The White House on Friday said it was not playing election-year politics by resurrecting the fight against gay marriage, which now has been joined by black clergy, including many Democrats.
“It’s politically ripe,” White House Press Secretary Tony Snow told skeptical reporters. “Are you going to say that every time a president makes a speech that’s timed to coincide with a vote on a piece of legislation that it’s politically expedient?”
He was referring to Senate plans to debate a constitutional ban on gay marriage on Tuesday. Bush tackles the topic in his weekly radio address today and in a White House speech on Monday.
Critics say Republicans are resurrecting the issue in advance of the November elections in an effort to energize conservatives disillusioned over immigration and federal spending. The GOP is also hoping the issue peels away some black support from Democrats.
To that end, gay marriage opponents have arranged for 100 black pastors from around the nation to appear at a rally against gay marriage in Washington on Tuesday.
“Throughout America, the institution of marriage is suffering,” said Bishop Harry Jackson of Maryland, a Democrat whochairs the High Impact Leadership Coalition. “As a leader in our nation’s religious community, I cannot sit idly by.
“The faith community cannot play it safe anymore — we must act,” he added. “Black Christian leaders need to understand that they have a voice.” A Gallup poll last month found that 58 percent of Americans do not want gay marriages recognized by law as valid, while 39 percent support such validation.
In 2004, gay marriage bans were passed in all 11 states in which they were on the ballot. The issue drew large numbers of conservatives to the polls in such battleground states as Ohio and helped Republicans win the White House and expand their majorities in the House and Senate.
Mindful of the issue’s political potential, Snow emphasized that Bush “believes the institution of marriage is between a man and a woman.”
