WASHINGTON (ABP) — To hear the vice presidential candidates talk, you'd think there was little difference between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry on the issue of same-sex marriage.
Both Vice President Dick Cheney and his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, did a delicate dance around the subject of gay marriage when it came up during the lone vice presidential debate Oct. 5 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Both expressed opposition to same-sex marriage but also support for gay rights.
When asked by moderator Gwen Ifill if he still held to the notion he expressed when asked about same-sex marriage in the 2000 vice presidential debate — that “freedom means freedom for everybody” — Cheney affirmed it. “People ought to be free to choose any arrangement they want,” he said. “It's really no one else's business.”
However, he added, “That's a separate question from the issue of whether or not government should sanction or approve or give some sort of authorization, if you will, to these relationships. Traditionally, that's been an issue for the states. States have regulated marriage, if you will. That would be my preference.”
Nonetheless, he noted that his boss, President Bush, endorsed a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages nationwide.
Currently, Massachusetts is the only state where same-sex marriage is legal, due to a ruling by the state's highest court ordering state officials to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on an equal footing with heterosexual couples.
“The fact is that the president felt that it was important to make it clear that that's the wrong way to go, as far as he's concerned,” Cheney said. “Now, he sets policy for this administration, and I support the president.”
Cheney — widely believed to be one of the most powerful and influential vice presidents in history — has been criticized for not opposing the gay-marriage ban more strongly because he has a gay daughter.
When asked to respond to Cheney, Edwards took note of the vice president's family situation. “Let me say first that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter,” he said. “And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing.”
However, Edwards noted that, while opposing the constitutional amendment, he and Kerry also oppose same-sex marriage. “I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and so does John Kerry,” he said.
When Ifill pressed Edwards on whether it was disingenuous to oppose same-sex marriage while also opposing the amendment, he expressed his support for marriage-like benefits for same-sex couples without calling the unions or partnerships “marriage.”
“We both believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Edwards said. “But we also believe that gays and lesbians, and gay and lesbian couples — those who have been in long-term relationships — deserve to be treated respectfully. They deserve to have benefits.”
Edwards accused Bush of using the marriage issue as a political wedge to invigorate his socially conservative base. “I want to make sure people understand that the president is proposing a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage — that is completely unnecessary,” the senator said. “Under the law of this country for the last 200 years, no state has been required to recognize another state's marriage.
“We ought to be talking about issues like health care and jobs and what's happening in Iraq, not using an issue that divides this country in a way that's solely for political purpose,” Edwards continued.
When given the chance to respond to Edwards, all Cheney said, was, “Let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much.”
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