Can someone explain how Bushco thinks the Gay Marriage Amendement helps?

I know the standard answer is that it "rallies the base". But how? If the amendment falls short, as everyone expects it to do, the RW'ers will either be pissed that, once again they're being blown off with platitudes but no action, or that the Republicans don't have the competence to deliver the goods anyway. On the remote chance that it did pass, this is June; how does passing this bill at the start of the summer get them to turn out to vote in November.

thinks this is what americans what to hear. what BS.

Using the Gay Marriage Amendment to divide might work if there weren't more important things to worry about. If there was no war, if people felt better about the direction of the country, if Bush's poll numbers were positive.

But the vibe I'm getting is that everyone knows it's just a waste of time and won't pass, so why they hell are you wasting our time on it, George?

makes them start foaming at the mouth

and fearing the godless, queer-loving Democrats

I guess the old Pres thinks they are as nuts as they were before.

And they love their fallen causes.

And it changes the story right now - I mean it's possible that they could get more out of it in the fall- but if things go on like they have been going, they might be in so deep a whole in the fall that it would make no difference.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

At least that's my guess.

Also, they might see it as a distraction from Bushco's failures, especially for the stupid, stupid, stupid people who still view Bush favorably.

permanent record. "Activist" Churches, to use the rights favorite term, will remind their sheep of this come November. It may give them a small bump but remember the point is to get these religious nuts to the voting booths, by any means necessary. Iraq is killing them, so is
immigration, now its morality, and next might be terror again.

Throw everything at the wall and hope that these people don't pay too much attention to corruption or Iraq.

"find some wackos to vote against something they hate..."

It's all about finding a bill they can stick their focus-group tested buzzwords into. They have to stimulate their base, and that takes two things: One, convince their base that they are under attack, and two, convince them that their hatred is really a good thing. This bill does both. Classic Reagan politics.

I'm sure they will then use that as one of their fighting points to help get Pubs re-elected, by saying "Look, XXXX voted AGAINST the Gay Marriage Ammendment, so they obviously want YOU to have to have millions of them GAY people as your neighbors!"

Play poker?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1356381

As nutzy rightwing as we think he is, Bush is regarded as not conservative enough by the far right. It's not like any of them are going to vote Democratic, but they might just stay home. The GOP is afraid the only chance they have in November is to get out the vote like it's never been gotten out before. And that means wooing those idiots.

Yes, they know the amendment won't pass, but they really don't care. When it fails, they'll blame it on Democrats and iffy centrist Republicans and tell the rightwingnuts they have to come out to vote or it will be even worse when the heathen lefties are in control.

They can rant and rave about it, and do noddadamthing.

When they go home they can whip up the haters saying, we need this amendment, the gays are ruining our country, our marriages are threatened.... blah, blah, spew, verbal venom, ad nauseam.

It lets Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, et cetera go to their sheep and tell them "Look, Bush is doing what he can for us. We'd get what we really want, but all these Democrats and Liberals (i.e. relatively liberal Republicans) are preventing us. So we have to work hard again this election and get more True Christians elected and these Evil Libruls out of office."

Personally, I think the adherents don't really believe that they can get a gay marriage ban anymore. But it's a proxy issue for fear and loathing of that Modern social worldview that is slowly infiltrating from the Coasts and gaining power. The one where Being Vocally Christian And White doesn't entitle you to airs of superiority, protection by your coconspirators, materialism, racism, and bad behavior and small crimes anymore. It means the end of the racket.