Veep-stakes

I watched most of the vice presidential debates last night and the only real suprise to me was the brief exchange over the issue of Gay Marriage. Two things struck me. First, I’m voting for Kerry/Edwards, but after Edwards statement of his opinion on gay marriage (“Senator Kerry and I believe marriage is between a man and a woman”), all I could think was, “Gee, John, thank you so much for standing up and saying I should be treated equally. Oh wait, I guess there wasn’t any mention of equality.” So far as I could tell, the Kerry-Edwards position boils down to, “Gee, we really should recognize their relationships once they hit their death bed.” Is this really the best we can do?

The second thing that struck me is how far from removed Cheney is from Bush on this issue. He all but said he disagrees with the president’s push for the Federal Marriage Amendment, while hiding behind that great conservative foil of State’s Rights. When Edwards praised him for publicing acknowledging his daughter, all Cheney could say was “Thank you for your kind words.” (coverage ) Holy crap, his response almost seemed more humane than Edwards! So it would seem that what conservative Republicans really, really need is a gay family member to remind them just what “compassion” really is.