I'm not the only one who viscerally felt that John Edwards'
raising the issue of Mary Cheney during the
vice presidential debate had the feel of a sting. Said Edwards
in response to a question about gay marriage (which Cheney had
answered without mentioning his daughter):
let me say first that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing.
As blogger Mickey Kaus of Slate's Kausfiles put it, "I got the heebie jeebies when [Edwards] smarmily praised Cheney for having a gay daughter." My interpretation: Hello, socially conservative-leaning independents. Did you know about this.
Addendum: The Wall Street Journal's James
Taranto agrees. From his Wednesday OpinionJournal.com debate
analysis:
At present, a vast majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage; when it comes up to a statewide vote--whether in a red state or blue--voters typically reject it by majorities ranging from 60% to 80%. This means there are a lot of Democrats who...belong to their party despite its views on social issues.
We don't agree with the gay-rights crowd that "bigotry" is behind all opposition to same-sex marriage, but there's no doubt that some opponents harbor antigay prejudice. Were these the voters John Edwards was addressing when he brought Cheney's daughter into the debate?