We knew that Dick Cheney wasn't a big moral conservative. A lot of press has been made that three of the four big-party-ticket slots are held by Methodists. However, the three people are a good composite of the United Methodist church; the evangelical Dubya, the social-gospel liberal John Edwards and the Main Street churchgoer Cheney. It's those tolerant-but-not-liberal folks that are allowing the theological liberals to move the UMC to the left, outvoting the evangelical wing more often than not.
Thus, it isn't a shock to see Cheney come out against the FMA. He has a lesbian daughter and has staked out a centrist position on such issues in the past.
It is a surprise, since it will take the Bush team off-message for the rest of the week leading into the convention. They'll be rumblings that Cheney is too liberal to be a good VP for Dubya, and probably a few protest votes against him next Thursday. The media will try and goad the GOP theocons to try and block his renomination and at least one or two folks will bite on that bait.
However, if the theocons hold their fire, expressing muted disappointment, this might be a blessing in disguise. It will take some heat off the anti-Swiftie coverage we've be getting, as the political reporters will have a nice juicy topic to cover, and may make the GOP look a bit more big-tent to swing voters. The political coverage of a convention always looks to try and pick a theocon-secularcon fight, and sometimes succeeds; if the theocons can bite their tongue for a week and a half, it will help their long-term cause.
What are the alternatives? Assuming that Cheney doesn't step off the ticket on his own, a floor fight over the VP nomination wouldn't be pretty. Who do we replace him with? Condi Rice won't be much improvement on this front. Santorum, maybe? The damage to the party wouldn't be worth getting a more-conservative VP on the ticket.
Oh, it's not that big of a deal. President Bush has consistently appointed people of opposing viewpoints in his cabinet and in his own staff. This should help suppress the idea of the Republican party being mind-numbed robots marching in lock stop.
I wouldn't mind seeing Powell step down. He has been more of an impediment than an asset.
Posted by: MarcV | August 25, 2004 at 01:20 PM
Interesting that this controversy seems to have Mr. Cheney a bit more respect in the liberal press. Just a week or so ago he was being portrayed as an evil capitalist pig.
The last Methodist General Conference passed a resolution in favor laws supporting traditional marriage (http://www.ird-renew.org/About/About.cfm?ID=873&c=43), so Cheney's position is left of the official church position.
And I agree with the previous commenter: there is diversity within the conservative camp. In fact, when I abandoned liberalism several years ago, I found it refreshing that I could finally think for myself and not have to memorize the daily talking points we were expected to know and spout off regularly.
Posted by: Joel Fuhrmann | August 25, 2004 at 08:49 PM