Same Old Same Sex

Hillary Clinton has just officially changed her mind on same-sex marriage (not long after husband Bill explained why he now opposes his Defense Of Marriage Act).  Republican Senator Rob Portman has also come out in favor of gay marriage.  And President Obama famously changed his view on the issue last year.

Regardless of the personal reasons for these conversions, there's no question the American public is coming around. The general trend over the past couple decades has turned gay marriage from being politically poisonous to popular.  We seem to have reached the tipping point where more support the idea than oppose it, and it seems unlikely the trend won't continue.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.  It means we'll never again have a Democrat candidate for President who doesn't support marriage for gay couples.  The bigger question is how long will it take for Republicans to do what Democrats are doing right now.  I suspect the change will be swift--that within a decade we'll have a Republican candidate for the White House who supports gay marriage.

But perhaps social conservatives--still the base of the GOP--won't be so easily moved, which will make it harder for Republicans with national ambition to straddle the difference.  But if the Republicans don't change, there may be serious consequences.  The question, I suppose, is how powerful is the issue--is gay marriage a dealbreaker (for either type of voter)?  It would seem the dilemma will only get worse for Republicans if they can't figure out a solution--older voters hve trouble accepting gay marriage, but the younger generation just can't understsand the opposition.

PS  I see Dennis Prager, a strong opponent of same-sex marriage, has just written about Portman's change of heart:

In this regard, Mr. Portman speaks for virtually every progressive/left/liberal position on virtually every subject. To understand leftism — not that the senator has become a leftist, but he has taken the left-wing position on redefining marriage — one must understand that above all else leftism is rooted in emotion, not reason. That is why left-wingers discussing their social positions always refer to compassion and fairness — for blacks, for illegal immigrants, for poor people, and, of course, for gays. Whether a progressive position will improve or harm society is not a progressive question. That is a conservative question. What matters to progressives is whether a position emanates from compassion.

This is news to leftists.  I think they believe they've got a clearer understanding of how the world works and if anything it's the right's argument that are based on emotion.  But when either side argues, they should explain why the other side's argument fails, not insult the other side by saying they're too filled with emotion to think clearly.  (I'm not saying emotion plays no role in political fights--it's probably the most important factor. I'm just saying one shouldn't claim the other side is emotional while your side is just being rational.)

The idea that progressives don't ask if programs they support will improve or harm society is bizarre.  I would assume it's the first and perhaps only question they ask. The difference between "progressives" and conservatives is a difference, mainly, in what they value. They also have different assumptions (related to their values) regarding how the world works, so they can often start with the same set of facts and come to different conclusions.

As far as "compassion and fairness," don't both sides favor that?