The
Log
Cabin
Republicans
this
week
launched
a
$1
million
TV
advertising
campaign
in
swing
states
targeting
President
Bush’s
support
for
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
gay
marriage.
The
30-second
spot
opens
with
Vice
President
Dick
Cheney,
framed
in
grayscale,
speaking
clearly
and
deliberately
during
his
2000
vice
presidential
debate
about
freedom
and
his
belief
that
people
should
be
free
to
enter
into
any
kind
of
relationship
they
choose.
After
several
images
of
gay
couples
and
past
civil
rights
battles,
Cheney
appears
on
the
screen
again
and
states
the
position
he
took
gay
marriageat
that
time:
“I
don’t
think
there
should
necessarily
be
a
federal
policy
in
this
area.”
Two
words,
“We
Agree,”
follow
Cheney’s
remarks.
The
ad
campaign
launched
on
Thursday
was
designed
to
be
simple
and
powerful,
said
Patrick
Guerriero,
LCR’s
executive
director.
But
it
was
also
meant
to
show
the
duplicity
of
the
Bush
administration’s
recent
backing
of
a
federal
marriage
amendment
in
basic
shades
of
black
and
white.
“The
radical
right
wanted
a
culture
war.
They’ve
got
it
now,”
Guerriero
said
during
a
news
conference
announcing
the
campaign.
“This
is
our
line
in
the
sand.
We
were
forced
by
a
sense
of
history
and
responsibility
to
respond
immediately
and
harshly.
“Our
membership
demanded
it,
and
our
integrity
demanded
it.
The
exclusion
and
discrimination
embodied
in
this
amendment
violates
the
principles
upon
which
the
Republican
Party
is
founded.”
Log
Cabin’s
decision
to
voice
its
opinion
so
forcefully
and
publicly
against
one
of
President
Bush’s
election-year
initiatives
comes
in
stark
contrast
to
the
group’s
late
endorsement
of
him
in
2000.
The
gay
rights
group
initially
endorsed
Sen.
John
McCain
(R-Ariz.)
in
the
primaries
and
aired
radio
ads
critical
of
Bush
in
California.
That
opposition
led
to
Bush’s
refusal
to
meet
with
LCR
leaders
after
he
locked
up
the
nomination.
LCR
members
say
they
cautioned
the
Bush
administration
against
sanctioning
the
federal
amendment,
but
once
Bush
and
Cheney
officially
backed
a
federal
marriage
amendment,
the
gay
Republican
organization
said
it
needed
to
take
measures
to
keep
the
party
“on
the
right
side
of
history,”
Guerriero
said.
In
addition
to
airing
the
Cheney
ad,
Log
Cabin
officials
said
they
are
in
the
process
of
delivering
1,000
copies
of
the
commercial
to
the
doors
of
key
Republicans
across
the
country,
including
GOP
congressmen,
governors
and
members
of
the
Republican
National
Committee.
The
large-scale
effort
by
Log
Cabin
to
raise
awareness
surrounding
the
marriage
amendment
issue
marks
the
first
time
the
group
has
aired
television
ads
in
its
27-year
history,
according
to
Mark
Mead,
Log
Cabin’s
political
director.
As
a
result,
he
said
the
group
sacrificed
funds
reserved
for
buttressing
the
campaigns
of
Republican
candidates
in
the
general
election
—
including
Bush’s.
Patrick
Guerriero,
executive
director
of
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
when
asked
if
his
group
is
being
disloyal
to
President
Bush,
said,
‘I
believe
loyalty
means
having
the
courage
to
tell
someone
when
they
are
wrong.’
(File
photo
by
Luis
Gomez) |
Guerriero
said
the
LCR
board
is
considering
breaking
with
another
of
its
traditions
by
recommending
a
candidate
outside
its
party
for
president.
Presumed
Democratic
presidential
candidate
John
Kerry’s
platform
on
gay
marriage
—
the
support
of
state
amendments
with
a
caveat
for
civil
unions
—
may
offer
a
more
palatable,
and
moderate,
option
for
the
organization,
according
to
Guerriero.
“President
Bush’s
decision
to
use
the
bully
pulpit
truly
jeopardized
our
endorsement
of
him,”
Guerriero
said.
“If
this
party
wants
to
listen
to
the
advice
of
Gary
Bauer,
Jerry
Falwell
and
Pat
Robertson,
I
would
remind
them
that
all
three
are
failed
presidential
candidates.
I
don’t
understand
why
Karl
Rove
would
take
counsel
from
three
failed
presidential
candidates.”
Guerriero’s
strong
assertions
at
a
news
conference
Wednesday
seemed
to
contrast
sentiments
he
expressed
in
the
New
York
Times
on
Monday.
Guerriero
reiterated
in
an
interview
with
the
paper
that
Bush’s
support
for
the
federal
amendment
has
imperiled
LCR’s
endorsement,
but
he
added,
“Our
members
are
intensely
conservative.
We
are
not
going
to
let
one
moment
make
us
run
away
scared.”
Mead
likened
Bush’s
proclamation
on
the
amendment
to
a
kick
in
the
stomach,
but
LCR
has
already
backed
off
from
demanding
the
GOP
embrace
full
marriage
rights
for
gays.
Guerriero
claimed
that
the
group
already
knew
the
Bush
campaign
opposed
gay
marriage,
but
in
the
coming
weeks,
it
“wanted
to
know
what
the
president
was
for.”
The
White
House
did
not
respond
by
press
time
to
requests
for
an
interview
regarding
the
LCR
ads.
Bush’s
position
on
the
FMA
propelled
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans
into
the
most
forceful
and
public
disagreement
with
the
president
in
its
history,
according
to
Guerriero.
It
also
placed
the
organization
in
the
role
of
a
watchdog
for
its
party
—
a
role
Guerriero
emphasized.
“As
Republicans,
it
is
our
obligation
to
stand
up
and
speak
out
when
our
party
is
headed
in
the
wrong
direction,”
he
said.
“Loyalty
doesn’t
mean
checking
one’s
principles
at
the
door.
I
believe
loyalty
means
having
the
courage
to
tell
someone
when
they
are
wrong.”
