Huckabee Threatens to Walk if GOP Backs Off on Gay Marriage

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee represents the worst big government impulses of the right,
happily advocating for the social conservative’s version of the
nanny state, the one that wants the government to police people’s
morals the way the progressives want the government to make us eat
our vegetables.

One of those morals Huckabee wants to push on every household is
that guys marry gals, not other guys. So when the Supreme Court
last week
declined to hear any of the gay marriage cases directed their
way, he was upset. He was further upset that the Republican Party
didn’t officially respond with outrage, and now he’s threatening to
quit the party entirely if they don’t go back to clucking their
tongues at Cam and Mitchell. From the
Washington Times:

“If the Republicans want to lose guys like me and a whole bunch
of still God-fearing, Bible-believing people, go ahead and just
abdicate on this issue — and go ahead and say abortion doesn’t
matter, either,” Mr. Huckabee said, during an interview on the
American Family Association’s “Today’s Issues” radio show. “Because
at that point, you lose me. I’m gone. I’ll become an independent.
I’ll start finding people that have guts to stand. I’m tired of
this.”

Given that many of us around these parts like to self-identify
at least as independents if not libertarians, we should avoid the
urge to mock Huckabee for wanting to go his own way if he can’t get
what he wants from his political party. But would trying to
fracture social conservatives out from the right actually
accomplish anything? Does this threat have any actual teeth?

Current trends show more and more Americans supporting letting
gay folks marry, but there’s still a huge, non-ignorable chunk of
opposition, particularly for anybody seeking national office as a
Republican. The question is how committed are voters who oppose gay
marriage to actually opposing gay marriage. As the pendulum swings
in the other direction, when does the point come that catering to
Huckabee’s desires become a liability for the party?

When Reason-Rupe polled Millennials
(pdf) about their positions on same-sex marriage, we also examined
how important the issue actually was to them. If a candidate’s
attitude toward same-sex marriage was the opposite of theirs, was
this a deal-breaker?

A significant chunk of those polled said it was. Forty-five
percent said they would not vote for a candidate whose position on
gay marriage was the opposite of theirs, regardless of other
issues. That meant 25 percent of millennials said they wouldn’t
vote for a candidate who opposed gay marriage, and 20 percent of
millennials wouldn’t vote for a candidate who supported
gay marriage. Try threading that needle.

With that knowledge, it’s easy to see why Republican leadership
is trying to just say nothing about it or say that it’s
not currently a major issue. Supporting gay marriage
recognition could cost a Republican candidate the nomination. But
either position could potentially cost the Republican nominee votes
come 2016. You can see why Sen.
Rand Paul is kind of trying to have it both ways, almost
throwing his hands up at the issue.