I am not trying to assign blame or engage in handwringing with this post. But in the ashes of defeat we merely need to take a few moments and analyze why we lost. By now, everyone is probably familiar with Cokie Roberts statements on the moral issues exit polling.
Gay marriage is obviously the GOTV godsend (no pun intended) that Rove needed to get droves of evangelicals to the polls. Ironically, many gays aren't too thrilled about the institution of marriage. Polls consistenly show that the term "civil unions" has a less vitriolic and antogonizing effect on the Nascar dads than "gay marriage". The difference between the two is little more than terminology. And Bush is on record as supporting civil unions.
The Dems in Massachussetts need to proactively lead the fight to transform gay marriage there into Vermont style civil unions. If we Democrats can strike and take the initiative on this issue we can take it away from Rove as GOTV tool. We can also control it and use it as a means of promoting civil unions.
Currently, the Republicans just won a Presidential election by playing the gay marriage card with the christian right AND playing the civil union card with its moderate center. We need the initiative on this issue.
Ultimately, gay marriage is a great idea. But obviously the time is not yet ripe. Let a few liberal states have civil unions for a few more presidential election cycles. This will ease middle America into the idea. Polls also show that the support for gay marriage is strongest among younger Americans. Let's let them mature into a higher voting age bracket while waiting for the older generation who is offended by it die off a little.