WASHINGTON — When President Bush beat John Kerry in 2004, Republicans said a ballot initiative in Ohio to ban gay marriage sealed the election, drawing legions of conservatives to the polls.
Bush and Republican senators now will seek another dose of conservative magic to energize their party's base. Call it nostalgia — or election-year jitters.
In his Saturday radio address, the president urged support for a national ban on gay marriage, saying that the bond between a wife and a husband "promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society."
On Monday, Bush plans to meet at the White House with opponents of gay marriage, just as the Senate begins a full-blown debate on a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to the union of a man and a woman. A Senate vote is expected Wednesday.
Flag burning, estate taxes
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Next, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., wants votes on two perennial conservative causes: repealing the estate tax and giving Congress the constitutional authority to ban flag burning.
None of the measures is expected to pass, though the estate-tax debate could yield a compromise that applies the tax only to the largest inheritances.
The detour into socially conservative causes comes as Congress is locked in a stalemate over immigration policy, paralyzed over ethics legislation and stymied by the Iraq war.
Despite the futility of the gay-marriage and flag-burning votes, some Republican strategists said they were just the jolt that conservative voters — angry over illegal immigration, profligate spending and congressional scandal — needed to overcome their growing antipathy toward the party.
"Every time you have that conversation it reminds (voters) of what team they're on," said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform and a prominent voice in conservative circles.
Skepticism over motives
Some conservatives, such as political direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie, are skeptical about Republican motives. The upcoming votes, he said, aren't enough to compensate for what he considers a pattern of wayward behavior.
"No conservative is going to take this as a change of heart or as a newfound belief in conservative principles," he said.
Other Republican operatives say the strategy is a waste of time when most Republican voters are angry or divided over the Iraq war, high gas prices and immigration.
"Those are the issues that are dominating people's dinner-table talk," said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. Reed dismissed Frist's plan, saying: "If you're a gay who likes to burn flags, it's going to be a long year."
But in his Saturday address, Bush described the proposed amendment as a means to rein in judges who have overturned gay-marriage bans in Washington, California, Maryland, New York and Nebraska.
"Solution from the people"
"This national question requires a national solution, and on an issue of such profound importance, that solution should come from the people, not the courts," Bush said.
It's an awkward time for Republicans to pick up the gay-marriage cause. Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, who's traveling across the country promoting her political memoir, has criticized the amendment as "fundamentally wrong."
First lady Laura Bush, in a recent interview with Fox News, cautioned against politicizing the issue.
Some, such as Sens. John McCain of Arizona and John Sununu of New Hampshire, have opposed an amendment, saying marriage is best governed by states. For McCain and Frist, the issue has presidential implications.
