Why is SSM such a big deal?

[publicunofficial]

lol this'll be fun

[publicunofficial]

Actual answer: If you live in an urban area, or are under the age of 30, you probably have someone close to you who is openly gay. The idea that they still cannot get married in certain areas, and that there is one major party that would probably consider rolling back some of the rights they've recently gained if they ever had the opportunity, can be a major rallying point.

There are many young people I know that have no interest in politics, except when it comes to gay marriage.

[publicunofficial]

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I think his point was that voters who are frustrated and unhappy should stop electing the same people over and over again, i.e. try something new for once.  Baltimore is a monolithic left-wing oligarchy, and it hasn't really served them well.

Exactly.

So they should instead vote for a party that only mentions urban centres as a scare story to whip up their base? People won't just vote against their interest for a party that explicitly dislikes them, never mind how long Democrats have been in charge.

And I do feel nervous that many areas are one-party states, but the modern GOP is not a party interested in cities. Perhaps that is why electoral reform will be helpful.

This. The Republicans demonize and fear any group that doesn't vote for them monolithically, and then has the gall to ask why they continue to vote Democrat.

[publicunofficial]

Unfortunately, this is a textbook example of the left using division and hatred as a political tactic.

The only losers to be made out of the SSM debate are Americans who honestly and ardently believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage.  Now, this isn't to say that opponents of gay marriage have good reasons for their opposition - because, quite frankly, they don't.  However, the narrative that opposition to SSM is rooted in hatred and bigotry of homosexuals is just plain wrong:  if that were the case, we'd be seeing calls for the criminalization of homosexual activity, et cetera.

Rather, the American left is much more comfortable using gay marriage as an issue to drum-up electoral support among the hopelessly young and mindlessly cosmopolitan for an agenda that actually comes at the expense of the working poor, racial relations and the environment.  Such is the problem when a center-left party tries to build a base by appealing to conservatives.

Hey, remember 2004 when Republicans used calls for the criminialization of homosexual activity as an effort to drum-up electoral support? Good times.

It blows me away when Republicans claim it's hypocritical to support gay rights while not supporting religion's right to infringe on gay rights. It's not hypocrisy, it's consistency.