http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/01/30/striking.evolution.ap/index.html
The Georgia school board is considering replacing the word 'evolution' in their curriculum with the phrase 'biological changes over time.' Ohhhhhkayyy...when I first saw the headline, I was furious, thinking that Georgia was actually taking the next step and knocking it out of the curriculum. Instead, I read on and just was annoyed and unimpressed, a failed attempt to try to shortcut a controversy by taking the weakest possible stance and managing to irritate everyone. The article quotes educators saying that they're getting their hands tied, and social conservatives saying they're not impressed.
Replaced "biological changes over time" with the phrase "civil unions" and you've got the Democratic party's stance right now: non-threatening as possible, just a way to try to stay in the center without giving up an ideal. And again, nobody wins. We're not winning over anyone who's against gay marriage by changing the words of it, and we're not getting the benefits of turnout among liberals that we could if we actually stood for something on this. Strong stances beat weak ones, and that's what we have to figure out here.