Click Here For No Sympathy for Cheneys

"Stout comes off as unsympathetic to the Cheney family and tries hard to make gay marriage a wedge issue between Cheney and Bush: "Democrats countered that the White House was trying to make people forget the debate, which they said Mr. Kerry had won. Moreover, the Democrats said, Mr. Cheney and his wife have both mentioned that their daughter Mary is gay and have talked about her with love and pride. Ms. Cheney is an official in her father's campaign. In fact, on Aug. 24, as Republicans were drafting their party platform and calling for a constitutional amendment that 'fully protects' the institution of marriage between man and woman, Mr. Cheney expressed his affection for his daughter at a rally in Davenport, Iowa, telling a forum that people should be free to enter 'into any kind of relationship they want to.' That statement seemed to put Mr. Cheney at odds with President Bush, who supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Gay rights advocates accused the Bush administration at the time of trying to keep its conservative Christian base through Mr. Bush's stance, while broadening the Republican base by Mr. Cheney's seeming moderation on an emotional issue."