Reply #27: If you think we need to walk away from gay rights, just say so [View All]

[markus]

Its a discussion we have to have and get over, so we don't have it in the middle of an election.

Should the party be identified with gay rights? Should the party be identified with the secularist "seperation of church and state" movement?

I am a strong supporter of both of those ideals. I also think the Party needs to be talking about economics, be on the offensive about it, and every time the GOP says "gays, gays, gays" or "God, God, God", we need to say, "Why are you changing the subject? What are your trying to hide? Are you personally profitting from these (tax cuts, benefit losses, job outsourcing, whatever).

I'm not saying the party should cave on these issues. It should just say, "I'm not going to amend the constitution to single out any group for any reason, except to expand Democratic liberty" or "I'm not going to use the government to tell people what they should believe or which church they should attend." Always reply with a negative characterization of the GOP's views on these issues.

On the other hand, if you are talking about "national security Democrats," I will accept that the party must be seen as strong against terror. I think the way to do that is to expose the Iraq War for the political and economic sham it is, so we can free up resources and focus on the war on terror.

"We can't really focus on the war on terror in the way we should until we extricate ourself from Mr. Bush's misadventure in Iraq."