashioned hate. This is a wedge issue that Rove can count on.

Our best hope is that other issues stay in the foreground, and gay-bashing doesn't gain anything for Bush*. It certainly won't hurt him.

[LoneStarLiberal]

4. Nope

Bush is supporting this foolish idea precisely because it HELPS him, not HURTS him.

He needs to shore up his social conservative (aka Christian fundamentalist) base, and this issue resonates with them like no other...except abortion.

[rock]

6. Makes you wonder where they stand

on abortion of gay fetuses.

[lapislzi]

15. Fetus can't be gay

It's a "lifestyle choice," remember?

[liberalnurse]

7. Yeap, you know the game.....

[bowens43]

5. No, it will help him.

Some of the fence sitters will now be drawn back to the dark side.

[libview]

8. I know Bush is "anti-gay" marrage, but is he "anti-gay"?

[Florida_Geek]

9. IMHO YES

With all the problems with JOBS and the ECONOMY and IRAQ the middle roader will look at this as wasting time with the real problems not being addressed.

[Kahuna]

10. Can't claim to be a "compassionate conservative" anymore.

nt

[emulatorloo]

12. Sure, he will do his "compassionate" hate the sinner love the sin thing

or do I have that backwards. . .!?!?!

[German-Lefty]

11. No, but I'd like to think so.

[German-Lefty]

18. Maybe I should change my vote to "yes"

This gay right wing pundant has declared war on Bush.
http://www.andrewsullivan.com/

There are the log cabin republicans.

It isn't so important that the polls measure the majority of people being against "gay marriage" or even for the amendment. The question is will this change your vote.

I can see this minority being pretty pissed off. I can see many of them not voting republican or even voting for a democrat on this one.

Sure the religious nuts will love him for this, but they were going to vote for Bush anyway. No big loss.

I have a hard time picturing a man that would change his vote from democrat to republican, because Bush is "defending marriage".

The only advantage I can see for Bush is that he might hold on to religious conservatives. Screw them.

[Indiana Democrat]

13. No.

And to take it a step further, if we lose this election, it will be in large part due to this issue. The current situation in San Francisco is not helping us.

[salin]

14. Yes, especially since the economy is still struggling

jobs are leaving the country... we are in a war that is now questionable to many in terms of why we went and what was done (eg lied to public, to congress and th UN) in order to get us there and a lack of attention to those who are being required to pay the ultimate price... given this backdrop, I perceive that his nod to the Religious Right will appear more blantant (in terms of pandering) than his past nods to the Religious Right.... and contribute to an image even stronger in magnitude than that of his father as a man completely out of touch with the real problems faced by real americans... a bigger problem than for his father - because the problems appear much, much more out of wack in 2004 than they did in 1992.

[LeahMira]

16. Possibly...

The well-being and prosperity of the U.S. is inextricably tied up in some minds with the extent to which the U.S. law and its citizens' lives reflect their "Christian" morality. This group supports Bush. His anti-gay stance will only make him a more attractive candidate in their minds. But they were going to vote for him anyhow.

Where it may hurt him is with some Republican parents, siblings, relatives and friends of people who are gay. It's easier to approve of marginalizing some distant "other" that you may never have even seen, but it's not so easy to sanction the marginalization of someone you know personally, someone who is perhaps a member of your own family.

I don't think that most people are single-issue voters, but I do think that a lot of people, while they may have their own feelings about the war and the economy, will have one heck of a hard time facing their family member or friend who is gay knowing that they voted for someone who would marginalize the gay individual and treat him or her as "less than."

At least I hope that some Republicans would have that much empathy and common decency.

[Ladyhawk]

17. I wouldn't count on Republican compassion. :(

[mopaul]

19. As the world burns....

and chaos reigns, the power crazy republicans, this is all they can come up with? pitiful. just shows you how desperate they are in their final death throes.