republican rob portman endorses gay marriage............

but only after he finds out that his son is a fag. this is big news locally, with mixed reactions. what do you think?

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Prominent Ohio Sen. Rob Portman's decision to come out in favor of gay marriage prompted lots of reaction Friday, with many Republicans saying it would not change their views.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, announced that he now supports gay marriage.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Rob Portman dropped a political bomb this week, and the fallout is still clouded by plumes of politically and emotionally charged reactions to the Ohio Republican's embrace of same-sex marriage.

Some said Portman's national ambitions were done for, and he could even lose his grip on his U.S. Senate seat. Others said his support for same-sex marriage wouldn't hurt him at all — and it could even make him a stronger political candidate.

Some predicted Portman's embrace would be a watershed moment for the Republican Party on gay rights. Others said it wouldn't budge the GOP an inch.

One clear impact of Portman's announcement: It put his Republican colleagues in Congress on the spot, forcing them to answer a slew of fresh questions about their own positions on gay marriage.

When House Speaker John Boehner's press secretary, Michael Steel, walked into the Speaker's Lobby Friday morning, he was quickly surrounded by reporters — all wanting reaction to Portman's decision.

"Sen. Portman is a great friend and ally, and the speaker respects his position," Steel said, reading from a statement on his BlackBerry. "But the speaker continues to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman."

Moments before, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the GOP's vice presidential nominee in 2012, scurried away from the scrum when asked about Portman's position.

"I haven't even read it yet," Ryan said of the op-ed that Portman wrote, printed in Friday's Columbus Dispatch, outlining the reasons for his reversal: his son, 21-year-old Will, had told Portman and his wife, Jane, two years ago that he is gay.

"It's a change of heart from the position of a father," Portman told Ohio reporters in an interview Thursday, before the op-ed appeared. "I think we should be allowing gay couples the joy and stability of marriage."

On Friday, Portman's words were still reverberating through Washington. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was among the first to issue a supportive statement, saying he looked "forward to working with him to ensure that all Americans have the ability to marry regardless of whom they love or where they live."

Gregory T. Angelo, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, said Portman's support of gay marriage could spark others in the GOP to follow suit.

"If there was any doubt that the conservative logjam on the issue of civil marriage for committed gay and lesbian couples has broken, Sen. Portman's support for the freedom to marry has erased it," he said in a statement.

But there were few public signs of a crack in the GOP wall of opposition to gay marriage on Friday.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told CNN it was Portman's "prerogative" to change his views on same-sex marriage, but the traditional definition of marriage won't change "no matter what politicians decide."

"I don't think they have the power to change what is a religiously inspired definition," Gingrich said.

Cincinnati-area lawmakers echoed that view, saying they respected Portman's decision but it would not prompt them to reconsider their own views.

"It's a religious issue for me," said Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, who is Catholic.

"I support traditional marriage as between a man and a woman, and this doesn't change my view on that," said Steve Chabot, R-Ohio.

Chabot said he didn't think Portman's decision would hurt him politically.

"He's got a long and distinguished record, and I don't think this changes that in the least," said Chabot. "I don't think people in general will hold this against him."

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said Portman's switch just puts him in line with the majority of Americans. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 48% of the public now favor gay marriage, with 43% opposed — a significant shift from a decade ago.

"I don't think the general electorate cares about this anymore," Sabato said. "The Republicans are way behind the curve (on gay marriage), and if anything, this helps their image a bit with young people."

He and others acknowledged that Portman's decision could prompt a challenge from the right, if and when he runs for re-election to the Senate in 2016.

"That certainly is a risk for Sen. Portman," said David Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron.

But Cohen also said that Portman's announcement would likely make him a more formidable general-election candidate in Ohio, a battleground state. "Sen. Portman is on the correct side of this issue as far as public opinion is concerned, so politically I think it strengthens his hand" against a possible Democratic foe, Cohen said.

Whether Portman's support for same-sex marriage could help or hurt him nationally is another question. Portman was on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's short list for vice president in the last election, and his name has been touted as a possible White House contender in 2016.

Cohen said that if Portman had announced his switch on gay marriage a year ago, "he would have quickly been erased off the VP short list."

It will be interesting to see, Cohen added, whether Portman's name pops up as a possible running mate again in three years or "if this has the effect of essentially disqualifying him."

One prominent social conservative offered a definitive "yes" to that question.

"If he had thoughts of trying to be a presidential candidate, those are over," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a powerful conservative advocacy group. "He's now coming out in support of redefining marriage, and with evangelical voters that's right up there with the issue of life."

But Sabato said he wasn't so sure.

"I honestly think by 2016 people will be even more accepting of gay marriage and gay rights," he said. "If there are people out there who think this is important, they have missed a massive social change."