Dems treat gays to 'Throwback Mountain' by Deb Price

Published Monday, March 13, 2006 by Kay Springstroh | E-mail this post

" National Democratic leaders are hyping their prospects, predicting their melodrama's popularity will skyrocket their party back into take-charge majorities on both sides of Capitol Hill.

But sneak previews I've seen of performances the national party intends to showcase are scenes from a real horror show. Call it 'Throwback Mountain'

What an unwelcome sequel. Remember who controlled Congress and the White House in 1993 when the Don't Act, Don't Tell ban passed, slapping every gay patriot in the face? Democrats. And when the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act breezed into law in 1996? The Dems controlled the presidency.

Now the national Democrats' 2006 marquee is ablaze with the names of carefully selected stars. Notably missing from the party's spotlight are candidates who embrace gay marriage; their ranks include strong gubernatorial contenders in two of the largest states, New York and California. So who is cast in leading roles?

Newly elected Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine, a vocal opponent of gay marriage, was tapped to give the Democratic response to Bush's State of the Union address.

Tennessee's Rep. Harold Ford, boosted by national Democrats for a Senate seat being vacated by the GOP, brags of voting in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to outlaw gay marriage.

The Democrat recruited by the national party to challenge deeply prejudiced Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey Jr., boasts, "The values I live by call on me to fight discrimination wherever I find it." Only trouble is, he doesn't find discrimination when he sees gay couples prevented from protecting themselves and their children by marrying.

And, of course, there will be plenty of cameo appearances by Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is quick to point out she supports the Defense of Marriage Act. The party's leading lady sees nothing wrong with a federal law that keeps elderly gay partners from getting Social Security survivor benefits.

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