Gay Floridians
have started to marry and former Gov. Jeb Bush is making the states' rights argument regarding marriage equality, which puts him in the slightly-more-reasonable-than-Rick-Santorum realm of 2016 GOP hopefuls. From the
Miami Herald:
“It ought be a local decision. I mean, a state decision,” the former governor said Sunday in a brief interview. “The state decided. The people of the state decided. But it’s been overturned by the courts, I guess.”
Of course, pronouncements like that aren't going to help Bush persuade millennials that he's a man of the future in 2016. But it could reflect a slight moderation of some Republican candidates. In fact, presently, Hillary Clinton also backs the right of states to decide, though she has stated her personal support for same-sex marriage.
But the tepid remarks might also put Bush to the left of Mitt Romney, who repeatedly stated his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman during his 2012 presidential bid. Not to mention to the left of his brother, George W., who as president supported a congressional effort to enshrine antigay discrimination in the U.S. Constitution.
Like most every present-day politician (including Hillary Clinton), Bush has walked a twisted path on same-sex marriage rights. He opposed it as governor (1999-2007) but said the 2008 ballot measure that amended the Sunshine State's constitution to prohibit gay marriage was unnecessary since it was already illegal under state law.
In a 2012 PBS interview, however, Bush had laudatory words for some same-sex parents.
“[I]f people love their children with all their heart and soul and that’s what they do and that’s how they organize their life, that should be held up as an example to others, because we need it.”
Last year, Bush stressed that the GOP must be careful not to be viewed as "anti-everything,"
including being "anti-gay":
"We're associated with being anti-everything," Bush said. "Way too many people believe that Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker. Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates because those voters feel unloved, unwanted, and unwelcome in our party."
Indeed.