As reported in the New York Times, in a recent e-mail religious right activist and GOP insider Paul Weyrich had this to say about the impact of the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment on his party:
As for the gay Republicans whose votes Mr. Bush might then lose, Mr. Weyrich wrote, "Good riddance."
Here's an excerpt from President Bush's Saturday radio address.
A great deal is at stake in this matter. For ages, in every culture, human beings have understood that traditional marriage is critical to the well-being of families. ... And changing the definition of traditional marriage will undermine the family structure.
But note this observation from conservative pundit Robert Novak
in his July 10 column in the New York Post:
Moderate GOP senators grumble that some longtime contributors are refusing their usual donation to the Republican presidential campaign. Their biggest grievance: Bush's endorsement of the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.
What once looked merely like a Bush/Rove ploy to rouse the
conservative base now increasingly seems like an obsession, to be
pursued all out despite certain failure in the Senate and the loss
of moderate and independent votes and dollars.