A
coalition
of
social
conservative
leaders
warned
the
White
House
last
week
that
they
would
withhold
support
for
President
Bush’s
proposal
to
partially
privatize
Social
Security
unless
he
enthusiastically
supports
a
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
same-sex
marriage.
In
a
Jan.
18
letter
to
White
House
political
adviser
Karl
Rove,
which
was
disclosed
by
the
New
York
Times,
the
coalition
of
conservative
religious
leaders
known
as
the
Arlington
Group
expressed
outrage
that
Bush
appeared
to
be
taking
a
“defeatist”
attitude
toward
the
proposed
constitutional
ban
on
gay
marriage.
The
sternly
worded
letter
arrived
at
the
White
House
three
days
before
Senator
Wayne
Allard
(R-Colo.)
reintroduced
on
Jan.
24
the
same
constitutional
amendment
that
would
ban
same-sex
marriage
that
the
Senate
defeated
last
year
under
the
name
of
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment.
Allard
renamed
the
measure
the
Marriage
Protection
Amendment.
Twenty-four
Republican
senators,
including
Senate
Majority
Leader
Bill
Frist
(R-Tenn.),
signed
on
as
co-sponsors
to
Allard’s
amendment.
Republican
Senators
John
Warner
and
George
Allen
of
Virginia
did
not
sign
on
as
co-sponsors
as
of
press
time.
No
Democratic
senators
agreed
to
become
co-sponsors
of
the
amendment.
The
letter
from
the
Arlington
Group
also
came
one
week
after
Bush
angered
social
conservative
leaders
by
hinting
in
an
interview
with
the
Washington
Post
that
he
might
not
push
hard
for
a
constitutional
ban
on
gay
marriage
because
the
Senate
was
unlikely
to
pass
it
any
time
soon.
White
House
officials
quickly
sought
to
clarify
Bush’s
remarks
to
the
Post,
saying
the
president
continues
to
strongly
support
such
an
amendment
and
would
urge
Congress
to
pass
it.
But
the
follow-up
statements
by
the
White
House
did
not
appear
to
mollify
members
of
the
Arlington
Group,
which
includes
anti-gay
figure
James
Dobson,
leader
of
the
Colorado-based
Focus
on
the
Family.
“We
couldn’t
help
but
notice
the
contrast
between
how
the
president
is
approaching
the
difficult
issue
of
Social
Security
privatization,
where
the
public
is
deeply
divided,
and
the
marriage
issue,
where
public
opinion
is
overwhelmingly
on
his
side,”
the
Times
quoted
the
Arlington
Group
letter
as
saying.
“Is
he
prepared
to
spend
significant
political
capital
on
privatization
but
reluctant
to
devote
the
same
energy
to
preserving
traditional
marriage?”
the
Times
quoted
the
letter
as
saying.
“If
so,
it
would
create
outrage
with
countless
voters
who
stood
with
him
just
a
few
weeks
ago,
including
an
unprecedented
number
of
African-Americans,
Latinos
and
Catholics
who
broke
with
tradition
and
supported
the
president
solely
because
of
this
issue.”
According
to
the
Times,
the
letter
chastised
the
president
for
taking
“a
defeatist
attitude
on
an
issue
that
is
at
the
top
of
our
agenda”
and
expressed
concern
that
Bush
stated
in
an
interview
shortly
before
the
election
that
he
“appeared
to
endorse
civil
unions”
for
same-sex
couples.
Senate
Republican
leaders
appeared
to
deliver
another
rebuke
to
the
social
conservative
coalition
this
week
when
they
released
a
list
of
their
top
10
legislative
priorities
for
the
next
two
years
and
did
not
include
a
constitutional
amendment
on
gay
marriage
as
part
of
that
list.
Among
the
issues
at
the
top
of
their
list,
the
Senate
GOP
leaders
said,
were
Social
Security
reform,
more
tax
cuts,
restrictions
on
personal-injury
lawsuits,
and
expansion
of
domestic
oil
exploration.
At
a
Jan.
24
news
conference,
where
the
Republican
senators
announced
their
legislative
priority
list,
Frist
said
he
would
arrange
for
the
constitutional
amendment
to
come
up
for
a
vote
sometime
during
the
109th
Congress.
But
he
said
it
might
not
reach
the
Senate
floor
until
2006.
Most
Capitol
Hill
observers
say
the
amendme
nt
has
little
or
no
chance
of
passing
during
the
next
two
years.
The
proposed
constitutional
amendment
was
defeated
in
the
Senate
and
House
last
year
after
it
failed
to
receive
the
required
two-thirds
majority
vote.
Rep.
Marilyn
Musgrave
(R-Colo.),
who
introduced
the
marriage
amendment
into
the
House
last
year,
was
expected
to
reintroduce
the
measure
within
the
next
few
weeks.
Christopher
Barron,
a
spokesperson
for
the
national
gay
group
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
said
the
developments
surrounding
the
marriage
amendment
over
the
past
week
show
that
the
social
conservative
coalition
is
at
odds
with
the
president
and
most
Republican
leaders
in
Congress.
“For
them
to
send
a
letter
like
this,
at
this
critical
juncture,
threatening
to
yank
their
support
for
something
as
critical
as
Social
Security
reform,
is
really
unconscionable,”
Barron
said.
The
Human
Rights
Campaign,
the
nation’s
largest
gay
political
group,
said
the
president
used
a
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
gay
marriage
to
gain
votes
in
the
election,
but
that
strategy
now
seems
to
be
dividing
the
Republican
Party.
“President
Bush
promised
discrimination
to
his
extremist
base
and
now
they
want
to
him
to
deliver,”
said
HRC
political
director
Winnie
Stachelberg.
“This
should
come
as
no
surprise.”
The
marriage
amendment
issue
surfaced
Tuesday
at
the
daily
White
House
press
briefing
when
reporters
asked
press
secretary
Scott
McClellan
if
Bush
planned
to
raise
the
issue
in
a
meeting
that
day
with
a
group
of
African-American
leaders.
“…[T]he
president
is
very
firm
in
his
belief
that
marriage
is
a
sacred
institution
between
a
man
and
a
woman,
and
he
is
concerned
about
steps
that
have
been
taken
by
activist
judges,”
McClellan
said.
“That’s
why
the
president
believes
it’s
necessary
for
us
to
move
forward
on
a
constitutional
amendment
to
protect
the
sanctity
of
marriage.”
Asked
if
social
conservative
leaders
were
misunderstanding
Bush’s
position
on
a
constitutional
amendment,
McClellan
said,
“Well,
I’m
making
it
very
clear
to
you
what
level
of
priority
he
places
on
it.
It
remains
a
high
priority
for
the
president,
for
the
reasons
he
has
stated
and
for
the
reasons
I
reiterated
again
today.”
Lou
Chibbaro
Jr.
can
be
reached
at
lchibbaro@washblade.com.
