GOP braces for convention battle over gay ‘marriage’
A little more than six months before the nation elects its
president, the Republican Party still has no leader. The coming convention is
proving to be one of the most up-in-the-air, contested political events in
recent memory. But behind the scenes, a battle of much greater import for the
future of our nation is brewing.
A powerful group of well-financed Republican leaders are pushing
for change in the GOP official national platform, to support homosexual
"marriage."
Politico
reports that some
of the wealthiest Republican financiers have been bankrolling the American
Unity Fund, which is fighting a well-organized lobbying effort to influence
convention delegates who will draw up the platform.
Billionaires Paul Singer, Dan Loeb, Seth Klarman and Cliff
Asness back the American Unity Fund, with its “army of volunteers spread out
across the country.”
In January's Republican National Committee meeting, American
Unity Fund staffers met with influential party leaders. The group has
been hitting the phones as well, drumming up support for same-sex
"marriage." "We need to be inclusive," explained
American Unity Fund's Jerri Ann Henry.
The tumultuous and indecisive presidential primaries have helped
the pro-gay efforts. Rush Limbaugh commented
on his radio show that gay
"marriage" advocates are "hiding behind the cloak of
invisibility brought on by the coverage of the horse race."
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins is taking the
lead against the pro-gay efforts of the American Unity Fund's
billionaires. He is on the platform committee, and is expected to
actively resist same-sex "marriage" approval in the GOP platform.
Eagle Forum president Ed Martin said, "We’re prepared for
the fight. It’s hand-to-hand combat.”
Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said the GOP
platform change would be "disastrous."
Martin added that just having the fight itself is bad for the
party. “If the Platform Committee is fighting over marriage, we’re coming
out of the convention without any momentum at all.”
The 2012 Republican official platform clearly rejected
homosexual "marriage," by expressly stating support for a
constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one
woman. The GOP platform criticized “the court-ordered redefinition of
marriage” as “an assault on the foundations of our society.”
"It is an illustration of just how quickly things can
change culturally. Four years and we're gonna do a 180 on this,"
Rush Limbaugh said.
“I hope we win. The platform is really good,” Martin said. “But the
Paul Singers of the world are spending millions.”
Surveys show that same-sex "marriage" is unpopular
with GOP faithful overall. According to a recent Pew
Research survey, a majority of Republicans oppose redefining marriage.
