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The Triad

What Will Republicans Do About Gay Marriage Now?

Even with the Senate passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, the GOP hasn't really accommodated itself to popular opinion. Plus election fraud watch.

Jonathan V. Last's avatar
Jonathan V. Last
November 30, 2022∙ Paid
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(Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

1. Same-Sex Marriage and Republicans

Yesterday the Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate. I am genuinely curious about the future of same-sex marriage as a Republican issue. Four things to consider:

(1) Start with the fact that Democrats had to push this vote to the lame-duck session in order to give Republicans cover. Had the Ds wanted to use the bill as a political weapon, they would have forced a vote on it before the election. But they wanted to pass the legislation, so they waited until Republican senators were in a safe position. (This is called governing. So weird, right?)

(2) Even with this delay, only 12 Republicans voted for it. That means that 76 percent of the Republican caucus voted against the bill.

Same-sex marriage has become overwhelmingly popular. Here’s Gallup:

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