Finally, buried in a bunch of rationalizations and smoke, an admission that maybe the marriage amendment did actually help reelect Jim Doyle, and defeat its architect, John Gard, something Paul predicted back in July. Largely blaming "fate," GOP Assembly staffer, 2001 Assembly candidate, and "influential" conservative Baraboo blogger Lance Burri admits that:
...the marriage amendment, which may have spurred Democrat success in places where student turnout – fueled by massive anti-amendment efforts – brought more-than-usual Democrat votes to the polls.
You think?
Conceding that Iraq was also a factor, Burri looks back:
So, back in May, and June, and July…perhaps we should have anticipated more fully the effects of the marriage amendment...
But could we have known then that Iraq and the President’s numbers were going to drag Republicans down, come November? Could we have honestly predicted that the Bush administration – with all their Rovian strategery – wouldn’t turn that around somehow?
No. Not in July.
Funny, it was exactly July that Paul predicted that the amendment would backfire on the Republicans. And it was just about weekly all last year that Paul pointed out that Iraq and Bush would drag Republicans down.
Andrew Gordon of the UW-Madison Coillege Democrats responded to Burri and got right to the point:
This was not outside of GOP control. They could have controlled this by resisting the temptation to score political points by having Wisconsin take a vote on the lives and families of gay people. Republicans had control of the state legislature, and had the ability to rise above this kind of political pandering.
But they didn't, and it backfired. But to say that it wasn't in GOP control is absolutely asinine. Republicans wrote the amendment. Republicans passed it with their legislative majorities. Republican candidates proudly trumpeted their bigotry, but it didn't bring them any election day triumph. Tough luck. When you gamble and lose, at least accept the blame.
On the bigger picture, Gordon also nails it:
In the end, it was this strong record of failure that cost Republicans in November. It's shocking that GOP talking heads still haven't figured it out. The Democratic Tsunami didn't come out of nowhere. Republicans made it, and lost because they consistently made wrong decisions on pretty much every issue. To blame it on fate avoids accepting any responsibilities for the shortcomings and failures of the last 12 years. It also means that the GOP still hasn't learned anything, which only bodes well for maintaining and increasing our majorities in the future, because Democrats - unlike Republicans - will craft a record of results for the American people.
- Barry Orton