Texas Governor Rick Perry's stance on
gay marriage appears to please few.
Despite not having officially entered
the race for the White House, Perry continues to poll higher than the
GOP's current field of candidates.
The “unapologetic social
conservative” this week was forced to walk back comments he made
about being “fine” with New York legalizing gay marriage.
After
addressing a group of roughly 1000 conservatives in Denver on Friday,
Perry told reporters that the remains committed to the 10th
Amendment, but added that he supports a federal amendment banning gay
marriage. Such an amendment would restrict states from deciding on
the issue.
Jennifer
Rubin at The Washington Post called Perry's position –
which is nearly identical to Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's – a
“problem.”
“Perry's backtrack annoyed some in
the party who saw this as waffling,” Rubin wrote, citing an email
from Margaret Hoover.
“As long as his stance hasn't changed
from being an ardent 10th Amendment supporter, he can be
personally opposed to same-sex marriage, but still support states
rights,” Hoover said. “Perry should leave it where it is – and
not go further to support a federal marriage amendment (that's so
2004).”
Rubin accurately noted that social
conservatives are not looking for Perry's personal opposition, they
want his support for measures that would ban gay marriage, stem its
spread, and even repeal it.
“This is the sort of issue over which
pols who lack experience in a national race can stumble,” Rubin
wrote.