Apr 13, 2006  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

Arizona Sen. John McCain, a likely GOP presidential candidate in 2008, confirmed this week he will vote against a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between "a man and a woman" despite his recent reconciliation with Rev. Jerry Falwell.

McCain said April 13 he continues to oppose moves to amend the Constitution to block states from marrying gay couples.

Recent statements by Falwell, a longtime gay rights opponent, had indicated that McCain might support the Marriage Protection Amendment, which may leave more room for state legislature to enact gay marriage, even as it blocks judges from requiring states to do so.

The MPA is scheduled for Senate debate and vote in early June.
Some political experts have theorized that McCain's reconciliation with Falwell and other social conservatives are intended to shore up his support among crucial GOP primary voters.

Clyde Wilcox, a Georgetown University government professor and author of "The Politics of Gay Rights," said McCain is trying to prove he understands conservative Christians and issues important to them.

Wilcox said the reconciliation — which includes McCain giving a commencement speech at Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia — was a public attempt to demonstrate this.

"It sends a message that he's not hostile to the Christian right," Wilcox said. "It signals that these people would have some voice in his administration, and he's not writing them out. He's acknowledging their legitimacy within the party."

But some activists, speaking before the senator's April 13 announcement, had feared that alliance could mean conversion.

Rev. Mel White, the gay former ghostwriter for Falwell and founder of Soulforce, an interfaith movement that supports gay rights, openly hoped McCain wouldn't adopt Falwell's anti-gay views.

White said he preferred the adversarial relationship McCain had with Falwell in 2000, when the senator labeled Falwell an "agent of intolerance."

"I think McCain was right the first time about Falwell," White said. "He ought to stick with his message. In my opinion, he's stooping to conquer, and he's stooping pretty low."

But others downplayed the reconciliation, saying the ceasefire between McCain and Falwell was inevitable.

Patrick Guerriero, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, a partisan gay group, said the new alliance strengthens McCain's reputation within the GOP.

"We disagree with Falwell on a wide range of issues, and he has said some things that are outrageous," Guerriero said. "I don't want to underplay or forget that. I just think it's not shocking to people who understand American politics that the candidates will reach out to people in different segments like this."

Feud began in 2000

The public feud between McCain and Falwell dates back to the Arizona senator's presidential campaign in 2000.

Speaking to a crowd in Virginia Beach on the eve of the state's Republican primary in February 2000, McCain spoke of Falwell, Pat Robertson and others as extremists who don't represent mainstream America.

"Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right," McCain said.

In the years following that speech, McCain slowly mended his relationship with Falwell and conservative Christian groups. Finally, in a meeting that occurred early this year, Falwell met with McCain behind closed doors.

McCain said April 2 on NBC's "Meet the Press" that during the meeting, he and Falwell "agreed to disagree on certain issues, and we agreed to move forward."

To that end, McCain said he plans to speak during Liberty University's commencement ceremonies next month.

McCain defended his decision to deliver the commencement address on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." The host questioned McCain on April 4.

"Senator McCain, you're killing me here," Stewart said. "I feel like it's a condoning of Falwell's kind of crazy making to some extent to have you go down there."

McCain said he planed to deliver his usual message — "serve a cause greater than your self interest, public service is good, character is necessary" — to Falwell and others in attendance.

"And, look, they're all part of the Republican Party," McCain said. "I respect them. I may disagree, and I'm sure that I've had disagreements. I'm not gonna change."

McCain on marriage

Despite this prime-time pledge, McCain's position on civil marriage for gay Americans remained unclear until his April 13 clarification.

In 2004, McCain said he opposed the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment because it usurped a state's authority to legislate the issue.
The FMA banned states from marrying gay couples. But the Marriage Protection Amendment, a revised version of the 2004 measure, would instead block judges from interpreting the U.S. or state constitutions to require ...