By Amy Contrada. She is the author of Mitt Romney’s Deception: His Stealth Promotion of “Gay Rights” and “Gay Marriage” in Massachusetts.
Regarding Maggie Gallagher’s article at National Review:
Gallagher is wrong. Romney did not do all he could to defend marriage. He did all he could to defend an illegitimate Court ruling.
See my recent article: Mitt Romney’s Other Flip-Flop: Follow the Court or the Constitution? All Romney had to do to preserve marriage was follow the Constitution (as Hugh Hewitt, Phyllis Schlafly, Mat Staver, Prof. Hadley Arkes, Jan LaRue, Pat Buchanan, and various influential Mass. attorney-advisors told him at the time). But he said he was following the “law” in implementing the same-sex marriages (without legislative authorization!).
He would also tell various audiences (in his WSJ op ed 2004, Federalist Society 2005, and later speeches, & his recent NOM pledge to appt constitutionalist judges) he is against judicial activism. He transformed the Const. crisis into being all about democracy: the people, not the Court, ruled and had to vote on marriage. But what about his oath to defend the Constitutional separation of powers?
But besides that issue, why didn’t Romney support the good 2002 marriage amendment”? That was Massachusetts’ last realistic chance to pass an amendment defining marriage as one man/one woman. His reason? “Too extreme” – because it would have outlawed civil unions! (Documented in my book, Mitt Romney’s Deception, Ch. V & VI. Go to Amazon/”See Inside” feature if you can’t buy it.)
His later support for a flawed amendment defining marriage, which also established “civil unions” for same-sex couples in the constitution as the legal equivalent or marriage, was absurd. (His lobbying Repubs in legislature made the diff. in its initial passage. Details in my book.) See Ch. VI in my book for a detailed analysis of why his amendment strategy was not going to work – and I think he knew that.
Please also see my site: http://www.amycontrada.com/ for two new articles (R’s Job Creation, R’s Judicial Appts). See also Wes Vernon’s recent review at RenewAmerica: ‘The Romney’ as viewed by a Massachusetts conservative.
In my book, I document that even Maggie Gallagher realized that Romney’s May 2004 marriage licenses (“Party A/Party B” instead of “Bride/Groom”) were issued without legislative authorization. Maggie then flip-flopped. But just the next month she said he was a “hero” in the defense of marriage! (in Natl Review)
Amy Contrada www.AmyContrada.com
