Republicans seem prepared to try to use what anti-gay feelings remain among the American electorate to boost gain the upper hand in at least one state that swung for President Obama in 2008, North Carolina.
The Democrat in charge of winning legislative races nationally says bring it on.
Iowa state Sen. Mike Gronstal (D), leads his party’s caucus in the state Senate in the Hawkeye State. He also chairs the DLCC, the branch of the national party charged with boosting Democratic numbers across the nation’s many state legislatures.
TPM sat down with Gronstal Tuesday in DC to discuss the state of legislative races and the GOP’s new push to put limiting gay rights back on the ballot in 2012. In North Carolina, which Obama won in the last election, the Republican-controlled legislature this week voted to put a state Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the state’s May primary ballot.
That will likely bring conservative money and attention to a state Obama would very much like to hang onto in the 2012 general in the fall. (Recent polls show that’s already a close call at this point.)
Gronstal may be uniquely situated to discuss what effect that fight might have on Democrats in the Tar Heel State. As a prominent Democrat in Iowa, he’s defended his state’s rules allowing gay marriage in a state with deep conservative leanings.
He told TPM that if Republicans think backing gay marriage bans in places like North Carolina will help them win, they’re not paying attention. The country is shifting toward gay rights, as polls have shown. That means, Gronstal said, that Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by backing anti-gay sentiment over expanding civil rights.
“It’s shortsighted,” he said. “While there may be some narrow political advantage at this moment in time on that issue, that advantage slips every year. And eventually, they’ll have to come back and figure out what to do.”
Ten Democrats in the North Carolina state Senate voted with the GOP to put the gay marriage ban before state voters. Gronstal said Democrats would be better served to stand up for gay rights, and put themselves on what polling strongly suggests will be the right side of history. That’s the best way to beat back the GOP efforts to play to aspects of their base worried by the prospect of gay marriage.
“[Republicans] are giving up long-term support from a significant part of the population,” Gronstal told TPM. “Ten years ago, twelve years ago, those constitutional amendments were passing with 75-80% of the vote. They’re clearly down.”
“The next generation of leaders in our county is going to have to deal with the fact that the majority of citizens find this acceptable,” he continued. “And maybe not even find it acceptable — but find it’s none of their business.”
