Editorial: Gay Marriage Games

Washington Post, February 13, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38160-2004Feb12.html
Editorial: Gay Marriage Games
In his State of the Union speech only a few short weeks ago,
President Bush framed his support for a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the conditional tense. Responding to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision recognizing same-sex marriage as a right under the state constitution, Mr. Bush stated that if "activist judges" insist "on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process." Now,
however, Post staff writers Mike Allen and Alan Cooperman report that the Bush administration has decided to dispense with the hypotheticals and endorse the amendment - though presidential spokesman Scott McClellan
refused Wednesday to confirm any change. The move, assuming the administration follows through, prompts the question of what exactly has changed since the president's speech. Massachusetts, after all, is still the only state where judges have decreed gay marriage. Why is the president so quickly abandoning his previous position?