Bush urged to push marriage amendment

Social conservatives say President Bush must work harder before next month’s scheduled Senate vote to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman, and some even say the White House is sending all the wrong signals on the issue.

“The only thing we’re hearing now from the administration are either comments that are totally opposed to the amendment or those that appear to be opposed to the amendment,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. “The president needs to speak to the issue just as passionately as he did in the campaign.”

Conservatives said Mr. Bush could stand to push the Federal Marriage Amendment, especially given his faltering support among his base and the widespread support for defining marriage as the union of a man and a women.

“It’s always useful for him, as well as the issue, when he can identify with something that has 70-75 percent support, in contrast with some of the other issues right now,” said Gary L. Bauer, president of American Values, referring to issues such as the president’s position on immigration.

A recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed that 45 percent of self-identified conservatives disapprove of Mr. Bush’s job performance, and analysts have pointed to issues such as immigration and spending as the culprits.

After Monday night’s national prime-time Oval Office address on immigration, Mr. Perkins wrote an e-mail to supporters wondering why Mr. Bush has never done that for an issue such as marriage, which matters so much to social conservatives.

“It’s not that we are demanding this, but when the First Lady is disparaging the issue, and when the Vice President lets stand unrebutted Mary Cheney’s claims, we think some demonstration of presidential leadership is warranted — and overdue,” he wrote.

The constitutional amendment is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee today and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has set a time for a Senate floor vote the week of June 5.

In recent weeks, Laura Bush has told Fox News that she doesn’t think the issue should be used in campaigns, and Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter Mary has been highlighting her father’s past opposition to the amendment during a tour for her book.

“Amending the Constitution with this amendment, this piece of legislation, is a bad piece of legislation,” Miss Cheney, a lesbian, told Fox News, adding that the amendment was “writing discrimination into the Constitution.”

In 2004, Mr. Bush, in a five-minute address from the White House Roosevelt Room, called for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage. He said the 2003 Massachusetts court decision that legalized same-sex “marriages” for that state and the actions of mayors across the country who began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples made it clear that Congress must act.

Yesterday, White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said flatly, “Our position on this issue is well-known and unchanged.”

Matt Daniels, founder of the Alliance for Marriage, which helped draft the amendment, said Mrs. Bush was right when she said the issue shouldn’t be part of politics because the issue is so fundamental. He also said the White House has a plan and is right to stick to it.

“It may not be to the liking of some conservative groups, but it is a reasonable strategy, and the strategy is to wait until there’s an egregious abuse by the courts and then respond,” he said. “They do not want to be seen as driving this issue. As we all know, the courts are driving the issue.”

The Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual rights group, yesterday highlighted Mrs. Bush’s recent comments and Mr. Cheney’s stance in a statement on today’s Senate committee vote.

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