I have to agree with
Kos that Bush did not want to come out for openly enshrining discrimination into the basic values and laws of our American experiment. Instead he would have prefered to covertly discriminate and marginalize a segment of our population by executive order, rule design and innuendo. Coming out is an expensive procedure for Bush and it may cost the GOP a Senate seat that is somewhat safe.
Arlen Specter (R-PA) has stated that it is "premature" for him to consider the need for a constitutional amendment and that this is the proper question for the states to decide amongst and for themselves. This is a statement that is pretty damm close to the
Kerry and
Edwards' positions, so it is one that I can live with.
However he is facing a strong challenge from the extreme, theological right in the form of Rep. Pat Toomey. Toomey is one of the co-sponsors of the amendment. His entire campaign strategy is based on riling up the conservative base against the Republican in Name Only Specter. This is an issue that he will use successfully to do so in my opinion. However, I believe that Rep. Joe Hoeffel (D-PA) the main Democratic challenger should be able to beat Toomey in the general election while Specter should be able to beat Hoeffl in most circumstances.
So this is a costly exercise of Bush screwing someone else in order to further his own political career... Not that I am complaining in this case.
Crossposted at Fester's Place