PLAYING TO THE BASE

Is Chris Christie Opposing Marriage Equality To Run For President?

Chris “Opposing Marriage Equality Isn’t Opposing Gay Rights” Christie just sent the clearest signal that he’s a serious GOP presidential candidate: he went on the attack against the DOMA ruling. On his radio program, Christie said that the ruling smacked of that old conservative straw man, “judicial activism.”

“It’s just another example of judicial supremacy rather than having the government run by the people we actually vote for,” Christie said on his monthly radio show. “I thought it was a bad decision.”

Not content to leave bad enough alone, Christie then went on to complain that the ruling made people who oppose marriage equality look bad.

“I thought that Justice (Anthony) Kennedy’s opinion in many respects was incredibly insulting to those people, 340-some members of Congress who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, and Bill Clinton,” Christie said. “They basically said the only reason to pass that bill was to demean people.”

Well, yes, they did. Because it does.

Also, it’s hard to say that Bill Clinton or the bill’s main sponsor, former Rep. Bob Barr, are insulted by the decision. They both had called for the law to be struck down.

What Christie seems to be doing is searching for some issue that will get him back in the good graces of the party’s right wing, whose support he will need but who distrust him for being too moderate. His comments are not the comments of a moderate.

Christie said that the ruling doesn’t affect New Jersey. But right now Christie may be the biggest roadblock to marriage equality in his state. New Jersey has the highest level of support for marriage equality among the states where it isn’t yet legal, but Christie vetoed the marriage equality measure there last year. Given that he looks to be on the road to an easy re-election, it may be a while before the Garden State catches up with the rest of the Northeast.

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