AFA Action Alert 10/06/2000
GOP Veep Candidate Fudges On Social Issues In Debate
America Family Association today expressed its deep disappointment in the performance of Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney when it came to social issues during the debate held in Danville, Kentucky last night.
"While we certainly thought former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney did an excellent job putting forth such conservative causes as less government, a stronger military and tax reform, we were very frustrated that he punted on the conservative perspective on serious social issues," said AFA vice president Tim Wildmon.
Wildmon specifically mentioned Cheney's answers on the controversial abortion pill RU-486, newly-approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), and same-sex relationships.
While reemphasizing the pro-life posture of the GOP ticket, on RU-486 Cheney said there was nothing else that could be done to either limit or restrict the distribution of the pill.
"It's called an abortion pill, but that's a euphemism for the real nature of RU-486, which is human pesticide," Wildmon said. "We hoped that Secretary Cheney would have been stronger in condemning RU-486. In fact, he didn't even go so far as to repeat Governor Bush's rather mild remark in his own debate Tuesday, which was that he was 'disappointed' in the FDA's decision."
On the subject of same-sex relationships, Cheney refused to say homosexual marriage was wrong. Instead, he said merely that states should be allowed to regulate such matters for themselves, even though Republicans led the charge in 1996 to pass a federal prohibition of same-sex marriage when Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act.
Cheney concluded his comments by saying, "I think we ought to do everything we can to tolerate and accommodate whatever kinds of relationships people want to enter into."
"Live and let live is fine as a policy for people's private lives, but Secretary Cheney should have been much stronger in saying that same-sex marriages are wrong," Wildmon said. "Secretary Cheney basically said that if a state decided to legalize homosexual marriage - or polygamy, for that matter - he thought that was 'appropriate,' as long as it was decided on the state level.
"That plays right into the hands of homosexual activists," Wildmon said. "A group like the Boy Scouts, for example, is under assault right now from pro-homosexual liberals in this country. We certainly don't need to leave them wide open by having Republicans refuse to take a strong stand."
Action Needed
Contact Amanda Scoggins, Bush/Cheney Campaign Family Liaison, and politely express your deep disappointment in vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney when it came to social issues during the debate held last night. Has the Bush Campaign misplaced the GOP platform, which clearly states that marriage is between a man and a woman. Have they forgotten that America's children need a father and a mother? Do the Republican candidates care enough about babies who will be killed with RU-486 to declare that the FDA ruling on distributing the pill in America is wrong?
Amanda Scoggins Bush/Cheney Campaign Family Liaison Email: <ascoggins at georgewbush.com>
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Breaking Our Hearts By Gary Bauer 10/6/2000
I can't begin to imagine how many hearts were broken last night in living rooms across America. Bernard Shaw asked a predictable question on homosexual rights during the vice presidential debate and the "pro-family" candidate answered by repeating every false idea that we have fought against for 25 years. Below is Dick Cheney's response:
"This is a tough one, Bernie. The fact of the matter is, we live in a free society and freedom means freedom for everybody. We don't get to choose, and shouldn't be able to choose, and say 'You get to live free, but you don't.' And I think that means that people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into. It's really no one else's business in terms of trying to regulate or prohibit behavior in that regard. The next step then, of course, is the question you asked of whether or not there ought to be some kind of official sanction, if you will, of the relationship or if these relationships should be treated the same way a conventional marriage is. That's a tougher problem. That's not a slam-dunk. I think the fact of the matter, of course, is that matter is regulated by the states. I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions and that's appropriate. I don't think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area. I try to be open-minded about it as much as I can and tolerant of those relationships. And like Joe, I also wrestle with the extent to which there ought to be legal sanction of those relationships. I think we ought to do everything we can to tolerate and accommodate whatever kind of relationships people want to enter into."
This answer is wrong no matter how you analyze it. The last 30 years have been increasingly more problematic because of the way people have chosen to live without regard to the consequences to themselves or others. The GOP platform recognizes that marriage is between a man and a woman. Public opinion polls overwhelmingly support our view. Every state referendum, even in states like California, have gone our way on this issue. There can be no "politically smart" explanation for the answer. More importantly, morally the answer given last night is a disaster. Children need a mother and a father. Marriage between one man and one woman is God's ordained institution. A nation or a state can't trifle with it unless they are willing to be judged by God for it.
This heart breaking response comes after a similar exchange on abortion in the presidential debates. At no time was the sanctity of life position explained and there was continued surrender on RU-486 and Supreme Court Justices. Again on the most profound moral questions most voters are not hearing a real difference in governing visions.
Few people want an end to the Clinton/Gore era more than you and me and people with our values. We can have lower tax rates, a GOP approach to Social Security, and stop socialized medicine, but none of that will matter much or make us a nation blessed by God if we live in a country where men marry men, 1-1/2 million babies a year are aborted and our children can't voluntarily pray at their schools. Unless that is made clear, we will condemn the country to four more years of what we have already endured for the last eight. Transcript: Vice Presidential Debate Washington Post <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/elections/debatetext100500.htm>
Will candidates weigh in on Scouts? WorldNetDaily <http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/20001006_xnbre_will_candi.shtml>
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