Paul Ryan caused some raised eyebrows last week when he said that while he opposed the lifting of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the military, he thinks it shouldn’t be reversed now that the new rules are in place. So naturally, he had to go kiss the ring of Focus on the Family and promise that he and Romney really and truly are anti-gay:
Daly: Focus on the Family has been behind the scenes working for years to defend marriage and to speak out for marriage and the importance of marriage. I think thirty-two out of thirty-two states where we have helped put a ballot initiative or some other mechanism in front of the people, we have won that thirty-two out of thirty-two times. It seems like when it’s in front of the people they vote for it, if it’s the state-level judges they will try to do it by fiat or if it is simply some other mechanism, the State House passes it without the vote of the people. For the Romney-Ryan ticket, when you look at marriage, what do we need to do in the culture to lift up and strengthen the very core building block of society and that’s family.
Ryan: It’s the foundation for society and for family for thousands of years. First of all, Mitt Romney and I — I’ll just say it, it’s worth repeating — we believe marriage is between one man and one woman, that’s number one. Number two, you know where I come from we had one of those amendments in Wisconsin, I was a big supporter of it and we passed it like you say, where it’s put on the ballot it passes. The second point is, President Obama gave up defending the Defense of Marriage Act in the courts, I mean, not only is this decision to abandon this law the wrong decision, it passed in a bipartisan manner, it is very troubling because it undermines not only traditional marriage but it contradicts our system of government. It’s not the president’s job to pick and choose which laws he likes. A Romney administration will protect traditional marriage and the rule of law and we will provide the Defense of Marriage Act the proper defense in the courts that it deserves.
This tightrope walk the Romney/Ryan campaign has to perform every day, signaling the wingnuts that they’re really with them while also signaling moderate voters that they aren’t too crazy, must be tough.
17 comments
Skip to comment form ↓
Gregory in Seattle
October 8, 2012 at 10:38 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This is news?
Wes
October 8, 2012 at 10:41 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Uh, no. It is entirely within the President’s purview to decide whether or not the AG’s office will defend a law. Even if the law was passed in bipartisan manner, there’s no law (that I’m aware of) saying that the President must provide a lawyer to defend it if he doesn’t agree with it.
Wes
October 8, 2012 at 10:43 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Oh, and I love this:
Can we let Paul Ryan count the Republican ballots?
Marcus Ranum
October 8, 2012 at 10:45 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
President Obama gave up defending the Defense of Marriage Act in the courts
Right. Because if he’d kept defending it, then you could attack him for defending unconstitutional legislation.
What this election cycle shows us is that political parties eventually optimize down to 2 parties (which agree, largely, but paint themselves as opposed) which then optimize down to abandonment of reality.
I am convinced that it is crucial for americans to vote for Obama, so that Romney doesn’t win – because if Romney wins it will vindicate the strategy of utterly abandoning anything close to the truth. If that happens, American politics will devolve to “A unicorn in every pot! And a pot of gold under every bed!” pure fantasy.
rory
October 8, 2012 at 10:47 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wes @4,
Ah, that explains the confusion over his marathon time.
democommie
October 8, 2012 at 10:52 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“If that happens, American politics will devolve to “A unicorn in every pot! And a pot of gold under every bed!” pure fantasy.
It’s been pretty much that way in the GOP since about 1976. The dems have been moving ever farther to the right in an attempt to stay relevant (my guess).
What’s really in danger of becoming pure fanatasy is the notion of a working federal government, outside the areas of law enforcement and exported gun barrel democracy.
blf
October 8, 2012 at 10:54 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And how the deficit will be reduced.
democommie
October 8, 2012 at 10:56 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@ rory:
Garrison Keillor actually hit on that the other night. He was doing his show from St. Paul, MN where they were holding a marathon the next day. He said Ryan was going to run it, having finished a previous marathon in 90 minutes. He said that Ryan would not be able to explain how that had happened, as he didn’t have time to do the math.
Ace of Sevens
October 8, 2012 at 10:57 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
My understanding is there have been 32 votes for 31 states and they only won 31 of those. This is only if you confine your question to constitutional amendments, otherwise you’d have several other losers. It also isn’t a measure of general sentiment as Ryan implies. These are not a representative sample. In states where gay marriage has public support, these things never go on the ballot in the first place.
dingojack
October 8, 2012 at 11:34 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Okay time for that weekly wonder:
Intrade Today
Winner of the 2012 Presidential election
(Figures in parentheses represent movement in percent over the last week)
By Party
Democratic: 62.162% (down 13.7785) [Lead by 25.424]
Republican: 37.188% (up 13.8749%)
other: 0.199% (down 0.1974)
Head to head
Obama: 64.614% (down 11.335) [lead by 29.293]
Romney: 35.359% (up 11.338)
Only 4 weeks to go!
Dingo
bobfromli
October 8, 2012 at 11:34 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
With his misstatement of his marathon times, his recitation of how many times Marriage Equality has been on ballots (it won here in NY which he apparently is not aware of and is provisional in MD pending a referendum on 11/6), his shoddy budgetary math and his cruel positions on women’s rights and social programs ought to make for an interesting evening when Biden challenges Ryan’s ‘facts’.
thisisaturingtest
October 8, 2012 at 11:41 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m sure ObamaCare is exempt from this stricture for some reason.
Scientismist
October 8, 2012 at 11:50 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Not at all. Mitt did a marvelous job of shaking up the old Etch-A-Sketch in the debate, realizing that his base is now committed, and doesn’t care how much he lies. The math is easy, once you accept that nothing need add up.
democommie
October 8, 2012 at 12:27 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Call me a starry-eyed optimist but I think it’s rather refreshing to hear a candidate make a pledge which he fully intends keeping!/s
John Hinkle
October 8, 2012 at 12:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And those state amendments would’ve worked if it hadn’t been for those damn
kidsfederal judges!Susannah
October 8, 2012 at 2:43 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“And a pot of gold under every bed.”
Would that be the old-fashioned honey bucket?
Ichthyic
October 8, 2012 at 7:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Would that be the old-fashioned honey bucket?
ah, brings back memories.
Let me tell ya the story of Honey Dipper Dan…