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Some differences
among top Republican officials have recently emerged in two key
issues of the presidential race -- gay marriage and Iraq. But
some members of the Missouri delegation say there’s room
for all under the party’s “big tent.”
 President
Bush said in February he is committed to pursuing a constitutional
amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman in the
wake of a Massachusetts high court ruling saying the state’s
ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.
But a week
before the Republican National Convention, Vice President Dick
Cheney, who has a gay daughter, said at a town hall meeting in
Iowa that he would prefer states decide how to handle the contentious
question of whether to allow same-sex marriages.
On the issue
of the Iraq war, the once solid support President Bush enjoyed
at the beginning of the invasion began to erode when the death
toll of American soldiers mounted in troubled regions of the country.
Sen. Chuck
Hagel, R-Neb., a member of the Foreign Relations and Select Intelligence
committees, has expressed some criticism of the handling of the
war.
“I feel
that the war -- the second phase -- was poorly planned. And the
problems that we are having now are due to that. We didn't think
about consequences. We didn't think about the long-term. How do
you sustain this kind of a war, this kind of a policy?” he
said on the Aug. 30 NewsHour.
But two Missouri
delegates at the Republican National Convention in New York City
said they are unfazed by the sometimes contrasting opinions within
the party on these hot-button issues.
“There’s
always a lot of talk about big tents,” said state Sen. Bill
Foster, R-Mo. He said even though he has more conservative ideas
on issues such as abortion, gun control and gay marriage -- Missouri
recently passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage,
which he supported -- he could also be considered more moderate
on fiscal issues.
“I’m
more moderate than some Republicans because I do feel that a person
gifted with more talent and more money has an obligation to share
those with others who have less,” he said.
 Missouri
alternate delegate Cloria Brown said although there may be a variety
of opinions on issues, she hasn’t witnessed any major party
rifts.
“I think
it’s a party with a lot of different people, and like a family,
not everyone is going to agree,” she said.
Michael Golden,
the Missouri communications director for the Kerry campaign, however,
said people within the Republican Party are starting to speak
out because President Bush’s policies didn’t end up
matching his message when he ran for the White House the first
time.
“His
policies are very divisive, and there are a number of moderates
in the Republican Party who don’t like that approach,”
Golden said. “George Bush came into office and ran far to
the right of where he was campaigning. Compassionate conservatism
never happened.”
But on the
second day of the GOP convention, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
a pro-choice, pro-gay rights and pro-gun control Republican, delivered
a message of inclusiveness during his address at Madison Square
Garden:
“Now,
many of you out there tonight are ‘Republican’ like
me in your hearts and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala.
Maybe you're from the Philippines. Maybe Europe or the Ivory Coast.
Maybe you live in Ohio Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe just
maybe you don't agree with this party on every single issue. I
say to you tonight I believe that's not only okay that's what's
great about this country. Here we can respectfully disagree and
still be patriotic, still be American and still be good Republicans.”
In the swing
state of Missouri, where the latest LA Times poll shows President
Bush with a slight 46 percent to 44 percent edge over Kerry, delegates
are hoping whatever differences there are will be set aside in
the interest of casting the state’s 11 electoral votes for
President Bush on Nov. 2.
In 2000, George
W. Bush carried Missouri with 50 percent of the vote, compared
to then-Vice President Al Gore's 47 percent.
“This
is a critical campaign for the president in our state,” said
Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., at the Missouri delegation breakfast. Blunt
said in 2002, “Republicans didn’t quit until the polls
were closed,” and the state elected Republican Jim Talent
to the U.S. Senate over formidable challenger Jean Carnahan, wife
of the late Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan.
“Everybody
in Missouri has to get out the word to the people, and try to
make sure their friends and relatives know what the president’s
positions are,” said alternate delegate Brown. “I think
if people actually listen to John Kerry and listen to President
Bush, we might see a big landslide like we did with Reagan.”
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By Larisa Epatko, Online NewsHour
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