Conservatives already irked at Jeb Bush over his support for immigration reform and Common Core educational standards are boring in on hints he is warming to same-sex marriage, a no-no among evangelicals who dominate early primaries and caucuses.
Two events this year put them on notice that Bush is backing away for his past hard-line position. First, while calling marriage a “sacrament,” he urged “respect” for gays in committed relationships in what some saw as an effort to finesse the issue slowly winning support among Republicans.
And then the leading 2016 GOP presidential hopeful hired a top campaign aide, David Kochel, an Iowa political pro who has advocated for same-sex marriage rights.
After Kochel’s hiring, several conservatives and evangelicals circulated stories about his support for the issue, including a legal brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to back gay marriage.
“Jeb is going to get to deal with top-tier issues we already knew about: Immigration and Common Core — and now we can add marriage to the list,” a key conservative leader said. “He’ll have to answer some new, probing questions about his position — and what policies he would pursue if he was our nominee — and if he was elected,” he said.
An evangelical leader added, “These are missteps for Jeb” that should “help” competitors like Mike Huckabee and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in states such as Iowa and South Carolina.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
