Demagogue

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) has called gay marriage "the most important issue that we face today." She has led the call for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage.

It's an amendment that Sen. John McCain voted to oppose. McCain explained his vote thusly on the Senate floor:

"The constitutional amendment we're debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans."

McCain knows this amendment is a crock, and yet he recently endorsed Musgrave, the House member who was the original sponsor of the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment.

Musgrave is facing a tough re-election. Her Democratic challenger, Angie Paccione, is a superb campaigner and has criticized Musgrave's fringe politics. Paccione is airing an excellent TV ad — entitled "Are You Kidding Me?" — that takes Musgrave to task for her all anti-gay, all-the-time agenda.

A recent poll showed Paccione (pu-CHO-nee) leading by 45% to 42%, a statistical dead-heat.

This race is so close that it could be tipped one way or the other by small factors. Yes, even a small factor like the endorsement of John McCain.

For several years, McCain nurtured a public image as a maverick who wouldn't take his marching orders from any group, especially the Religious Right. But that was then; this is now. McCain's visit in May to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University and now this endorsement of Musgrave reveal that McCain isn't all that different from the rest of his Republican peers.

McCain is willing to cast aside his principles if that's what it takes to win brownie points among the Religious Right so he can capture the GOP's 2008 presidential nomination.