More on Thune and gay marriage

Newsweek has a report this week that Thune is betting the gay marriage issue is a winner.  I’ve posted before on what a bogus issue this is.  But let’s look at the strategy.  Thune wants to attack Daschle on what he perceives to be a “hot button” issue that can give all sorts of sound bites and slogans.  The truth is this is an issue that is truly irrelevant in the scheme of things.  The feds have nothing to do with gay marriage and shouldn’t.  It’s a matter for the states.  You’d think a candidate from the “states rights” party would realize that.  Daschle should not get sucked into this meaningless “debate”.
 
Instead of Thune, a presumably heterosexual white male, freaking out over what homosexuals are doing, he should focus on things that matter.  What about Bush’s budget busting? (Of course, that discussion might bring up the fact that what Bush and the Repugnican-controlled Congress has done to the budget is contrary to what they told voters they were going to do in the 2000 GOP platform, the 1996 GOP platform, the 1992 GOP platform, the 1988 GOP platform and the 1984 GOP platform.)  What about the abominable state of health insurance, particularly in South Dakota?  What about creating living wages in South Dakota and other parts of the country? 
 
No, Thune would rather pander to the religious right on an issue whose resolution produces nothing substantive for the people of South Dakota or the country.  But then, for Thune it’s probably not pandering.  According to Newsweek, “he does not believe in evolution.”  We really need a guy in the Senate who would rather believe wholly unsourced and unverifiable statements over scientific fact.  Of course, that does make him a lot like the liar-in-chief.