Not even the lure of spending some quality time with a Cheney could compel congressional Republicans to hang around the Log Cabin Republican’s Spirit of Lincoln dinner in D.C. for longer than it takes to watch an episode of “Modern Family.”
Mind you, the Cheney in question was Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and gay marriage advocate who famously fought with her sister Liz during the latter’s short-lived bid to wrest Wyoming’s Senate seat away from Michael B. Enzi.
Still, it did appear that more Republican lawmakers made an effort to make nice this year than did in 2013 .
Wisconsin Republican Paul D. Ryan got swamped by admirers early on.
HOH watched Florida Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen — with a camera-toting aide in tow — race down the three flights of escalators required to reach the extra-subterranean shindig at the Grand Hyatt downtown. Pennsylvania Republican Patrick J. Toomey pressed the flesh for a bit.
And even former George W. Bush-era Solicitor General turned Proposition 8 slayer Ted Olson carved time out of his hectic schedule — “Mind if I cut in line? Can’t stay long. Got another event tonight,” he alerted a few revelers standing between him and the front of the open bar — to swing by for a drink.
All of the sitting solons, however, were long gone before the formal dining program began.
But just their presence made House hopeful Richard Tisei optimistic about the future.
“The fact that everybody’s here, I think, is a really good thing. … And that’s great to see,” the openly gay candidate running in Massachusetts to replace lame-duck Rep. John F. Tierney told HOH about the incremental support trickling down from Capitol Hill.
Ex-Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., who said he’s been involved with the LCR for nearly 20 years, held out hope the group might one day peacefully die out.
“I’m looking forward to the day when there is no need for a Log Cabin organization within the Republican Party because it will be totally accepting of all people, whether they are gay or straight, of any minority, whatever,” he said.
He does not, however, expect any solution to come from Congress. “I think it’s much less productive than it ever was. I’m very worried,” he warned.
Per Kolbe, the Supreme Court will ultimately have to settle the gay marriage issue.
“I’m confident they’ll make a decision that there shouldn’t be discrimination against gays,” he said.
Mary Cheney declined to specify who would lead the charge (SCOTUS? Congress? Individual states?), but remained confident she’d find herself on the right side of history sooner rather than later.
“As someone who deals on a regular basis with my family being considered not a family under the law, depending on what state I’m in, I’m all in favor of we all do it,” she said of universal recognition for gay marriage. “I’m not going to predict how it’s gonna happen, but it will happen within the next few years.”
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