Christie Warns Marriage Debate Not Over Yet

[William769]

New Jersey governor Chris Christie says Republicans should not give up easily in the debate over same-sex marriage, even as more states increasingly approve laws to welcome marriage equality.

Christie and other Republican governors took on the issue at the National Governors Association meeting in Nashville over the weekend. He said that while marriage equality is a "settled issue" in New Jersey, most "states in the country still ban same-sex marriage, so I don't think it's time to stop having the discussion."

He added, according to Politico, “I don’t think there’s some referee who stands up and says, ‘OK, now it’s time for you to change your opinion.' The country will resolve this over a period of time. But do I think it’s resolved? No.”

Meanwhile other Republican governors like Iowa's Terry Branstad and Wisconsin's Scott Walker both said it would be more fruitful to focus on economic issues, according to the Associated Press. Still, Walker's comments follow his appeal of a federal judge's ruling striking down Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage.

http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2014/07/14/christie-warns-marriage-debate-not-over-yet

[savalez]

1. Oooooooo Scaaaary! n/t

[uppityperson]

2. This reads like The Onion

[Zorra]

3. Christie and his pals most likely believe the debate over "mixed race" marriages is still fresh

on the table as well.

They'd have better luck re-using condoms.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. I said this in another thread, but Christie's behavior repeatedly suggests he does not know what the

word 'over' means.

[closeupready]

7. Oh yes he does, when prefaced with the prefix "left-".

[el_bryanto]

5. could also be "Look those voters aren't going to distract themselves. My clear corruption

will only become more and more obvious unless people are distracted by some social issue."

edited to add - not to imply this isn't an important issue; just that Gov. Christie might like the distraction.

Bryant

[PeaceNikki]

6. Interesting...

At a gathering of governors in the South this weekend, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker downplayed the importance of gay marriage as a political issue.

"I don't think the Republican Party is fighting it," Walker said of gay marriage. He spoke with The Associated Press during an interview this weekend at the National Governors Association's summer meeting in Nashville.

"I'm not saying it's not important," continued Walker, who is considering a 2016 presidential bid should he survive his re-election test this fall. "But Republicans haven't been talking about this. We've been talking about economic and fiscal issues. It's those on the left that are pushing it."

Walker, like other ambitious Republican governors, is trying to strike a delicate balance. While the Republican Party's religious conservatives continue to fight against same-sex marriage, its governors appear to be backing off their opposition — in their rhetoric, at least. For some, the shift may be more a matter of tone than substance as the GOP tries to attract new voters before the midterm elections. Nonetheless, it is a dramatic turn for a party that has long been defined by social conservative values.

...


Other Republican governors, however, including New Jersey's Republican Gov. Chris Christie, opted against appealing a similar ruling in his state, clearing the way for gay marriage to become legal there. But his decision came only after he vetoed his state legislature's initial effort to legalize the practice.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/gov-scott-walker-says-gay-marriage-not-a-top-election-issue-b99310318z1-266949801.html

Absolute HORSESHIT. Walker is a defendant in the suit and FULLY supports the WI AG's fight against it. Also, the Republican Party's official platform, as adopted in 2012, calls for a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as "the union of one man and one woman," while formally supporting Republican-led campaigns to make the same change in state constitutions. Walker and VanHollen are wasting a ton of money trying to fight for a law that has been deemed unconstitutional. Because they can and because they want to and because they just don't care.