In this issue:
- "Specter: Round One"
- Senator Specter Appears to Have Won Committee Chairmanship
- News and Reviews of the Election
- More States Lining Up to Push Constitutional Amendments
- Number of Same Sex Marriages Dwindles in Massachusetts
- Your Contributions Even More Essential to Help Us Defend Marriage
Specter: Round One
Dear Defender of Marriage;
The apparent selection of Pennsylvania Senator Arlen
Specter to replace Utah Senator Orrin Hatch as the Chairman
of the Judiciary Committee signals the end of “Round One”
in what will be a long fight to protect marriage by (among other
things) restoring the proper and limited role of the federal
courts. Conservative pro-family groups, including Defend
Marriage, made it a top priority to prevent Sen. Specter from
taking over as committee chairman.
We lost.
It was essential to undertake this fight. Sen. Specter has a questionable record on a number of social issues, including abortion. He voted against confirming Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. Sen. Specter, apparently confident that the committee chairmanship was his simply by virtue of seniority, denied that President Bush had won any mandate from the voters. More troubling, he sent a not-so-veiled warning to the President not to send pro-life, pro-family Supreme Court nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
The reaction was intense, both among Senate Republicans and from pro-family groups across the country. Senate offices were flooded with faxes, e-mails and phone calls from their constituents (as so many of you who tried to call your senators found out!). I want all of you who called at our urging to know how important your effort was and how much we appreciate it.
Your pressure on the Senate translated into intense pressure on Sen. Specter. He spent several weeks attempting to assure Senate leadership, his GOP colleagues – and the American people – that he would not (in fact) impose any “litmus test” on judicial nominees, that he would give them a fair and prompt hearing in committee and that he would work for their confirmation on the Senate floor.
If he adheres to these recent assertions, the pro-family movement has accomplished something significant. I sincerely doubt Sen. Specter would have “sung a new song” without the recent outpouring of public concern. During the next four years, we must ensure that he does not forget his new lyrics.
Marriage – as well as the United States Constitution – would stand on safer ground if we had managed to displace the Senator from Pennsylvania. The “Specter Spectacle” is merely the prelude for what is to come shortly: the replacement of as many as four Supreme Court Justices during President Bush’s second term. The judicial philosophy of these new Justices will profoundly affect marriage, family life and the meaning of the United States Constitution – as Sen. Specter’s initial vow to reject pro-life and pro-family nominees clearly demonstrates.
So, what important lesson must we take from the first post-election constitutional skirmish? That consolidating the conservative gains of the last election will not translate easily--certainly not automatically--into the actions necessary to put our country back on the right track. It will take at least as much dedication, sacrifice and hard work to consolidate the election victories as it took to win them.
The election was a significant moment in American history. The American people plainly signaled its devotion to marriage, family and a return to a more principled role for state and federal judiciaries. But Sen. Specter has reminded us that we cannot afford the luxury of silence or inaction.
November 2 provided an opportunity for success. Sen. Specter’s conduct during the past two weeks, however, demonstrates that taking full advantage of this opportunity will require hard work.
True defenders of marriage (and the American Constitution) will be equal to the labor that lies ahead.
Let’s roll up our sleeves!
Sincerely,
Richard G. Wilkins
Chairman
Senator Specter Appears to Have Won Committee Chairmanship
Despite a concerted effort by pro-family groups and conservatives across the country to prevent it, the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter to be the new chairman. The vote followed intensively lobbying by Sen. Specter since the election and a series of assurances, some contained in a public statement, that he would not apply a litmus test to Bush judicial nominees and would move nominations expeditiously. Article here.
News and Reviews of the Election
Understandably, reaction to the results of the election and analysis of what lead to the outcome dominated the news for the past few weeks. Here are several worth reading.
- In “Gays take fight on marriage to court” the Washington Times reviews some of the legal actions taken by homosexual activists in response to the passage of the state marriage constitutional amendments passed on Election Day as well as reports on their increased focus on achieving their goals through the courts.
- The Christian Science Monitor examines how the currents and attitudes in the American electorate contributed to the election results and what it might mean for politics in the future in its article “How lines of the culture war have been redrawn”.
- In his commentary “New gay political strategies,” James Driscoll examines the strategy of homosexual activists that led to the stunning reversal they suffered on Election Day and suggests what their strategy should have been and now should be in the future in light of the election results.
- Top presidential advisor Karl Rove, when asked in a Fox News Interview if passing a constitutional amendment would be a high priority in the President Bush’s second term, answered “absolutely.”
More States Lining Up to Push Constitutional Amendments
Following their successes in passing all 13 constitutional defense of marriage amendments on state ballots on Election Day, pro-marriage supporters are now looking at which states to focus on in 2005. It appears that there will be constitutional marriage amendment efforts mounted in at least ten states next year. Article here.
Number of Same-Sex Marriages Dwindles in Massachusetts
After an initial flurry of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts in the week following their legalization in mid-May, the number of marriages performed over the past six months has dropped off dramatically. Approximately 2500 same-sex marriage licenses were issued across the state in the first week following legalization. In the sex months following only a total of about 1700 licenses have been issued, an average of less than 300 per month. Article here.
Your Contributions Even More Essential to Help Us Defend Marriage
We appreciate your generous financial support this year and ask that you continue to support us in the fight to defend marriage. To take advantage of the election victory and the opportunities we have to set the country back on the right track will take even more commitment from all of us in the period ahead. Please consider making a contribution of at least $25 if you can, but any amount you can afford will be helpful. If enough people contribute at least a little, together it makes a huge difference.
You can easily and securely make a contribution online or print out a form to mail in a contribution.
Your contribution will be made to United Families International (UFI), a 501 (c )(3) organization, so it is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Defend Marriage is a project of UFI.
To specifically designate your contribution
If you would like to designate your contribution to go entirely to the Defend Marriage Project you can easily do so by making a contribution that ends with 4 cents, i.e. $25.04, $173.04, $1,000,000.04, and so on. That will automatically flag it to be applied entirely to Defend Marriage.
Thank you in advance for your generous support!
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