2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Hillary needs to stop with her bul**hit about DOMA [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)Had Clinton vetoed that bill, that would have been The Conversation. By signing the bill, he shut That Conversation down.
There would have been issue ads running on TV and radio nationwide around the clock, relentlessly pounding how Bill Clinton wants to corrupt the little children. Clinton would have been associated with all manner of "perversion"--because that's how the GOP would approach the subject. The Morality Card would have come out in force. The churches would have been fired up--not just in the south, but from sea to shining sea.
If you think there would have been a great pushback of people saying "Gee, let's all get out the vote and DEFEND THOSE GAYS!" I have a bridge to sell you--most people, back then, were NOT in favor of gay marriage. Civil unions, sure. But Gay Marriage? Massachusetts was the Cheese--and the Cheese Stands Alone. VT didn't want gay marriage as late as 2006...you think they would have thrilled to it ten years earlier?
His veto could have kept his own supporters home. It also could have divided some traditionally Democratic constituencies who were slower to come to an accord on this issue. They might have stayed home, too, especially if their pastor convinced them that this was not a cause to champion.
I'm amazed at how many people forget what life was like just twenty years ago. People were NOT of the 'common mind' on this issue at all. Now, nobody bats an eye--back then, though, it was a contentious subject.